How to change the brake pads on a Corsa C

Here we are again, another quick guide sharing my experience of changing the brake pads on my 2002 Corsa C. So lets begin, pretty straight-forward.

1. Jack the car up and get that wheel off, to help you access the calipers more easily I would turn the steering wheel all the way round in the direction of the side you are working on.

2. First thing to do is to gently but forcefully push the piston, which engages the brake, all the way back. You can do this by getting a screw driver behind the inside brake pad and using some leverage push the piston back. The separated piston is marked by the red arrow. Make sure it is all the way back to ensure the there is enough room for the caliper to slip over the new thicker brake pads.

3. You can either remove the two bolts marked by the blue arrows, or loosen the top one and remove the bottom and swing the caliper up. I removed both to give me some room.

4. With the caliper off, what you need to do is slide the old brake pads out. Then remove the four anti-rattle clips that hold the pads in place, marked by the red arrows below. As you remove each clip, take note of the clips orientation as you will need to replace them with the new ones that would have come with your new pads.

5. Now do the reverse, replace the four clips with the new ones in your kit. Slip in the pads, make sure you are using the correct pair of pads, I noticed in my kit that the inside pad was slightly different to the outside one. Compare them against the pads you just removed.

6. Slip the caliper back other the new pads lining up the bolt holes. The bolt holes are actually pistons that can be pushed back to compensate for the thicker pad. Tighten up the bolts and you are done, once you put that wheel back on.

Easy enough? Any questions then hit the comments.

How to remove interior door panels from a Corsa C

So the story goes, there was a weird buzzing sound coming from the passenger side door, after eliminating the possible mechanical and electrical faults, I had to investigate further, so I set about removing the interior door panel. 

Removing door panels is quite easy once you know how, and hopefully this 'how to' guide will let you get the job done in 10 minutes.

Step 1 - Removing Screws

To detach the interior door panel there are six screws that must be removed. Four are visible but the other two are concealed beneath the plastics around the door release and the cover around the tweeter.

The plastic around the tweeter can be pulled off by hand or prised off with a flat head screwdriver. The panel is held in place by white plastic clips, there is a good chance that some of these clips will break, they cost pennies and are available from your Vauxhall dealer. Remove the plug from the speaker and set the panel to one side.

The plastic around the door release can be removed using a small flat head screwdriver to pop it off.

With the two covers removed all six screws can be undone.

Step 2 - Detach Electrics

You will notice that the removal of the screws will allow for the panel to be pulled out a bit from the bottomof the door. To prevent any damage to the electrics, get a hand in behind the panel and pop the electric window switches out and disconnect the plugs. Also the wire to the tweeter is attached to the door panel by a white clip and this should be unclipped from the panel.

Step 3 - Detaching the Panel from the Door

There are four clips at the top of the interior panel which hold it to the door, it can be quite tough to get them to release. My advice would be to start with the clip nearest the door catch and jam a screwdriver into the clip to open it up a bit, then lift the panel straight up and the panel should release from the first clip.

Then with quite a bit of force keep tugging the panel upwards and the other three clips should release from the panel with a bit more ease. Don't be afraid to be a bit rough, these clips have quite a grip.

Job done.