I am a small bit of a newbie and not really used to getting under the bonnet so to speak, but I need to replace my pads on the 1.1 Eco Active panda 2010.

I should say, I have done this before - once - on this car with no mishaps or issues, and I am generally reasonably competent and methodical, so rest assured that any advice you give will not make you liable for some idiot haring down the motorway without working brakes.

So, tonight I am swapping out my old brake pads and replacing with new. They are very worn, and I simply don't have the time or the convenient option to take to a garage.

The last time I did it I remember unscrewing the cap on the brake fluid reservoir to allow the fluid to push back when I slowly wind the calipers back in. Is that actually necessary, or is that just a precautionary step? I am aware of the effect of brake fluid on paintwork and its hydroscopic nature.

The second question is around support. Last time I think I relied on a mechanical jack with the removed tyre placed underneath the car to avoid a catastrophic fall to the ground. Since then I've been passed some axel stands, and would therefore intend to use them. However, I'd need some guidance as to where to place them under the car to avoid damage.

A photo would be most helpful, or a diagram. Sadly just saying "directly onto the subframe" will mean little to me as my experience under there is so limited.

Thanks in advance for the help!

On my old 500 (same basic platform)
I placed the stand where the rear of the subframe is bolted to the body shell and where the link bar's go towards the front bumper mount

LOL, if only I knew what a subframe looked like or what a link bar was! (Though I do have an idea what a bumper is!)

I would suggest you jack at the jacking points and support on the subframe beside the wishbone. Or the other way round, if that is easier.
I have attached some images to help.
Yes, you will have to push back the caliper piston to get the new pads in.
It is probably better to loosen the bleed nipple and allow the excess fluid behind the piston out there, through a pipe into a jar, as pushing it back through the master cylinder could cause issues.
Before I got a rewind tool, I would take the caliper and pads off, then put the caliper over the disc and pulling back use the disc as a lever to push the piston back in. Then put in one new pad and go again , maybe next time on old worn pad etc until the piston is fully retracted - then tighten up the bleed nipple again.
Be careful with the bleed nipple, use a ring spanner as they can easily round - and snap off!!!!
If this is still a mystery to you, I'm afraid I'd suggest going to a garage.

Cheers Dave, that's clear. I'm fine with the bleed nipple etc, once I got my head around the fact that these are basically mountain bike hydralic brakes with extra "heft" I'm comfortable with the process. It was more doing damage to under the car that I was concerned about with the axle stands, and after a few googles seemed to come up with nothing nicely pictoral for the axle stands to be used I thought I'd just be explicit with the question here.

As I say, I've done the pads before so I'm confident about that side of things. Fingers crossed there's no unexpected issues arising along the way.

What size nut is the bleed nipple by the way?

I'm one of the idiots that does a job like that on my hydraulic jack. But I do shove the wheel under the car. Front pistons do not need to be wound in.

gr J

The bleed nipple is 8mm, I'm almost 100% sure.
The front pistons don't need to be wound in, but do need to be pushed in. The wind-in tool is just handy to do it.

All done, took about 40mins.

Old pads were unevenly worn, outside pad down to the metal, inside pad with about 50% left.

When your say piston didn't need being wound back just pushed back, what do you mean? I've just used one of the old pads plus a g-clamp to push it back gently, did the job fine.

The easiest way to push back the pistons is to open the bleed nipple (with tube to catch bottle of course). This removes the old degraded fluid from inside the caliper. When done top up the fluid reservoir.

Uneven pad wear suggest the caliper sliders are sticking. Repair kits to replace the sliding bushes, pins etc are low cost. Did you replace the discs?

Solid disc parts
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-PANDA-1-1-1-2-FRONT-BRAKE-PADS-DISCS-240mm-SOLID-PAIR-FULL-2003-On/110902566424?hash=item19d24ede18:g:Kw8AAOSwXj5avUII

Vented versions (less braked fade - maybe) are also available. Others will know if they can be retrofitted.

Sliders
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-PANDA-2004-2012-FRONT-BRAKE-CALIPER-SLIDER-PINS-GUIDE-BOLT-KIT-BCF1355J/230993630501?hash=item35c84b1525:g:vJ0AAOSwkiZcywq3

Pistons and seals
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brake-Caliper-Repair-Kit-Piston-Front-48mm-Fiat-500-312-Panda-169-ford-Ka-RU8/183947241937?fits=Car+Make%3AFiat&hash=item2ad41c29d1:g:tPgAAOSwqU9cxwta

I jack off the subframe bolts but that leaves not enough space to use the axle stands.

I have axle stands from Halfords. They are solid and not too wobbly when extended. I use the wheel change sill jacking points with slotted wood blocks to protect the welded seam flange..

The blocks are 3" x 2" x 4" timber battens with a slot cut along to slip over the sill flange. Weight is carried on the sill floor as it would be with the wheel change jack. I'm a bit of a geek so I ran some screws through the solid side to avoid the blocks splitting.

DaveMcT said:

The easiest way to push back the pistons is to open the bleed nipple (with tube to catch bottle of course). This removes the old degraded fluid from inside the caliper. When done top up the fluid reservoir.

Uneven pad wear suggest the caliper sliders are sticking. Repair kits to replace the sliding bushes, pins etc are low cost. Did you replace the discs?

Click to expand...

No, this was just an emergency "aarh, that is a metal on metal noise from my discs, I'd better sort new pads out tonight" job. Discs were in good shape, I think I'd only got one side worn down almost fully, and hadn't needed to apply the brakes significantly once I'd heard the noise.

Changing the discs would likely be a step beyond what I felt happy with as it would need removal of the calipers too. Given how straightfoward the mechanism for accessing the pads is on the Panda, and I'd done it once before, I'm happy to limit myself to that.

There's 140k miles on the clock, and I don't think there is much life left in the car for me with a variety of things starting to fall apart, and little sale value prospect, so this was very much a "keep it on the road" maintenance job. £11 including free same day delivery of the new pads

No need to remove the calipers beyond what you allready do to change the pads
Just 3/4 Extra boots two on the back of the hub that bolt the caliper mounting frame to the rear
These boots will likely be stuff to remove as the get all the spray from the road hitting them so a breaker bar would probably be needed

Then 1 or two wheel locating pegs/bolts hold the disc's to the hub

Cheers, one for the future potentially, assuming the car lasts much longer in my hands.

Though anything which needs some serious strength I'm loathe to get stuck in with as history tells me I'm likely to strip "something" or cause a straightforward problem (for a mechanic) that I can't readily solve!

Tapping out the retaining bar on the calipers is about as far as I want to go with any brute strength (I remembered the hint from last time of using a hex tool from a socket set in lieu of a properly shaped drift, and that worked a treat again).

I generally do remove the caliper but its not necessary for pads replacements. It's held by two fine thread high tensile bolts inserted from the "inside". Unless the car is on a lift, they are not easy to get excessively tight. They should be tightened with a torque wrench.

For pad replacements remove the retaining pin and the caliper lifts away easily. See below. Always fit a new R pin or split pin.You might need to replace the larger retaining pin.