How to Replace Brake Rotors on a Nissan Sentra

By Core Brake Parts Tech Team — Circleville, OH warehouse

How to replace brake rotors on a Nissan Sentra and you get a dozen conflicting videos, but the job is short and predictable: it is the pad job plus two extra steps, getting the caliper bracket off the knuckle and getting the old rotor off the hub. Everything else is the same sequence of lifting, unbolting, and torquing. The two steps that decide whether the work lasts are cleaning the hub face and bedding the new parts in properly.

Tools and supplies

• Floor jack and jack stands. Never work under a vehicle held only by a jack.
• Lug wrench and a socket set, with a breaker bar for the caliper bracket bolts
• C-clamp or a dedicated piston tool
• Brake cleaner and a wire brush
• High-temperature silicone caliper grease for the slide pins
• Anti-seize for the hub face
• Torque wrench
• A hook or length of wire to hang the caliper
• New rotors in axle pairs and a matching set of new pads

A rear job on some model years also needs a cube-style piston tool, which is covered below.

Step by step: how to replace brake rotors on a Nissan Sentra

1. Loosen the lug nuts a quarter turn while the wheel is still on the ground and the parking brake is set.
2. Lift the corner and support the vehicle on jack stands before any part of you goes near the wheel well.
3. Remove the wheel and set it under the rocker as a backup.
4. Unbolt the caliper and hang it from a hook or wire so the flexible hose carries none of its weight. Letting a caliper dangle on the hose damages the hose from the inside.
5. Unbolt the caliper bracket from the knuckle. These fasteners are usually the tightest ones on the corner, which is where the breaker bar earns its place.
6. Remove the old rotor. On most cars nothing holds it but rust and a small retaining screw. Back the screw out first if one is fitted.
7. If the rotor will not come free, soak the hub area with penetrating oil and tap around the hat with a hammer, working around the circumference rather than hitting one spot. Many rotors also have two threaded jacking holes; threading bolts into them presses the rotor evenly off the hub.
8. Clean the hub face down to bare metal with a wire brush and brake cleaner. Rust or debris trapped under the rotor hat is a leading cause of thickness variation and pedal pulsation weeks later. A light film of anti-seize on the hub face, kept away from the friction surfaces, makes the next removal far easier.
9. Wipe the protective oil off the new rotor with brake cleaner. It is shipped coated to prevent corrosion, and leaving it on will contaminate the new pads.
10. Fit the new rotor, then reinstall the caliper bracket and caliper. Clean and re-grease the slide pins with high-temperature silicone caliper grease while the bracket is off.
11. Fit the new pads, refit the wheel, and torque the lug nuts in a star pattern.
12. Before moving the car, pump the brake pedal until it is firm. The pistons were retracted and the first pedal stroke will otherwise go to the floor.
13. Bed in the new rotors and pads following the pad maker's procedure before any hard driving.

Every torque figure in this job, for the caliper bolts, bracket bolts, and lug nuts, comes from the service manual for your model year. Do not guess them and do not borrow numbers from another vehicle.

Nissan Sentra specifics worth knowing before you start

The rotors themselves are light enough to handle comfortably by hand, which makes this a friendly first rotor job. The complication is at the rear. On many model years the rear caliper pistons must be rotated back into their bores with a cube-style tool rather than simply pressed with a C-clamp, because the parking brake mechanism threads the piston in. Forcing one straight back with a clamp can wreck the internal mechanism.

Model years fitted with an electronic parking brake add another step: the system has to be put into service or maintenance mode before the rear caliper will retract. Without it, the actuator holds the piston out and no amount of tool pressure will help. Confirm which setup your car has before you take the rear apart, so you are not stranded mid-job waiting on a tool or a scan tool.

Do not skip the bed-in

Bedding is a series of controlled stops that lays an even layer of pad material onto the rotor face. Skipping it, or coming to a hard stop and sitting with the pedal down on hot brakes, deposits material unevenly and produces exactly the shudder most owners were trying to cure. Follow the procedure supplied with the pads, and avoid hard, prolonged braking for the first stretch of driving afterward.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to replace both rotors at once?

Yes, replace rotors in axle pairs. Mismatched friction surfaces or differing thickness between the two sides of an axle produce uneven braking and pulling.

Can I reuse my old pads with new rotors?

Old pads carry a wear pattern matched to the old discs and a transfer layer from a different surface. Fit new pads with new rotors so the pair beds together.

How do I get a rotor off that is rusted to the hub?

Remove the retaining screw if fitted, soak the hub with penetrating oil, and tap around the hat rather than hammering one point. If the rotor has two threaded jacking holes, thread bolts into them and tighten evenly to push it off.

Why does my pedal go to the floor after the job?

The caliper pistons were pushed back and need to travel out again to meet the pads. Pump the pedal until it is firm before the car moves. If it stays soft after several pumps, stop and look for air or a leak.