# DIY: 98 Sentra Front Brake Pads & Rotors



## knwldge54 (Dec 28, 2008)

Didn't see a thread like in the Suspension & Brake section or in this section.
If there is/was better one, I'm sure someone will get rid of this one.

Here's the deal, got this for free a few months ago. Decided to fix it up and keep it as DD.
The previous owner, an old co-worker of mine, didn't really take care of the car very well.
I'm only mentioning this to let you know that I did't let the brakes get this bad...

Items Used:

2 New Rotors
New Set of Brake Pads
2 12oz bottles of Brake Fluid
10mm, 12mm, 14mm & 17mm Wrench
Hammer (or suitable substitute)
Torque Wrench
Car Jack

Let's take a look at the patient...










A closer look and you can see the passenger rotor is DONE.










Make sure the car is off, in park (or some other gear other than neutral) and the
emergency brake in UP position. This should be common sense, but...yeah.

With the car still on the ground, Let's begin by loosen the lug
nuts 1/2 to 1 turn. I used 21mm arm of a 4-way lug wrench.










Next, install a jack at the pinch joint directly
behind the brake/rotor wheel being serviced.










Raise the wheel about 2 inches off the ground.










Position a jack stand (not pictured) near the wheel being serviced.
Set the vehicle down on the jack stand, remove lug nuts and wheel.

Holy crap...










Here's a picture from the front side of assembly. Using a 14mm wrench,
loosen the top bolt (A) and remove the bottom bolt (B).










Rotate the caliper upward to gain access to the brake pads.










Slide the old brake pads outward and remove the top and bottom retaining clips.

What's left of these brake pads...


















These are obviously going in the trash.

Onto the rotors...

Remove the top bolt from the caliper and secure it out of the way.
I simply sit the caliper on the spring. It may look tight, but the
there is slack in the brake line.










Remove the two 17mm bolts that secure the
caliper mounting bracket to the knuckle.










Here's a picture of the caliper mounting bracket removed.










Once the bracket's been removed, the rotor should just fall off.
Here's a closer picture of the removed rotor. This is also going to the trash...










A quick shot of the new rotor and the old. Got these from the overpriced NAPA
for almost $40. Cheapest ones they sell, but they were in stock.










With the old rotor in the trash, I slip the new one in it's place.










Moving in reverse order, bolt the caliper mounting bracket back
on and torque the two bolts to 40-47 ft/lbs or whatever you're comfortable with.










Replace top caliper bolt securely. Do not torque the bolt down.










Install the new pads and retaining clips in place of the old pads. YES!!!










Take a look at the caliper piston.


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## knwldge54 (Dec 28, 2008)

Oh, oh. I actually hate this part. Normally, I just loosen the 12mm brake line
and push the piston back using a block of wood, or some other non-metallic object.
If you have a clamp or portable vice, either would work better and save you the mess.
If you do loosen the brake line like I do, make sure to tighten it back and torque it to
12-14 ft/lbs. Whatever you choose, voila, the piston is back in it's place.










At this point, you should be able to rotate the caliper back down to install the
bottom caliper bolt. Tighten both bolts to 16-23 ft/lbs.











At this point, I needed to bleed the brakes. Bleeding the brakes with one person kinda blows.
AutoZone, AdvanceAutoParts and other stores of the like vacuum bleeders but I do not have
one. I just used "One Man Brake Bleeder Kit". You could also use hose and an empty powerade
bottle that's been cut in half, either one works fine.

Make sure to keep the brake fluid reservoir full at all times. Slide the hose over the bleed screw
and submerse the other end of the hose in the container you're using.

Bleeding Process:

Pump the brake pedal a few times.
Open the bleed screw using a 10mm wrench
to let air out then close the screw snugly.
Slowly release brake pedal. Refill the reservoir.
Repeat until no air bubbles come out and the fluid looks
as clean as you can get it. I usually cycle through about 8
ounces of new fluid.


























Before reinstalling the wheel and torquing lug nuts to 80 ft/lbs, I sprayed everything down with
brake cleaner. Repeat on the other side and you're done. Before you drive the car, pump the brakes
a few times to avoid a loss of immediate braking capability. Hope this helps someone out. Later...

