Rotor Replacement

Well, due to neglect on my behalf, the rear rotors on my '99 Grand Prix are pretty fairly grooved. Given that I don't want to pay the local shop $750 to replace the rotors and pads, I've decided to do it myself. I was told on here once when asking about the front brakes that the rotors were a bit of a pain due to a clip of some sort. Is it the same story on the rear rotors, or will they just pull off with a bit of elbow grease? Is there anything I should know beforehand?

On a somewhat similar note, the local shop also told me that the pads were wearing unevenly, one pad was at 90% and the other at 35%, and recommended new calipers and a brake flush. Is this all necessary? And, is it something that I can do in an afternoon with my step-dad, or should I take it to a shop to have it done?

And finally, when driving up inclines, my car will shudder and hesitate, and the tachometer will jump around by a few hundred RPM. I had a transmission flush done, but that didn't solve it at all. Any ideas? The only thing I've been able to think of it being close to is that I've had a problem every so often with plug wires 1 and 4 arcing between the ends where they plug in at, the opposite end from where they plug into the spark plugs (not sure of the proper term, sorry). This was most noticeable after my car sat for about six months while I was at basic training and AIT, and has gone down. When it was happening, the tachometer would jump every so often at idle and it would throw a misfire code.

EDIT: And one final problem (Yeah, I know): The dashboard no longer illuminates at night. Idiot lights are all there and working just fine, but the gauges don't light up at all. The illumination on the climate control panel has been coming and going. Is this likely a wiring issue inside the dash, or is there a fuse I can replace to hopefully fix it all?

Thanks in advance!

Well, due to neglect on my behalf, the rear rotors on my '99 Grand Prix are pretty fairly grooved. Given that I don't want to pay the local shop $750 to replace the rotors and pads, I've decided to do it myself. I was told on here once when asking about the front brakes that the rotors were a bit of a pain due to a clip of some sort. Is it the same story on the rear rotors, or will they just pull off with a bit of elbow grease? Is there anything I should know beforehand?

On a somewhat similar note, the local shop also told me that the pads were wearing unevenly, one pad was at 90% and the other at 35%, and recommended new calipers and a brake flush. Is this all necessary? And, is it something that I can do in an afternoon with my step-dad, or should I take it to a shop to have it done?

I have a '98. I change my brakes all the time. I am not one of the experts, but nobody has answered yet.

If the clips you are talking about are the clips that hold the pad to the caliper, this is not a big issue. You can reuse the old ones or replace them with the new ones that come with the pad. There are two bolts that hold the caliper on and when you undo them, you actually pull this pin out. That pin is protected from water by a boot. It should be greased. The caliper halves slide on this pin. If it is gummed up, one side will wear more than the other. I usually use GM lubraplate for it and grease it up real good before putting it back together.

Oh, and I would recommend ceramic pads. There is less metal dust and it looks clean for longer between washes.



And finally, when driving up inclines, my car will shudder and hesitate, and the tachometer will jump around by a few hundred RPM. I had a transmission flush done, but that didn't solve it at all. Any ideas? The only thing I've been able to think of it being close to is that I've had a problem every so often with plug wires 1 and 4 arcing between the ends where they plug in at, the opposite end from where they plug into the spark plugs (not sure of the proper term, sorry). This was most noticeable after my car sat for about six months while I was at basic training and AIT, and has gone down. When it was happening, the tachometer would jump every so often at idle and it would throw a misfire code.


I would change the spark plug wires.


EDIT: And one final problem (Yeah, I know): The dashboard no longer illuminates at night. Idiot lights are all there and working just fine, but the gauges don't light up at all. The illumination on the climate control panel has been coming and going. Is this likely a wiring issue inside the dash, or is there a fuse I can replace to hopefully fix it all?

Thanks in advance!

Yeah, I've been having some problems lately and will have to track them down when it gets warmer.

Thanks a lot :). Looks like there's still hope for this old thing. 130k and still going.

I have a 2000 GP and do my own brakes as well. The rotors you can take into a shop to have checked to see if they are with in specs and have them turned, or it might be cheaper to buy them new outright. Seems I paid about $25 each for mine. The clip I think you are referring to hold the rotor to the hub. They are little rings with ribs that screw on to the stud to hold the rotor to the hub. The can be a pain the arse for sure. I use a small screwdriver to spin them off with. It takes me about an hour to do my brakes if there are no issues. Good luck.

And by the way, thanks for your service. Good luck and stay safe. Most bases will have an auto skills shop that you can use for a nominal fee for the stall use, usually have an excellent selection of tools, racks, body shop and maybe a paint booth. Anyway, thanks again.

Thanks a lot :). Looks like there's still hope for this old thing. 130k and still going.

130,000? It's just getting broke in. Lot's of miles left yet with good regular maintenance..I have 142,500 and runs like new.

...The dashboard no longer illuminates at night. Idiot lights are all there and working just fine, but the gauges don't light up at all. The illumination on the climate control panel has been coming and going. Is this likely a wiring issue inside the dash, or is there a fuse I can replace to hopefully fix it all?

Thanks in advance!
There's two fuses for the guage lighting, both 10A. One is for the shift indicator lighting, the other for cluster.

If they test o.k., pull out the headlamp switch and check the solid grey dimmer wire to the cluster for voltage. The most common fault is the dimmer rheostat gets worn-dirty. A good fix is cleaning it with "T.V. Tuner-Electrical" aerosol cleaner. Either that or replace it.

An old retired mechanic once told me that if you replace the plugs and wires in just about any car, you'll solve 90% of engine problems. That held true :D. Thanks for the advice so far, turns out the shop that did the wires on my car didn't bother shrouding them correctly, and I even had one nearly resting on the exhaust manifold. It was brittle, had burn marks, and blistered up half the wire. This was after just 20k miles. Perhaps I'm just crazy, but I had thought that decent plug wires lasted much longer?

Got the front bank done today, it's way too cold to mess around with the rear bank. Already though, it's idling much smoother and sounding much healthier. Rear pads and rotors this Saturday :D. I'll update you guys on the status. Thanks again!

And an update! Thanks again to everyone's advice. What the shop wanted $750 for cost me about $80 in parts, and $60 in oil and filters for my girlfriend's step-dad, who has his own little shop. In exchange for me picking up his stuff, he helped me do the brake job. Turns out you guys were right, the stickiness was the pins on the calipers. Girlfriend's step-dad lubed them up and said they should be fine, and he didn't feel any garbage or issues when he was pushing the pistons in on the brakes. The other shop claimed they needed to break the lines, flush the fluid, and put new calipers on to fix the problem.

I can understand that smaller shops need to charge a bit more for the same service for obvious reasons, but this was ridiculous. You guys saved me a TON of money. Thanks!

Is there a good step by step video or pics or just written instructions on how to do the brakes front and back....any help would be appreciated.....my brakes are getting baaad. oh by the way i have a 2004 gtp 3.8