I have a 2011 Prius, and this car has been very reliable so far. It also delivers 50+ miles/gallon. It is a hybrid car that generates electricity as the break pedal is pressed, and that electrical energy is put back to the battery. It not only saves fuel but also the break pads since most of the energy is recaptured into battery. Therefore the break pads operate less frequently at reduced loads. This significantly extends their life time. My veteran Prius is about at 100K miles and it still had the original factory break pads.

As the car has been so reliable, all needed to do so far was to replace the battery and the wiper blades once, which were both simple DIY tasks. I also replace the cabin and engine filters myself on a regular basis.

This leaves only the regular oil changes that I get done at the dealership. They also do a multi-point inspection and let me know if there are any issues with the car, and typically there is none. At least that was the case until my last oil change visit at which I was advised that the front wheel break pads and possibly the rotor needed replacement with a quoted price of about $500.

I am a DIY person but I don’t have much experience with cars. Never attempted mechanical repairs. However, we are now at the YouTube DIY age. After watching multiple videos, I declared myself a theoretical break pad replacement expert.

Having said that, I fully understand that breaks are critical components of a car, and should be treated with great care. So I was reluctant to take this on all by myself. Fortunately, I have a friend who has been fooling around with cars for many years. I asked him if he could watch over my shoulder as I attempt my first ever break pad replacement. He kindly agreed.

This post is more like a note to future self as I might attempt to the rear wheel pads in a couple of years. It turned out that the rotors were just fine and didn’t need replacement. Overall it took us about an hour to get everything done.

Parts list

We will need all of the following parts listed in Tab. 1. Also see the image picker in Fig. 1 to see how they look.

Table 1: The list of parts and links.

Figure 1: Blueprint templates for LTspice circuit.

In the text above, I didn’t mention a couple of critical points. Here is the chronological order of steps:

1. It is the safest to keep the key fob away from the car. We don’t want the car to engage the breaks as it is parked.
2. Disconnect the 12V battery terminal for the same reason as in 1.
3. Loosen the cap of the break fluid reservoir. This will help the fluid flow back easily as the piston is pushed back to fit in the new pads.
4. Clean the rotor with the break cleaner and use the rust remover as needed. Use thick gloves since these chemical are nasty. Use a container to catch the drops.
5. A Disc Brake Pad Spreader would be useful to push the piston. Or you can jeryrig something as I did.
6. Take lots of photos as you go. The orientation of the pads and the clips get confusing.
7. Use lubrication for the metallic contact points (except for the pad-rotor interface, obviously!)
8. Check the caliper boot condition and if the pin moves freely. Add lubrication if needed.
9. Put it all back together, tighten the lugs to the specified torques.
10. Drive the car for a few miles and engage the brakes multiple times.
11. Come back to check the lugs and make sure they are still at the correct torque.

And this was my first ever break pad change. This was $50 cost in total, excluding the cost for the torque wrench and the socket. And it was one hour in total. Pretty good deal compared to $500, and I had so much fun doing this!