Tools needed: 13 and 19mm wrenches/sockets, T-50 with at least 3/8 drive, miscellaneous hammers, crowbars, screw drivers, grease
A proper set of pads and rotors, in my case my van's front brakes are Bosch and the parts a match set from Europarts-SD. What you are looking at is a van with 78,000 miles, first front brake job, no brake-worn signal showing, and I was doing this as preventive maintenance.
Jack up van, use jack stands, and expose the brakes
Remove the caliper bracket with 19mm wrenches. Clean the brake pad guides.
I didn't read far enough on Mike's posting regarding removing the T-50 bolt. So I also got to the point of removing it without help. So I jerry rigged this, which with WD-40 and lots of force, worked. For the second one, I found a 3rd foot lying on a sofa and got it to push the brake-pedal. That worked faster and much better.
mendonsy - I used a wedge between the caliper bracket and rotor to break the rotors loose before removing the caliper bracket.
cahaak- Anyway, used the trick of applying brakes to loosen the T50 rotor screws(had both front wheels off at the same time) worked great. Calipers not too dificult to remove. Caliper brackets - wow, were they on there tight. Had to use a cheater pipe extension on my 1/2" socket to break them loose. I applied never sieze to both them and the T50 socket screw upon reinstall. Rotors came off pretty easy. I did use a 2 lb hammer on the back side while rotating them, but came loose after a few whacksWhen reinstalling the rotors, you will need to gently whack(dead blow if you have one) them back in place, or they may not sit fully back in. You will clearly see this when you put the caliper brackets back on and spin the rotors.
Now comes the fun: rust time. There is no way to get the rotor off without hammering it. In my case, the rust had grown around the hub and was in a solid mass 1.5 inches behind the hub. It had to be all broken out. I use ear(sound reverberating inside the wheel well) and(flying rust) eye protection and 24oz hammer. I thought about a 2# sledge, but decided against it. As it was, I did not know how much damage I was doing to the bearings. Hammer with the rotor rotating.
Finally - it is off. Note the rust. About 1# each rotor.
A view from the back side. Note the broken-out rust tracks, driven out by the hub.
This will be the last time you will be able to read the minimum thickness for this rotor: 19mm. Install the new rotor with the T-50 bolt.
Aqua Puttana - Before re-assembly I brushed a thin coat of anti-seize on the inside rotor and hub faces. When I first started using anti-seize in that way I was concerned that it might migrate. I have been doing so for decades now with no problems.
Any time you have your wheels off you might consider hitting the hub areas with some penetrating oil followed by grease before putting the wheels back on. Even after the fact it may soak in to help keep things free(er). It costs little and may help.
Grease the pad slides and reinstall the caliper bracket,
then slide in the pads:
312 diesel - When you get it this far apart it's worth pulling the caliper slider pins out, cleaning them and re-lubricating with high temperature anti seize. Seized sliders are one of the most common causes of bad brakes on these.
mendonsy - I used a C clamp against the front pad to release the calipers slightly before removing them.
If the pistons are already pushed back, reinstall the caliper using the top bolt, then slide over the pads. You may need a screw driver to push a piston back a bit to get the cup around a cast bump in the pad.
mendonsy - I opened the brake bleeder before compressing the pistons with a C clamp so that the dirty fluid did not get forced back into the lines then I topped up the brake fluid after I finished installing the brakes.
Reattach the bottom 13mm bolt. Install the brake warning sensor.
DONE.
NOTES
cravings - this tutorial has been useful in helping me dismantle my front brakes(i haven't even looked at the rear ones). my calipers are ATE ones, so different to the bosch ones in the tutorial there. they seem to come off in one piece without brackets as described above.
cahaak-
Bleeding - used a hand held mity vac(manual). First I sucked the reservoir dry. I used Motul 5.1 fluid also from Amazon. It took a little less than 1 liter of fluid(2 500 ml bottles) - you could do it with 1 qt. Topped off the reservoir and bled the front breaks first, then the rear. I have a DAD and was going to do the manual activation, but no helpers. I did manually activate the ESP pump via DAD after bleeding. Fluid flow from the bleeders was not very fast(just did my odyssey last weekend for comparison), but worked fine. Initial wheel I needed to bleed about 8 oz, the others closer to 5 oz. I had taken about 12 oz out of the reservoir after pushing the front calipers back in. Old fluid actually did not look that bad, bit of a green tint to it, not very dark.
Dingo - To get a seized disc off the hub use a chisel to crack the edge . Point the cutting edge to follow the stub axle towards the shock absorber , but angle it down by 45 degrees . Several good whacks should cause the old disc to spilt , breaking the rust bond & you can pull off or gently tap free .All you are aiming to do is cause a crack to form in the outer face of the disc mounting bell , nothing more or you could damage the hub assy as well , but you really do need a monster hammer / lack of IQ to get that deep with a chisel .
If you have any of the febi ceramic grease as used by all CDi engine owners when replacing common rail injectors , smear a THIN coat around mating faces & use on disc retaining screw . Your life will so much easier , I used Copaslip / neverseize / copper based grease on brakes but the ceramic stuff is light years better when subjected to heat . I have even used it on a stuck turbo actuator to lube the link pin assembly , no more problems there either
Another tip to help with removing stubborn screws in disc , use a punch as large as screw face & whack several times with punch & lump hammer , again this breaks the rust bond . Refit two wheel studs almost all the way into the hub & use wrecking bar ( crowbar , over here ) between studs to hold hub still with the free end resting on the ground . This works when undoing drive shaft nuts on silly front wheel drive cars as well
Green_Hornet - Will be looking for the ceramic grease cited for CDi as a hub anti-seize; another trick I've learned over the years is after cleaning all prior to reassembly is to coat the rubber parts with Aerospace 303 Protectorant; helps them last a lot longer.
312d - use 243 threadlocker(or any blue one) and grease with silicon grease. I also use thread locker medium strength(the red one will put you in troubles next time servicing) on almost every bolt on the calipers and suspension, respecting torque values, remember that this is all unsprung weight and they are subject to more punishment and vibrations than the rest of the van
312d - the minimum thickness for rotors is 19 mm , from new they are 22mm
sikwan - I was experiencing some major grinding when lightly braking so it wasn't my driveline, transmission, but my brakes(fronts).
I had come to the conclusion the calipers have a poor rubber boot slider design.
Midwestdrifter - I found one boot cut, and another well on its way. Once the pins coating is consumed they will seize, and its all down hill from there. It doesn't help that many shops/mechanics don't replace the boots when doing the brakes, barbecue they don't have them in stock...
shortshort - Ignore the sensors. Inspect your brakes regularly. I've had false negatives with the sensor contacting the rotor, and I've had the non-sensored pad go metal to metal with the sensored pad looking ok.
MillionMileSprinter - When the sensor wears through, it grounds out against the rotor and completes the circuit, thereby illuminating the light on the dash. If you simply unplug the round part of the sensor or even snip the wire, the light will go out.
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