changing front brake pads on my 10 plate Jimny.

What do I need to do to change the front brake pads. I may need to skim the disks so they would need removing. Any advice would be most welcome. Thanks. I do like my Jimny!.
 

To just do pads then you take the wheel off and then there are 2 12mm bolts that hold the caliper sliders on. The sliders will almost certainly be seized nearly solid unless they have been off in the last year. To get the discs off you need to remove the 2 17mm bolts for the caliper carrier. Don't let the caliper hang by the brake line flexible pipe use a bungee or something to support it out of the way. The discs are also likely to be seized on the hubs too. If budget allows for new discs you can beat the old ones off. If the budget won't allow replacement then a soft face hammer or similar will save some damage.

You'll also need to push the piston back in using a big G-clamp and a block of wood, or similar.  If the brake fluid has been topped up to the MAX mark then you'll need to suck some out or open the caliper bleed screw while retracting the piston.

You MUST thoroughly clean the hub face before fitting new discs or refitting skimmed ones.  Ideally you should also get a dial gauge and check runout before using the car.  If the discs are fitted to a dirty hub and have more than a gnat's whisker of runout (0.05mm is a common limit) they will need doing again in 3,000 miles' time.  I'm afraid some professional mechanics fall prey to this one.

If at any point you're not sure what you're doing, get someone who does.  Front brakes in particular must work!

Lambert wrote:

The discs are also likely to be seized on the hubs too. If budget allows for new discs you can beat the old ones off. If the budget won't allow replacement then a soft face hammer or similar will save some damage.

It scares me whenever I see people asking on the internet how to work on brakes... 

Please don't beat on the disks with a hammer, it's designed with "jacking screws".

Thanks Lambert for your help and concern, I am a retired agricultural engineer so I understand the safety issues, it was just what process I needed to adopt, I will try and fit new discs as well. Thank you for your concern. John.

Definitely do not open the bleed nipple 
Remove the cap on the reservoir this will allow fluid to be pushed back 
Just keep an eye on the level 

jackonlyjack wrote:

Definitely do not open the bleed nipple 
 

There are valid reasons to do it both ways - pushing the fluid back through the lines pushes a lot of debris & dead rubber particles back to the master cylinder, releasing the bleed nipple allows that dirty fluid to be ejected, but, there is a risk of allowing air into the system, so that you need to bleed it afterwards.

Given that you more than likely also need to do a fluid change, crack the bleed nipple expel the dirty fluid, fit new pads, use a turkey baster to pull as much old fluid as you can out of the reservoir, refill and bleed, get two jobs done at the same time.

Also, removing the cap.on the reservoir makes no difference to pushing the fluid back.  The cap is vented.

The reason opening the bleed nipple is often recommended is because of debris contamination (as above) but also because pushing back to the reservoir can invert the master cylinder seals on some cars, leading to a very bad car day.  I don't think the Jimny is one of these, but some Vauxhalls are prone to it.