How to Change Front Brake Pads and Rotors on a Buick Century and Similar Vehicles

1A Auto shows you how to repair, fix, change or replace your own worn, squeaky, fading old front brake pads and rotors on a Buick Century. This video is similar for Buick Lesabre, Chevy Venture, Oldsmobile Intrigue and Silhouette, Pontiac Bonneville Grand Prix and Transport models. You'll first learn how to remove your existing front disc brake pads and then the rotor, and then install a new brake rotor and replacement brake pads.

To watch this repair being done, please watch the full video below:

Raise and secure the vehicle with a jack and jack stands.

Remove wheel cover, center cap, etc. Depending on your vehicle this may require using a screwdriver to pry off the center cap then loosening up the plastic caps over the lug nuts, or you may only need to remove the plastic caps.

Using a 19mm socket and ratchet (or lug wrench), remove the lug nuts and remove the wheel and tire.

To make accessing the bolts on the rear of the brake caliper easier, turn the wheels (all the way right for the right front wheel and all the way left for the left front wheel). With a 15mm socket and ratchet, remove the two bolts on the back of the caliper. These two bolts are your slider bolts so you should clean them up and put a little bit of grease on them before reinstalling them.

Using a flat blade screwdriver, pry the brake caliper up and off. You can hang the caliper up on the strut to get it out of the way. The old brake pads should slide out easily. That is how to remove brake pads on this Buick Century.

To remove the rotor, you must first remove the brake pad bracket which is held on at the rear with two 15mm bolts. Remove these two bolts using the 15mm socket and ratchet. Remove the bracket. Remove the brake rotor by pulling it with your hands. Removing the brake rotor may require some wiggling back and forth.

Now that we have shown you how to remove a brake rotor on this Buick Century, we are now going to show how to install a new rotor and replacement brake pads. First, slide the new rotor on, being careful to only touch the edges. You don't want any oil or dirt from your fingers to get onto the surface of the new brake rotor. Put the brake pad bracket into place and start the bolts by hand. Tighten the bolts with the 15mm socket and ratchet. Using a torque wrench torque the bolts to 75 ft-lbs.

Install the new brake pads into the bracket. They should push in fairly easily by hand, though they may require a bit of force to get fully seated. Hitting them with the end of a socket is usually enough to get them in. When installing the brake pads you want to make sure that the wear marker (the small tab that contacts the brake rotor as the pads start to get thin) is closest to the rear of the vehicle.

Before reinstalling the brake caliper you will need to force the piston, located on the inside, back into the cylinder. Fit the large c-clamp over the piston and cylinder and tighten the clamp until the piston is back inside the caliper. Fit the caliper back over the brake pad bracket. Put a little bit of wheel bearing grease on the two brake caliper bolts that you cleaned up. The lower bolt has a bushing on the end, so make sure they are installed in the correct place. Tighten these bolts gently with the 15mm socket and ratchet. Torque the two bolts to 75 ft-lbs.

Mount the wheel and tire back up on the vehicle. Put lug nuts back on and tighten in star pattern. Lower the vehicle and torque the lug nuts to 75 ft-lbs.

Once you have secured the wheel and tire to the vehicle, put the wheel cover, center cap, etc., back on as well.

Pump the brake pedal several times with the car off, then take vehicle out for a road test. Begin the road test on a driveway or parking lot away from traffic. First put foot on brake as you shift the vehicle into gear to make sure the brakes hold the vehicle when idling. Then begin moving slowly (5 mph to start) checking the brakes at different speeds. When you are sure that the brakes are functioning properly then proceed onto roadways.

That is how to repair front brake pads and rotors that need to be fixed on Buick Century, Buick Lesabre, Chevy Venture, Oldsmobile Intrigue and Silhouette, Pontiac Bonneville Grand Prix and Transport models.