How do you change break pads?

break pads are gone 05 almera does it cost much to replace them and is it a big jobHow do you change break pads?
You will need----a socket set, spray can metal parts cleaner, toothbrush, clean rag for polishing, and a c-clamp that has a ~6 inch or wider opening



-Lift up the car so that the wheel you are workign on is off the ground.



-put a jack stand or something solid under the car for saftey so if the jack fails the car will not crush you if you or one of your limbs is under it.



-remove the wheel by removing the lugnuts



-unbolt the capliper via two bolts in most apllication, sometimes the bolts spin freely on the slide mechanism and you may ahve to hold the part that each one screws into with a wrench in order to remove them, you will understand if when attempting to unscrew them they spin instead of unscrew. The two bolts will be behind and not visible entirely from the front, they will screw into the caliper slides, which are the litle springy things that have a rubber boot covering them, theres two fo them and they are very easily seen.



-the caliper will be closed around the rotor somewhat, you need to twist the caliper against the rotor abit to pry the pads apart enough to remove it, once its opened up a little bit it should slide off easily ****be sure not to let the rotor hang by the hydraulic line, rest it on something solid instead, or ziptie it and hang it from the car.



-With the caliper off, you can remove the pads,



-The big circular thing that comes out of a rubber seal needs to be cleaned thouroughly in some applications, to do this, use metal parts cleaner and a toothbrush and clean off all the dirt/grease so it is super shiny and clean. If it isnt clean and you compress the piston when it has greae/brake dust on it, you may damage the longevity of the caliper piston seal, this isnt neccessary on all calipers, but if you cnat tell, its a good idea to clean it just in case.



-now you have to compres the piston all the way back into the caliper to make room for additional pad material to fit around the rotor, to do this, take the old pad and put it in against the piston, and place a c-clamp in such a manor that you cna force the piston back into the caliper by squeezing the pad and the outside of the caliper. Do this slowly, and dont apply too much force, if you feel resistance, its probibly compressed all the way, it wont move instantly as you will be forcing fluid up the hydraulic line, and this fluid moves slowly.



-with the piston compressed, you can now instal the new pads usually they kinda ';snap'; into place, when you get new pads you will notice that two of the four pads will have a metal tab that protrudes somewhere, one of these is for each wheel, and it goes on the inside of the rotor always. The tab is what causes your brakes to squeel when the pad material is low, it goes on the inside of the rotor because that side will generally wear down first.



-now you bolt the caliper back onto the caliper mounting bracket where it came from, the bolts on the caliper slides (the springy things with rubber boots on them) dont need to be torqued very much and often only require about 15-20 ft/lbs



-bolt back on the wheel



-Start your engine but ****do not drive the car****, pump the brakes several times untill it stops hitting the floorboard and feels normal, now you can drive the car.



to clarify if you arnt familer, the caliper is the hydraulic piston that squeezes the brake pads



the rotor is the round part that the pads grab hold of.



you cna get a set fo pads for fron wheels or for bakc wheels, each will cost about 15-80 dollars depending on the quality of the padsHow do you change break pads?
If you mean BRAKE pads, it is best done by an experienced mechanic.
No it is not a big job if yu are mechanically inclined. to see how go to the auto zone web site under repairs. or go to how stuffworks.com or get a repair manual.
To replace the front pads on your Almera, you can expect to pay around $200. Working on a car's brake system is NOT a job for an amateur mechanic. Take it to a professional.
http://www.extremehowto.com/xh/article.a



http://www.troublecodes.net/articles/frn



http://www.extremehowto.com/xh/article.a
if pads r gone then u need to mic rotors to see if u need to turn then or replace them.