It's time now for new brake pads and shoes on my Taurus.

2002 Ford Taurus SEL. >82,000 miles on the clock now. <5% brake wear
left. Not bad considering the amount of miles.

I would like to buy high quality replacement parts from Autozone.
Recomendations? I want to do the work myself. How hard is this job?
When I slip off the front caliper do I need to turn the piston to get
it to retract or do I need to use a clamp? What about removing the
shoes, any tips and/or advice?

After the replacement I will bring the car to the garage to have the
brake fluid flushed. It's a messy job that I would rather have someone
else do.

There is no repair manual out for this year model car. Next year
possibly. These cars are like fleet vehicles, thats probably why there
are no manuals since most of the repairs are done by contracters.



East-

eastwardbound2003 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com wrote:
You did great on the fronts and about normal on the rears as far as wear goes.
The front calipers will push right in with a C-clamp. Get some brake spring tools
for the rears. They "can" be done without, but the tools will make it much easier.
There's a "return spring tool" and a "hold down spring tool".
You can get a cd\DVD image file of the factory shop manuals at www.fordcds.com .
Download and burn it to a CD/DVD. Or, look on Ebay for the factory shop manuals. Don't
bother with Haynes or Chiltons, they aren't much better than useless for specific
repairs.(These are probably the ones that are not available).
On your front brakes, I would suggest replacing the rotors, and possibly the rear
drums also. Good rotors are so inexpensive that it doesn't make sense to pay to
machine them and remove metal needed for heat transfer. The rear drums are pretty
inexpensive for these cars also, you weigh the cost and decide. A 2002 shouldn't have
problems with wheel cylinders, but check and make sure both pistons on each one are
free. Make sure you clean and lube the rear adjusters. Don't forget new spring kits
for the rear and make sure to lube up the front caliper pins with the proper grease.

Best of luck

Eastwardbound,

I replaced the pads and rotors on my daughter's 02 Taurus last spring. If
you live in the northern climates, most likely the rotors will be seized
onto the hubs from roadway salt. I was lucky enough to remove the rotors
with a BFH, but some have to be cut off or heated up to remove.

The rotors on my daughter's car were serviceable, but she tends to have a
heavy brake foot, so I just replaced the rotors, they were not expensive at
Auto-ZOne.

Frank


<eastwardbound2003 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote