Doing my own brakes (97 Accord) - need some advice

There you go again, letting your ego set you up for an embarassing fall.

If you knew ANYTHING about the automotive service and repair industry, you
would know that the manufacturers are all trying to lock up ALL aftermarket
service and repair by making their vehicles serviceable ONLY by dealership
shops - blocking independent shops from working on their cars.

There is also an ongoing struggle by aftermarket independents to gain
access to service informnation that the manufacturers are tagging as
"propriatary" in order to keep it out of the aftermarket. (You, obviously,
do not read ANY trade magazines in spite of your all your posturing.....)

It has nothing to do with squeezing the Shade Tree Garage "technicians"
out. You guys are a mere drop in the bucket in the aftermarket service and
repair picture, so give your ego a rest.

 

As a certified shade-tree grease monkey who hasn't broken a bolt in
twenty years, I'll try to answer these questions...

Sil-Glyde on the pins if they have rubber boots. Anti-seize if they do
not.

Molykote M-77 or Sil-Glyde between pads and shims.

For shoes, a dab of anti-seize where the shoe contacts the backing
plate.

If you mean the anti-squeal shims...on the backs of the pads. Some
applications have two shims on the inner pad.

The other find of shims I'm aware of go between the pad and the padss
bracket. These give the pads a slippery surface to ride on as they wear
towards the rotor.

The short shoe, assuming the brakes have one leading shoe and one
trailing shoe.

My only experience with rear calipers that require a tool are those
where the piston must be screwed back in. These all had parking brake
mechanisms as part of the caliper.

Do drum-in-hat type rear discs require a caliper piston tool, or can you
just push those in?

Floating caliper uses the force of piston(s) on only one side of the
caliper to pull both inner and outer pads into contact with the rotor.
The caliper must slide over to allow the outer pads to contact.

Fixed calipers usually have pistons on both sides, so there is no need
to enable the caliper to slide

I saw a weird setup on a Nissan pickup once. The caliper itself was
fixed, but the assembly was still "floating", with two pistons on just
the one side. Very interesting.

It keeps the front discs from working before the rear drums have begun
to work. I suppose if you had a problem with the rear brakes not working
but the fronts working fine, you'd investigate the metering valve if
everything else checked out OK.


How'd I score?

 

RTFM...it's all in there.

 

Shoot!!! I thought they went between the pads and the rotors!

No WONDER I keep hitting kids, trees, old ladies, etc...

But, I'm racking up points like a champ!!!

 

On the one car I have with drum rears, they're both the same size!!!


What do I do?!?! What do I do?!?!

 

They're losing on me...I do about 80% of routine maintenance myself.

Nope, I don't. I buy Haynes manuals and the shop service manual when I can.
I bought a lot of shop manuals for my cars when I was working at a Toyota
dealer.

Wait...wait...YOU are telling ME to give MY ego a rest?!?!

There you are in that mirror again!

 

On second reading, this sounds dumb. I've never had to tackle one, so I'm
guessing.

 

Trick question?

Because you haven't yet?

Dude, you need to get 'unstuck' off yourself. You're just making an ass
out of yourself.

Perhaps you do know a boatload more than I do, but I don't really care,
since your "Holier Than Thou" attitude just keeps making you come off
looking like an arrogant ass.

And as far as I can see, you haven't really helped anyone with anything,
you just come across with put downs and ad hominems that do nothing but
steer the conversation at hand away from the point.

Maybe if you dropped the attitude and added some content people would
listen more to you.

 

Excellent!

You know a LOT more than SOME of the participants here......

One problem, however, is your use of anti-seize in place of lubricant.

Most anti-seize compounds are designed to keep non-moving things from
sticking together, NOT for lubrication of moving items.

Some anti-seize compounds, those intended for oxygen sensors for example,
contain glass beads. What sort of lubrication do you suppose glass beads
provide?

For drum brake shoe pads, there is "Brake Lube" - which is, simply, white
lithium grease.

 

Glad to know that.

They roll, to prevent seizure of the sensor?