-Marcus


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## maroonsentra (Mar 3, 2007)

Not bad, but you don't need to loosen any brake lines. The proper way is to use a C-clamp, use the old pad to push the piston back in place. This would have saved you a ton of time. Other than that, good work.


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## knwldge54 (Dec 28, 2008)

maroonsentra said:


> Not bad, but you don't need to loosen any brake lines. The proper way is to use a C-clamp, use the old pad to push the piston back in place. This would have saved you a ton of time. Other than that, good work.


Thanks. I know about using a clamp. I just didn't have one available...



knwldge54 said:


> If you have a clamp or portable vice, either would work better and save you the mess.


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## jpm3071 (Jun 13, 2008)

*Good job!*

Bravo on the step by step.

One sugguestion if I may, you do not need to suspend the brake caliper. If the hose cannot support the weight, chances are it will not hold the pressure created by the brake fluid. Knowing that, I would want the caliper to fall while doing the brakes rather than blowing a line while on the road.


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

jpm3071 said:


> Bravo on the step by step.
> 
> One sugguestion if I may, you do not need to suspend the brake caliper. If the hose cannot support the weight, chances are it will not hold the pressure created by the brake fluid. Knowing that, I would want the caliper to fall while doing the brakes rather than blowing a line while on the road.


I support the caliper with bailing wire.

Supporting the weight prevents the hose from getting damaged.

I don't know about if its already damaged and cant support the weight ?

others please comment !!! ??


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

One other comment, I recommend using stands to support the car, jacks can and do fail !!!


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## jpm3071 (Jun 13, 2008)

IanH said:


> One other comment, I recommend using stands to support the car, jacks can and do fail !!!


I agree. Stands are a must. My jack has failed on me once as I was doing an oil change underneath the car. ITS PRETTY SCARY. Please spend the money and use the stands. 
In terms of the brake line, it should most certainly hold the weight of the caliper. The mechanicals go through tremendous stress while in operation. A little weight should not effect them in the least. I learned that from a BMW master tech the first time doing brakes on my car.


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## SentGXE99 (May 8, 2004)

I may be an optimist but I think you could've gotten another 3-4k miles out of those brakes. I've gone farther of screeching metal. Good job on the write up though.


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## dabarrelman (Jul 10, 2008)

This should be a sticky


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## knwldge54 (Dec 28, 2008)

Thanks for all the comments; good and bad.



IanH said:


> One other comment, I recommend using stands to support the car, jacks can and do fail !!!


Trust me, I know. I've had a car roll off a jack just minutes after getting
up from underneath. The car was supported by a jack stand in the front.
Just never posted any pictures of it.



SentGXE99 said:


> I may be an optimist but I think you could've gotten another 3-4k miles out of those brakes. I've gone farther of screeching metal. Good job on the write up though.


Yeah, hell no. The passenger side rotor was about 10 times thinner than a normal worn out rotor should be. I'm truely surprised it didn't crack already.
I'm pretty sure I can only ship one behicle when I leave here so someone else will have this low mileage beauty in about 2 years. I mainly drive to and from work or to do errands. My other car is where all the money goes into...


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## PPP000 (Jan 8, 2009)

*Brass air fittings*

spam deleted


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## nemesismachine (Jan 6, 2009)

Why are you bleeding brakes for changing pads? The brakes are a SEALED SYSTEM. No need to bleed. Just buy pads and rotors, and in 15 minutes you have new brakes. Use a C-clamp like an adult as others have suggested.

Unnecessary to bleed, ignore that step. UNLESS YOU HAVE SPONGY BRAKES BEFOREHAND.


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

nemesismachine said:


> Why are you bleeding brakes for changing pads? The brakes are a SEALED SYSTEM. No need to bleed. Just buy pads and rotors, and in 15 minutes you have new brakes. Use a C-clamp like an adult as others have suggested.
> 
> Unnecessary to bleed, ignore that step. UNLESS YOU HAVE SPONGY BRAKES BEFOREHAND.


you are correct .

He disconnected the brake hose so he could push the piston back easier.

Also replacing the brake fluid is a regular maintenance item and not a bad thing to do on an older car.


