HELP Needed With Brakes

[csilkman]

The brakes on my 1989 Acura SLX/Trooper are very mushy and I haven't replaced them in a while. I am fearful of going to the dealer and getting screwed. I am very handy and work on my Mustang all the time, but have NEVER done a brake job of any sorts.

Should I do it myself, or suck it up and pay the dealer, or some quick brake job place to do it?

If you say do it myself, which I hope you do where do I start? I saw the FAQ and it has a link to a manual (http://bo.rmmusic.ru/) but the downloads don't work.

Is there a step-by-step guide somewhere that will tell me how to do a brake job? I have a ton of tools, but do I need anything special?

Thanks for any help!

[tinytrixie]

Silk you won't find these brakes any harder than any other vehicle. You can buy a set of rebuilt calipers with the mounting bracket included for around $100-150. The only tough part is removing the front rotors. I opted to have an Isuzu dealer here repack the front wheel bearings & turn the rotors, they did it for $345. Seems like a lot but I would have had to buy a number of special tools. The removal is somewhat involved. The rears are easy. A good bleeding can remove some of the mushiness also. Brake systems are supposed to be bled every so often, as the fluid becomes contaminated with moisture. Hydraulic systems are not perfectly air tight. I found several articles about brake bleeding, here is one: http://www.valvoline.com/carcare/art...=ccr20011001bb
Did you download the unpacking utility for the Russian site. the link is in the faq, I downloaded 2 at a time and when I had all 12 I just droped them one at a time over the icon & it unpacked them. It really does work! Here is the link to the unpack program: http://www.win-rar.com/index.php?id=160&dl=wrar35b4.exe

[csilkman]

Originally Posted by tinytrixie

Did you download the unpacking utility for the Russian site. the link is in the faq, I downloaded 2 at a time and when I had all 12 I just droped them one at a time over the icon & it unpacked them. It really does work! Here is the link to the unpack program: http://www.win-rar.com/index.php?id=160&dl=wrar35b4.exe

Thank you for the information, and the article. Ragrding the manual from the russion site... I can get to the site, but the download links do not work for me here http://bo.rmmusic.ru. Do they still work for you?

Would you be able to email me the manual? Or perhaps FTP it to me?

[csilkman]

I got the links to the manuals to work last night that is a huge help. The manual pretty much tells you what to do step-by-step.

Thanks again, I also liked the Valvoline articles... they have some good photos in them.