Honda Car Forum

This just doesn't seem normal. I have an '02 Accord. Replaced brake pads at 10,905 miles, had to cut down warped rotors and replace pads at 25,080 miles, and just yesterday at 39,457 miles had to replace the pads and have the warped rotors replaced (too thin to cut again). Service manager said it was normal. Right! This doesn't seem like normal wear and tear. Comments please!

No. I had a 99 LX with 30k on it and no brake pad replacement. My 01
Prelude went through the 30k check -- no brake pads. Dealer tells me they
will likely make it to 60k.
"Tom" <tfirchow@rcn.com> wrote in message
news:a9b4588e38933f53e95ecdd8ec05d919@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
> This just doesn't seem normal. I have an '02 Accord. Replaced brake pads
at 10,905 miles, had to cut down warped rotors and replace pads at 25,080
miles, and just yesterday at 39,457 miles had to replace the pads and have
the warped rotors replaced (too thin to cut again). Service manager said it
was normal. Right! This doesn't seem like normal wear and tear. Comments
please!
>

On Tue, 18 Nov 2003 23:14:25 -0600, "Tom" <tfirchow@rcn.com> wrote:

>This just doesn't seem normal. I have an '02 Accord. Replaced brake pads at 10,905 miles,

Why? If they were worn out at that milage, something is wrong.

> had to cut down warped rotors and replace pads at 25,080 miles,

A waste of time and money. Never turn Honda rotors.
If they're bad, replace them.

> and just yesterday at 39,457 miles had to replace the pads and have the warped rotors replaced (too thin to cut again).

Too thin to cut in the first place.

>Service manager said it was normal. Right! This doesn't seem like normal wear and tear. >Comments please!

You can go two ways. The first is to buy cheapo rotors and pads and
replace them often. Do it yourself, it's not that hard.
The second way is to buy top quality aftermarket rotors and pads.
What usage do your brakes get? Do you drive steep mountain roads?
Do you charge stopsigns like an angry bull? Do you drive in salt-laden
slush?

And stay away from dealers. Find a good independent mechanic who owns
his own shop, in as obscure a location as possible. Somebody who has
to do good work because he gets no walk-in business. Go to dealers for
parts and warranty work only.

Honda is clearly not at Toyota level, regarding brakes.

My Accord 99 had a few issues regarding brakes.

In 70000 miles, I am on my third set of front/read pads. Never changed a
rotor, though.

Last set of front pads (OEM Honda) lasted only 22000 miles. Now I am
trying el cheap organic pads at a third of Honda price. Being softer,
chances are that it will save my rotor for a while. I always felt a slight
pulsation when braking from 50mph. Not unbearable.

My last set of rear pads seem to tough longer this time. Where the pads are
installed on the galiber, there are two copper shims (up and down). Make
sure that they are cleaned and lubed. I suspect this to be the reason why
my rear brakes are doing so well. Also check is the wheel is really free
and can be turned easily by hand. It was mentionned to never cut rotor
because it is a waste of time; this is my opinion as well. Replace them if
they vibrate too much.


"Tom" <tfirchow@rcn.com> wrote in message
news:a9b4588e38933f53e95ecdd8ec05d919@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
> This just doesn't seem normal. I have an '02 Accord. Replaced brake pads
at 10,905 miles, had to cut down warped rotors and replace pads at 25,080
miles, and just yesterday at 39,457 miles had to replace the pads and have
the warped rotors replaced (too thin to cut again). Service manager said it
was normal. Right! This doesn't seem like normal wear and tear. Comments
please!
>

I would have the REAR brakes checked for proper operation.
Especially if you are noticing a the big difference in the amount
of brake dust accumulating on your front wheels, compared to the
rear. Often we find front rotor problems can be attributed to
the rears not being properly adjusted, particularly if the
vehicle is assembled with rear drum brakes, resulting in the
front brakes doing more than their share of the work and over
heating. During routine service intervals we make it a point to
always adjust the brakes, which has helped reduce that problem.


mike hunt



Tom wrote:
>
> This just doesn't seem normal. I have an '02 Accord. Replaced brake pads at 10,905 miles, had to cut down warped rotors and replace pads at 25,080 miles, and just yesterday at 39,457 miles had to replace the pads and have the warped rotors replaced (too thin to cut again). Service manager said it was normal. Right! This doesn't seem like normal wear and tear. Comments please!

Had the same problem on my 99 Prelude. My local dealership told me I
must drive my car pretty hard (perhaps...). Anyway, after speaking to a
few mechanics, one thing they all commented on is that the break-in
period of new brakes is important and that when taking off/putting back
on wheels, the lugs should always be hand torqued (use a torque wrench).
Notice that most shops (including Honda dealerships) will use their
air gun to torque the lug on (NOT GOOD). Torquing the lug by hand
ensure that you don't apply excessive force and that you apply even
force on all the lugs (and therefore on the whole disk).

