Front Brake Pad Replacement 2007 Prius standard

Hi Jeff, welcome to PC.
The front pads on the Prius are easy to change, in fact the same as many other cars. There are a couple of differences to note however to prevent you ending up at the dealers anyway.
Number one:- Disconnect the 12 volt battery in the rear of the car before starting work.
Number two:- Do not under any circumstances undo the bleed nipples or any hydraulic pipes to the brakes. Letting air into the Prius brake system or removing the positive pressure means the brakes will need to be bled. This cannot be done in the normal way and requires a laptop and specialist equipment to do.
Do not let this put you off just heed the warning.

John (Britprius)

 

I agree with the prior post.

I wanted to comment on the OP's assertion above. Would it make you feel better to spend $350 per occurrence if the brake pads wore out every 40K miles??

In any event, the front pad replacement can be quite routine as long as you disconnect the 12V battery first, to make sure the skid control ECU does not power up the brake actuator pump, which would then apply hydraulic pressure to the front disc calipers, perhaps at a time when the pads have been removed. You don't need the caliper piston to shoot out of the caliper.

Use a C-clamp to retract the caliper piston to make room for the new pads. Do not open the caliper bleed valve.