How to Replace Brakes on a 2001 Oldsmobile 88

The 2001 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale comes with 4-wheel, all-round disc brakes. These brakes need to be changed every three to seven years, depending on the amount that you drive, the quality of brakes on the car and the type of driving you do. For example, when driving in the city you use your brakes more often than when driving on the freeway. Disc brakes are by far the easiest brake for the do-it-yourself mechanic to change. The whole job, for all four tires, should take around two hours.

Instructions

1

Loosen the lugs nuts using the tire iron. Place the wood blocks in front of the tires you will not be removing.

2

Raise the vehicle using the floor jack. Set the jack beneath the support strut that runs along the outer edge of the undercarriage. Raise it enough to allow the tires to clear the ground. Place the jack stands underneath the same strut as the jack.

3

Remove the lugs nuts completely and take the tire off. Set these all aside.

4

Remove the mounting bracket bolts with a socket wrench. The mounting bracket is the metal half-circle that is revealed when you remove the tire. Tie the mounting bracket to the undercarriage with rope to prevent stress damage to the brake line.

5

Remove the brake pads from the bracket by hand.

6

Compress the caliper cylinder with the C-clamp. The caliper cylinder is the 3- to 6-inch wide cylinder in the center of the bracket. Make sure that it is flush with the bracket.

7

Install the new brake pads where the old ones were.

8

Reattach the mounting bracket to the rotor. Reattach the tire and finger-tighten the lug nuts. Lower the vehicle and the tighten all of the nuts with the tire iron.