How to Repair the Front Brakes on a 1998 Saturn

Saturn is renowned for affordable and safe sedans. The 1998 Saturn S series incorporated both safety and affordability. It came equipped with anti-lock brakes as well as disc brakes at all four wheels. Disc brakes use brake pads that must be replaced as the pads wear out. Some simple ways to tell if your brakes need changing are if you hear a squealing or a grinding sound as you drive or when you are braking.

Instructions

Loosen the lug nuts on the wheels that you are going to be removing--either both front wheels or both rear wheels. When you're replacing the front brakes, place wheel chocks behind the rear tires to help keep the car from rolling. When replacing the rear brakes, place wheel chocks in front of the front tires. Put the car in park, but do not apply a parking brake.

Situate the floor jack beneath the axle or the frame rail. Raise the car up so the wheel is more than 2 inches off the ground. Set the jack stands beneath the axle or the frame rail for support. Lower the car onto the jack stand. Remove the loosened lug nuts and wheel.

Remove the bolts on the mounting bracket with the socket wrench. The mounting bracket is the metal half moon piece that is sitting on the rotor and was revealed when the tire was removed. With the twine or wire, hang the bracket from the underside of the wheel well so there is no pressure on the brake line.

Remove the brake pads. The brake are seated in the mounting bracket and are held in by two small metal clips. Remove these clips by hand and the pads should easily slip out of the bracket.

Place one of the used brake pads on the brake caliper (the cylinder in the center of the mounting bracket) and clamp the C-clamp onto it. Compress the cylinder until it is flush with the base of the bracket.

Install the new brake pads by sliding them into the same spot where the old ones were. Set the metal clips back in behind them so they are holding the pads in.

Bolt the mounting bracket back onto the rotor. Set the wheel back on the rotor and tighten all of the lugs finger-tight. Lower the vehicle and tighten all of the lugs with the tire iron.