BTW. I believe that most Honda's require 80 ft/lb for the lugs. Check
your owner's manual.

Tom wrote:
> This just doesn't seem normal. I have an '02 Accord. Replaced brake pads at 10,905 miles, had to cut down warped rotors and replace pads at 25,080 miles, and just yesterday at 39,457 miles had to replace the pads and have the warped rotors replaced (too thin to cut again). Service manager said it was normal. Right! This doesn't seem like normal wear and tear. Comments please!
>

MajorDomo@mailcity.com quoth thusly in
news:3FBBC34A.E2A32206@mailcity.com:

> I would have the REAR brakes checked for proper operation.
> Especially if you are noticing a the big difference in the amount
> of brake dust accumulating on your front wheels, compared to the
> rear.


This is nonsense. Front brakes on ANY car will generate the bulk of the
stopping power. Some vehicles, particularly German RWD ones, will generate
substantially more front brake dust than rear, and that's with the brakes
operating correctly.


> Often we find front rotor problems can be attributed to
> the rears not being properly adjusted, particularly if the
> vehicle is assembled with rear drum brakes, resulting in the
> front brakes doing more than their share of the work and over
> heating. During routine service intervals we make it a point to
> always adjust the brakes, which has helped reduce that problem.


So you pull the handbrake up and down a few times. Big deal.


Front rotor problems are mainly due to these factors:
1) Repeated aggressive braking
2) Aftermarket pads too hard
3) Seized pads
4) Seized calipers
5) Seized pistons
6) Rotors with insufficient heat-sink mass due to machining or design
7) Combination of the above.

--
TeGGeR®

On Thu, 20 Nov 2003 02:28:36 GMT, "Tegger®"
<teggeratistopdotcom@changetheobvious.invalid> wrote:

>> I would have the REAR brakes checked for proper operation.
>> Especially if you are noticing a the big difference in the amount
>> of brake dust accumulating on your front wheels, compared to the
>> rear.
>
>
>This is nonsense. Front brakes on ANY car will generate the bulk of the
>stopping power.

I'm inclined to agree. The rear discs on my GSR can hardly beat their
way out of a paper bag, figuratively speaking.

>Front rotor problems are mainly due to these factors:
>1) Repeated aggressive braking
>2) Aftermarket pads too hard
>3) Seized pads
>4) Seized calipers
>5) Seized pistons
>6) Rotors with insufficient heat-sink mass due to machining or design
>7) Combination of the above.


I would also add to your list the make-a-buck practice of persuading
drivers that their rotors need turning when they damn well don't!

But do you not subscribe to the 'overtorquing of lugnuts with an
impact wrench' theory that one hears? Someone in a newsgroup
challenged me on that one a while back and I hope to get around to
some experiments with a dial guage one of these days to see if that's
just an automotive urban legend.

Your thoughts?

John Ings <nodamned@spam.org> quoth thusly in
news:s77prvg3aeced01qh5ujrnrc76sccbqoa8@4ax.com:

>
> I would also add to your list the make-a-buck practice of persuading
> drivers that their rotors need turning when they damn well don't!


Can you say "Midas"?


>
> But do you not subscribe to the 'overtorquing of lugnuts with an
> impact wrench' theory that one hears? Someone in a newsgroup
> challenged me on that one a while back and I hope to get around to
> some experiments with a dial guage one of these days to see if that's
> just an automotive urban legend.


I'm sure some cars are prone to this, but it would have to be due to the
design of the rotor and hub. Hondas are not among them.

Every time I get the car back from the dealer, and they've had the wheels
off for whatever reason, the nut torque is all over the place. Some I
practically have to stand on the wrench to crack them loose, others spin
with the lightest push. The nuts have been left like that for extended
periods. My rotors are not warped.

Our new '99 Tercel suffers from the same fate. When we got the car, all the
nuts were all over the place as well, and that car's brakes are smoother
than mine.

So no, I do not subscribe to that theory.

--
TeGGeR®

Tom wrote:

> This just doesn't seem normal. I have an '02 Accord. Replaced brake pads at 10,905 miles, had to cut down warped rotors and replace pads at 25,080 miles, and just yesterday at 39,457 miles had to replace the pads and have the warped rotors replaced (too thin to cut again). Service manager said it was normal. Right! This doesn't seem like normal wear and tear. Comments please!
>

That does seem really often to me. A couple quick questions.

Do you drive city or racing miles or is this on the highway?

Are you having the work done by a dealer?

I don't know if this helps but I just had my water pump replaced on my 93 civic.
Suprise suprise, while they were under there they noticed that my pads needed
replacing and my rotors needed turning.

Of course at 150K miles the pads probably did need replacing by I did that my
self and didn't worry about the rotor. Still works great.

If you're going to a dealer it may be that is just the standard "repair" they
suggest on all cars that come in for service.