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## dwayne505 (Jul 28, 2009)

I use a very large pair of Channel Lock pliers and place one side of jaws over the piston and the other side of jaws on the rear of the caliper. Then carefully squeeze to force the piston back into the caliper. Have to be careful though not to damage the rubber seal around the piston. Also have the cap off the brake fluid reservoir to allow the brake fluid pressure to release. 

Nice pics of the project.


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## sinning (Mar 28, 2008)

OK... someone out their who is tryin to change the breaks on their sentra is luvin you right now... thanx for the step by step good job


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## desiGator (Oct 10, 2009)

*Pad return springs?*

Love the pics and great work. How come I didn't come across this forum earlier...much earlier...lol.

A question...where do you install the pad return springs? You got any pic on that?? 

Just curious as I do see a pair of them in Nissan manuals, and I can't figure out from the pictures in the manuals


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

There are holes on the edge of the pads, the springs go there and press pads outwards.


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## zacward (Aug 23, 2009)

Lmao I just grab the big ass pliers and push the caliper piston back in....cause Im a man. Have strained a muscle doing it before though....


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## nismoskyz (Oct 1, 2009)

Wonderful write-up and ouch those are some horribly worn pads/rotors

C-clamp on the old pad works best for me, although I've been able to push the piston back quite a bit using just an old brake pad with my hands...


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## knwldge54 (Dec 28, 2008)

Hopefully someone had a little bit easier time replacing their pads/discs after reading this thread.


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## RealDealSE-R (Jan 7, 2007)

thnx for the writeup, helping my nephew do his sentra brakes and couldn't figure out where the Return springs went either lol. btw do we need to install shims under the shim plates? thnx again.


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

I think I would've replaced the brake hardware on this one (guide plates). I also remove the slide pins and apply a little brake grease to them. Also, Nissan recommends using PBC grease on the contact edges and caliper contact points on the pads.


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## Jopet (Aug 10, 2009)

will brake grease work ok with the contact points of the pads? or does it have to be PBC grease? or vice-versa?

Will be working on my brakes in the next few days. Got the parts in transit. Got a good deal on ceramic pads.


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## pepperjack13 (Jun 20, 2010)

great write up! I like it when there are lots of pictures, good ones too (at least not taken with a crappy cellphone)


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## Jdoggsc (Dec 25, 2007)

This thread was well timed. I have been thinking about doing brakes on my wife's non-nissan, but brakes is pretty much the only thing I hadn't done on a car up to that point. The pictoral how-to made it seem easy and methodical, so I tried it. It's a mazda protege, actually, but it wasn't nearly as easy as this--the brake rotors absolutely _would not_ come off, and that made it a half-week-long process for me. Oh, and the driver's side caliper pins seized, so it actually needs to be replaced.

I haven't had to do brakes on my sentra yet, but here's to hoping it will be a much simpler experience when it happens (likely in the next year, i'm sure)


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## zzbaomit (Jul 14, 2008)

very detailed guide. should be a sticky! 

One thing maybe overlooked is to grease the pin every time when you change the pad! And change the rubber shoes if they are broken. I forget once and the road salt quickly froze the caliper. I managed to restore one but had to replace the other caliper 'cause I could not take out the pin.


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## Jopet (Aug 10, 2009)

just replaced my front pads and rotor. Great help this thread. Only thing was my bracket bolts were 14mm. Until I got to the passenger side, the lower bolt was the 17mm. What the hey, it works. 
Dont forget to pump the brakes after everything is installed. Don't drive the car until you feel you got brakes again. then top off the master cyclinder


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## Jopet (Aug 10, 2009)

:fluffy: just replaced my front pads and rotor. Great help this thread. Only thing was my bracket bolts were 14mm. Until I got to the passenger side, the lower bolt was the 17mm. What the hey, it works. 
Dont forget to pump the brakes after everything is installed. Don't drive the car until you feel you got brakes again. then top off the master cyclinder

(sorry, double post, the web page went to another page that confused me)


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## Jopet (Aug 10, 2009)

I just had to add this. I was in a situation the other day that I was very happy to have replaced my front brakes!
Also, the shaking of the steering wheel at 65mph up is gone. Yup, maybe my rotors were really out of wack.


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