Replace front brakes 2004 Hyundai elantra?

Answer 1

I just changed the front pads and rotors on my 2004 elantra this weekend in order to save some money by doing it myself. A set of brake pads were $20.00 and the rotors were $35.00 a piece. The tools you'll need are a jack, a metric socket set, a ratchet, a #3 Phillips/ crosspoint screw driver, a rubber mallet,a jar of anti-seize( the kind with the brush built into the cap), a C-clamp of at least 3inches and a ball peen hammer of at least 16oz. Optional tools include jack stand(2), impact driver, breaker bar, sand paper, wire brush or steel wool, WD-40 or some other penetrating spray, about an 18 inch length of wire and some rags.

1. Loosen the lug nuts on both front tires. If you don't have the tire iron that came with your vehicle then youll need a 21mm metric socket. Just break the torque and rotate the nut/bolt a half turn.
2. Set your emergency brake. Jack one side of your vehicle in accordance with your owners manual. If you have a jack stand insert it, set it to the proper height and lower the vehicle onto the jack stand. Jack the other side of your vehicle and insert the other jack stand etc. etc.
3. Completely loosen and remove all (4) of your lug nuts and remove the tire. My drivers side tire had partially rusted onto my rotor so I had to strike the tire with a rubber mallet while slowly rotating the tire to get it to break free.
4. set the tire(s) and lug nuts aside.
5. Next is to remove the two bolts that hold your Caliper body onto your wheel mount/hub. If your bolts are rusted spray them with the WD-40. Wait a couple minutes, spray them again and wait. Get your ratchet and a 17mm socket and remove the lower bolt first. Then loosen your upper bolt and get your piece of wire ready. Remove the upper bolt and attach your piece of wire to the caliper body and hang it off your suspension spring being careful not to damage your break line. You may need a breaker bar to get the caliper mounting bolts out, I had to use ones as my bolts were thoroughly rusted to the caliper body.
6. Now there are two screws with #3 Phillips head that help hold your rotor in place during installation. Remove these to screws and set them aside. I had a very hard time getting these out with a standard #3 screwdriver but they finally came out.
7. Next remove your rotor. ( you do not have to remove the cotter pin or castle nut in the center of the rotor as they are not attached to your rotor in any way.) However your rotor will probably have rusted to the mounting hub so grab your rubber mallet and gently strike the rotor around the outer edge along the entire circumference of the rotor. If your rotor still will not come off grab the ball peen hammer and very carefully and with a moderate amount of force strike the raised portion of the rotor( the part where the four mounting bolts come through the rotor) taking care not to hit your mounting bolts. This will break up the rust that has formed on the underside of the rotor where it contacts the mounting hub.
8. Sand off any rust on the face of your mounting hub and put some anti-seize paste on it.
9. Put your new rotor onto the mounting hub. Install your two #3 rotor retaining screws in the two small holes near the center of the rotor. If the rotor retaining holes on your new rotor do not match up to the threaded holes on your mounting hub don't panic. These two small screws are really not necessary, they are just used for convenience on the assembly line to hold the rotor up against the mounting hub. If your screw holes didn't line up simply take two of your lug nuts and thread them down all the way until they contact the rotor and hold it the the correct upright position.
10. Take your brake pads out of your brake caliper( it should still be hanging by the wire) they should come out very easily.
11. Pop the hood of the car and locate your break fluid reservoir cap. break the seal on the cap and inspect your fluid level. if the fluid is not up into the neck of the reservoir then place the cap over the reservoir filler opening but do not seal the cap down. If the fluid is up into the neck then remove some of the fluid so that it wont spill out into the engine compartment when accomplishing step 12 and place reservoir cap onto the filler opening but don't seal the cap.
12. Take your 3inch C-clamp and depress the brake piston in the caliper body until it is flush with the caliper body.
13. If you had rust on your caliper mounting bolt lightly sand off the rust with some fine grit sand paper or wire brush and apply some anti-seize paste.
14. Install your caliper body back onto the mounting bracket. It'll take some finangaling to get it on and properly aligned with the mounting holes. Install the top bolt first followed by the lower bolt. You will have detached it from the hanging wire to accomplish this step.
15. I do not know what the proper torque value is for the Caliper mounting bolts. I just tightened them as much as I possibly could.
16. Grab your ratchet and a 14mm socket and loosen the lower Caliper gate bolt. The caliper gate bolt is the bolt that runs through the rubber gasket/tube on the forward side of the caliper body.
17. Swing the caliper gate to a full upright position, it will rest in this position on its own.
18. Install your new brake pads ensuring that the pad with the wear indicator( the little metal prong) is on the inner brake pad slot. If the pads are tight or won't go in you'll need to file down the little tabs on the outside edge of the brake pad body so that they will easily fit into their appropriate slots. Don't go crazy with the file, file a little bit off, check the fit and file some more if needed.
19. Swing the caliper gate back down into place( it should slide easily into place ) if it will not swing into place re-examine your brake pad installation. Install your lower caliper gate bolt.
20. If you needed to install the two lug nuts in step 9 to hold the rotor in place then remove these lug nuts.
21. Mount your tire and install the lug nuts, tightening them enough to hold the tire in the proper upright position.
22. Properly lower you vehicle back onto the ground.
23. Repeat step 1-22 on the other side of your vehicle
24. Once both sets of front brakes are changed and the vehicle is completely lowered onto the ground then completely tighten your lug nuts. I do not know the proper torque value for the lug nuts. Once again I just tightened them as much as I could.
25. REPLACE THE CAP ON YOUR BRAKE FLUID RESERVOIR AND MAKE SURE IT SEALS TIGHTLY. (if you removed any fluid make sure you replace it)
26. Get in your car and pump the brakes several times to rebuild the hydraulic pressure necessary to operate your brakes.

Start your car and test the brakes in your driveway/street before you take it out on the open road.

I hope this helps you in replacing your brakes if I get a chance I'll try and attach some photos later on. It took me 5-6hrs to accomplish my brake and rotor change but that includes my lunch break, also all of my components were heavily rusted and it took a long time to get most of my bolts and rotors off. They next time I change them i would estimate a time of about 2hrs if the anti-seize paste I used works.