Example Job Sheet — Rear Brake Pads

This is a format demonstration, not a real procedure. Every figure, torque value and wear limit below is invented. Do not follow it on a vehicle — build your own sheet from your own manual pages, for your own car.

Source: your own service manual subscription.

Not touched in this job: the hydraulic system. No line is opened, no fluid is drained, no bleeding is required. Discs stay on the car.

0. Before leaving the house

New pads confirmed against the caliper — measure, don't trust the box Scan tool that can put the parking brake into maintenance mode, tested and paired before jacking the car Sockets confirmed by trial fit on the actual bolts Torque wrench covering both 12 N·m and 110 N·m — usually two wrenches Piston tool: check whether this caliper presses or screws in (§2) Jack, two axle stands, four wheel chocks Wire to hang the caliper — never let it hang on the flexible hose Brake cleaner, high-temperature grease, a turkey baster for fluid One-time parts on hand (see torque table) Phone charged, this file saved offline

Retracting two rear pistons pushes fluid back up the system. If the reservoir is at MAX now, draw some out before you start — not while it is running down the wing.

1. Securing the vehicle

Park on the flattest ground available, nose uphill

Chock both wheels of the axle staying down, front and back of each

Loosen the wheel nuts while the wheel is still on the ground

Power off, confirm the ready lamp is out

Jack at the designated point, support at the designated points

Do both sides — pads are replaced in axle sets, never one corner

Never place any part of your body under a vehicle held only by a jack, however briefly.

2. Vehicle-specific cautions

If the rear calipers carry an electric parking brake, the actuator must be put into maintenance mode with a scan tool before the piston is retracted. Forcing a motor-driven piston back mechanically strips the actuator gearing — this is the one step that turns a two-hour job into a new caliper.

Do not press the brake pedal while the pads are out. The piston will come past its seal, and you will be opening the hydraulic system after all.

Rear pistons on parking-brake calipers frequently screw in clockwise rather than pressing straight in. Establish which type this is before reaching for a G-clamp — pressing a screw-in piston destroys the mechanism.

Take the parking brake out of maintenance mode before road testing, and confirm the dash warning has cleared.

3. Disassembly

Placeholder layout — carrier, pads, caliper body, piston, slide pins. Not from any manual.

Remove the wheel

Put the parking brake actuator into maintenance mode and wait for the motor to finish retracting

Photograph the wear sensor routing and every clip before removing anything

Unbolt the lower slide pin bolt, pivot the caliper body up, support it on wire

Lift out the old pads and the anti-rattle shims, keeping inner and outer separate

Withdraw the slide pins, wipe them, inspect the boots

Left and right are mirrored. Do one side completely, then use it as the reference photograph for the other.

4. Inspection

Item	Standard	Limit
Pad lining thickness	11.0 mm	1.0 mm min
Disc thickness	12.0 mm	10.5 mm min
Disc runout	—	0.05 mm max

Pads worn evenly across the face, and inner against outer Slide pins move freely by hand, boots not split or perished Piston boot intact, no fluid weeping behind it Disc face free of scoring, outer edge lip within limit Wear sensor intact, or the replacement on hand

Uneven inner-to-outer wear is a seized slide pin, not a pad fault. New pads on a seized pin wear out exactly the same way.

5. Reassembly

Clean the carrier abutments back to bare metal — do not file them

Grease the abutment contact points and the slide pins with high-temperature grease, and keep copper grease off the pin rubber

Fit new shims, then the pads, with the wear sensor on the specified side

Retract the piston by the method established in §2 — screw or press

Check the reservoir level as you go, not after both sides are done

Pivot the caliper down, torque the slide pin bolt per table

Refit the wheel, torque per table in a star pattern

Take the actuator out of maintenance mode before lowering the car

Pump the brake pedal until firm *before the vehicle moves*

A vehicle moved before the pedal is pumped firm has no brakes on the first application.

6. Final checks and road test

Pedal firm and high, not sinking under steady pressure Reservoir between MIN and MAX, cap seated Parking brake warning cleared on the dash Parking brake holds on a slope, in both directions Wheel nuts re-torqued with the car on the ground Low-speed stops in an empty area before any road use Bed-in per the pad manufacturer's instructions

Re-check the wheel nut torque again after the first short drive.

7. Torque values

Fastener	N·m	Note
Slide pin bolt	34	25 ft-lb
Carrier-to-knuckle bolt	110	81 ft-lb
Wheel nut	103	76 ft-lb, star pattern
Wear sensor screw	1.4	12 in-lbf — not ft-lb
~~Brake hose union~~	15	hose not disconnected in this job

One-time parts: slide pin bolts ×2 per side, anti-rattle shims ×4 per side

8. If you get stuck

Situation	What to do
Piston will not retract	Stop. Confirm maintenance mode is actually engaged, and confirm screw vs press, before applying any more force
Scan tool will not enter maintenance mode	Battery voltage is the usual cause — put it on a charger and retry before removing anything
Caliper will not pivot up	The upper slide pin is seized in its bore, not the bolt — free the pin rather than levering the body
Reservoir overflowed	Flush it off paintwork with water immediately; brake fluid lifts paint in minutes
Pedal goes to the floor afterwards	Do not drive it. Pump and re-check; if it stays soft, something has moved past a seal
Parking brake warning stays on	Still in maintenance mode, or the actuator did not complete its cycle — re-run the exit routine

*Format demonstration for service-manual-offline-kit. A real job sheet is built from your own manual pages and carries your own vehicle's figures.*