Corrosion on Civic rear disk brakes?

I have a 2000 Civic SiR with about 72000km on it, and during my most
recent maintenance appointment the dealer told me that there is
corrosion on the rear disk rotors and recommended that the they be
remachined to smooth out the disks and remove the corrosion. They are
saying it would be about $170 to do this, and I'm not that
knowledgeable about brakes in general.

Does this sound reasonable? The car doesn't have that much mileage
on it, but one person I talked to felt that brake service after 70000
or 80000km might not be out of line. I am kind of surprised though
that there would be a problem with the rear brakes, considering in a
FWD car I'd be surprised if they were doing even 25% of the braking.

 

I wouldn't do it, it's too much money. Remove the wheels your self and see
where the corrosion is. My discs rust every it rains, but after a driving a
few miles it goes away.
I think they just want your money.

 

Amen. Any corrosion on the part that is squeezed by the brake pads is
scrubbed off as soon as you stop a couple of times.

 

And corrosion on the mating surfaces can be easily sanded or wire brushed
away... (wheel off of course)

Rick

 

i agree, you mite want to make sure that the brake pads are working
fine but if you look at the disc after a drive (any drive) they should
be smooth and if there is no pitting from the rust (that is dimples
where it has rusted, this would only happen if the car had been sitting
for a few years) you will be fine

 

Usually, I service my brakes once a year in spring. With the winter crap we
have around here in Montreal, I want to make sure that everything is working
fine and wearing evenly.
Now, one night is enough for the rust to show on the disks. It gets removed
as soon as you brake. It is normal and there is nothing wrong about it. Rust
can also build up on the edges of your disks, but that doesn affect the
brakes performance as the pads don't rub there. There is no way that
corrosion can build up on the disks if the car is driven. The reason for
which you remachine the disks is to even up the surface, remove bumps.
Usually, you do it when you change the braking pads or when you weel
vibration on your brake pedal. I always paid from 10$ to 15$ to remachine a
disk. You could almost get new disks for the price they gave you.
The corrosion can build up on other brake parts, stopping them from moving
correctly. This would reduce the braking performance and speed up their
wear.

 

Yes I saw this on my '99 Integra - even at 20K miles the rear rotors were
showing a crusted look on the swept surface, with serious scoring but the
fronts were OK. It only got worse and when it came time to replace the
rear pads I just replaced the rotors. Machining is a waste of time and
will cause warping more easily - besides, they're just going to corrode as
quickly again. After that experience there was no way I was going to pay
the price of Acura/Honda's (substandard, corrosion-prone) rotors so I got a
pair of Brembo OEM rotors for $22. each from
http://www.importrp.com/home.html - click on the Brembo link on the top
right.

If Honda won't use the aftermarket parts and you can't do the job yourself,
find a good independent shop. If you do the job yourself be sure to get
all the corrosion off the hub plate surface, especially around the holes in
the hub plate. In fact I'm noticing less warped rotor syndrome on high
speed braking since I changed them - odd since I didn't think rear rotors
would be felt that badly. I'd been blaming the fronts but maybe not -
still not 100% sure.

IMO there's something wrong with some of Honda's rear rotors in recent
years - very corrosion prone. I've noticed it on other peoples' cars.
Possibly the rear rotors don't get hot enough to sweat any moisture off
efficiently but I suspect a material problem with the metal used.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

Agree with the other posters. Don't pay to do it or probably even do it at
all. Rotors always rust after a wet day but it is superficial rust and goes
away quickly.

CaptainKrunch

 

(Ian Maione) spake unto the masses in

I notice you're in Canada. Yes, what they are saying is entirely
reasonable. Mileage has nothing to do with it. In fact, the lower the
mileage, the more rust accumulates and the worse the brakes fare.

You are right. The rear brakes don't do much braking, and this is part of
the problem. If they don't do much braking, they also don't heat up much
and don't dissipate moisture as well as the fronts.

I have long felt that disc brakes on a FWD car are a waste of money, and
rear discs on ANY car in Canada area TOTAL waste of everything. Drums are
better for us. My Integra has rear discs too.

Your car is almost 4 years old. That's plenty of time for problems to
develop.

 

Do you have specific experience with late model small Honda rear disks -
say mid-98 mfr? This is not surface rusting - it's a deep crusty rust
which develops on the rotors till they look like thay have an onset of
acne. When I first saw it I tried to brake later and harder in an effort
to make sure they would get dried out better but it only translated into
deep scoring.

My '92 Integra, which had the same duty cycle, has its original disks which
show no sign of brake swept surface corrosion of the rotors. I recently
replaced the rotors on the '99 Integra because they were so bad it would
have been a waste to install new pads on such corroded, scored rotors.

There *is* a problem with those rotors to do with the metal content. As
already noted, I also believe the same defect is one other reason
responsible for warped rotor syndrome - the rear wheel hub plates have
holes in them where moisture collects. I saw where the corrosion had crept
around the hole, in between the rotor and plate and had forced them
apart... because the rotor is a corrosion hot spot.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??