How do you change the brakes on a 2009 Honda Accord?

Answer 1

You need a set of front pads (preferably ceramic, they work better but the same brand and series on both ends of the car) and rotors, set of rear pads and rotors, some grease, and a couple quarts of brake fluid. For tools you will need four jackstands, the normal mechanic's hand tool kit, a turkey baster you'll never use in the kitchen again, some brake cleaner, a caliper compressor, brake pad lubricant, something to tie up the brake calipers like a hank of parachute cord, a drill and 3/8" bit, and a power bleeder with catch bottle and bleeder hose.

Start by loosening the lug nuts. Jack up your car, put it on jackstands and remove the tires. Stick them under the car in case a jackstand fails and the car needs something to land on. Try not to put them under the radiator.

Now look at the brake assembly for a wheel. You will note the brake caliper has two bolts on the back holding it to the car. Remove them and lift the caliper off. Open the bleeder valve and use the caliper compressor to screw the caliper piston back into the caliper body as far as it'll go. Before you do that, inspect the inside of the caliper. If you see brake fluid, you need to rebuild the caliper by putting a new seal kit in it - and if one's gone bad I'd do all four. To get the pistons out, the easiest way is to take all the calipers off, stick a thin piece of wood in the part of the caliper where the brake rotor goes when the caliper's on, and stomp on the brakes. They will pop right out. The wood is to catch the piston because trust me on this, the pistons will come out with tremendous force and you don't want to have to spend an hour trying to find them. Then you just put the new seals where the old ones were and reassemble the calipers. Anyway, once you've evaluated and/or rebuilt the caliper tie it to the strut spring so the hose isn't stressed. After the calipers are off, take out the brake pads. There may be a shim on them. Save that and throw away the old pad.

Next, remove and replace the rotors. You do not ever want to turn a rotor - these things work by dissipating heat, what allows them to dissipate heat is metal mass, and turning a rotor removes some of that. Brand-new rotors are not expensive. The factory attaches the rotor with a screw because it makes life easier for them - when a car factory gets the wheel hub every part is already on it and they just bolt it to the car. You and I don't have to worry about that. Sometimes you can remove the screw with a regular screwdriver. If it's being even the slightest bit hesitant, just drill the head off, you'll never miss it. Before you hang the rotor, clean it with brake parts cleaner because the manufacturer coats them in oil you don't want on your brakes.

Next step: Lubricate the metal part of each brake pad, put the shim on (it will stick to the lube), lubricate the back of the shim, and put it where it goes with the friction surface - the part that isn't made of steel - touching the rotor. Be extremely careful not to put your greasy fingers on the friction surface. After you get both pads set in place, reinstall the caliper and torque the bolts to 90 lb-ft.

Now turn to changing the brake fluid. Use the turkey baster to suck as much fluid out of the reservoir as you can. Refill the reservoir out of a quart bottle of fluid, then hook up your power bleeder and put the rest of the quart in it. Pump it up to 15 psi. Go to one of the back wheels and connect the bleeder hose to the bleeder valve. This should be a clear hose. Stick the hose in a container with a little brake fluid in it. Open the bleeder valve and let it run until the fluid is the same color as new fluid and no air is in it, then close the valve. Make sure there's still 15 psi in the power bleeder and bleed another wheel. Do all four, then go around the car a second time to be sure you got it. Put the tires back on and set the car on the ground. Then get in and pump the brakes until you have a solid pedal - maybe four or five strokes will be necessary.