Doing brakes on saturn in front.

NYSpeed Automotive
1

I was putting the summer tires on the saturn the other day. 2003 Ion, 56k miles on it, 5 speed trans.

The car has the original brake pads and rotors on it. Not bad for nearly 7 years of use.

The pads show almost no wear at all, the back of the rotors are warped, causing a bit of a vibration in the pedal (very subtle, but annoying).

So I picked up a set of monroe ceramic pads, and a set of wagner rotors from rock auto. 84 bucks for everything after mail in rebate on the pads.

Should I worry about bleeding the brakes, or just replace the hardware and keep driving?

The owners manual says that there is no need to change the fluid in the brakes unless you open the system.

2

IMO replace the hardware and keep driving

3

No, you don’t need to bleed the brakes if just replacing pads and rotors.

4

Alright, was just wondering about the 7 year old fluid in the lines.

5

Do yourself a favor and buy a tube of Sil-glyde form napa and use it to lube the caliper bolts/pad clips. Stuff is seriously the best and a tube will last you a long time.

6

being a turd owner, and my girlfriend owns an 04 ion, you only need to change the hardware. you can bleed the brakes but if you want, but if you dont need to then you dont have to.

and +1 to that^^^^^, lubing the bolts makes things easier in the long run.

7

Brake fluid absorbs water (not silicone brake fluid) and all the crap ends up at the end of the line/system which would be the caliper. When ever i replace front pads i clamp off the rubber hose and open the bleeder to push the piston in. Doing this will force most of the crap out through the bleeder. You really dont want to push all the crap back up the line (without clamping) and into abs units ect… etc… When i finish i usually bleed/take 1 pump out of each wheel i serviced. Many times i will just gravity bleed the caliper i just compressed with also works well.