That's what I use in electrical connectors, which is what the factory used.
I did not know you could use it for where the shoes contact the backing
plate.

 

I---I *LEARNED* something USEFUL from "*" today!

<THUD!>

 

First post doesn't seem to have "taken". Repost follows:

The beads roll, to prevent seizure of the sensor?

That's what I use in electrical connectors, which is what the factory used.
I did not know you could use it for where the shoes contact the backing
plate.

End of repost.

 

----------

Don't confuse "seizing" with "galling."

In this case we use the following descriptions......

Threads "gall" in motion. Dry threads need lubrication to keep metal from
transfering from one side to the other.

Threads and components "seize" while sitting still - often due to the
properties of different metals reacting to heat/water/exhaust
chemicals/galvanic activity/etc.

Threads/components are "seized" by rust and corrosion. You need an
anti-seize compound that works to prevent this - not lubricate the
components.

The use of anti-seize has increased in direct relationship to the increased
use of aluminum components with steel fasteners, and other different metal
interactions in the modern automobile.

 

well, "lubrication" is separation of the working parts. in that
respect, antiseize does "lubricate". and yes, corrosion is often a
factor, but there's also cold welding. if two metals are in intimate
contact, they can mechanically fuse [and this is not corrosion].
particularly at elevated temperatures. it's the same process that
causes galling.

it's more that use has increased in proportion to its availability.
you're right that dissimilar metals can corrode and seize spectacularly,
[as can steel on steel] but antiseize doesn't always stop that. and
aluminum/steel combinations have been used since the dawn of automotive
systems.

 

IF the shoes have different lengths, one is primary and the other
secondary and oddly, the secondary should be the longer of the two and
is on the rear facing side of the backing plate...

JT

 

Yep, been using "cup grease" for contact points for conventional brakes
since... well, er.. forever!

<G>

JT

 

Is this just for pads? Sounds w-a-y high.

Not really. I've been doing my own brake work on my cars (including
my BMW) for years. Disk brake service is pretty easy, at least on
the cars I've had. It takes some muscle at times, and you'll get
plenty dirty, but it's not that difficult or complicated.

Nope, don't fall for that one. I've never in my life had a rotor turned.
If they get too bad, I just replace the rotors with new ones. I replace
the rotors on my BMW with every other pad change. My Japanese
rotors last a good deal longer.

For just pads for all four wheels, maybe $80? I don't remember,
it's been a while (DON'T go to the dealership for these.)

Probably won't need any videos. A Haynes or Bentleys
manual might be a good idea, but really, I'd bet those
Honda brakes are pretty straightforward and you could
do it just eyeballing the situation.

 

oh, no! Don't let * see this post! He'll tell you how you've been doing it
wrong for years, and endangering everybody including yourself due to
'invisible' things only he seems to be able to see...

Now, in all seriousness, we're talking brakes on a car here, not on the
landing gear of a Space Shuttle. Pads, a rotor, a caliper is pretty much
it. No advanced degree in Aerospace engineering or a Mensa IQ required.

To the OP: pick up a manual and pre-read it before attempting. Even if you
decide not to do the job, it helps you understand your car better.

Also, look here:

http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/0d/1b/f1/0900823d800d1bf1/repairInfoPages.htm

this is for a 1995 Accord, but you can see it's not too hard to comprehend.

Of course, I think * managed to scare the OP into giving up anyway...

 

I hate guys like this, who think its up to them to make everybody think "just
take it to the shop"

Let me tell you, I've seen more botch brake jobs, timing belts, etc etc come
out of these 'qualified' shops than you can shake a stick at.

As a rule of thumb, I think that if someone thinks they are intelligent
enough to comprehend the brakes, and are confident enough, let them at em!

Enough of this BS 'ooooo brakes are so complicated'...

 

Where are you paying $800 for a brake job!!! Holy crap! If you have a 4-
wheel disc system, the job is cake. Check out the cost of replacement
rotors at a local parts store (not the dealer!) if resurfacing is needed to
compare costs. Never bought rotors for my Hondas, but my Ford replacement
rotors were $13 each.

Here's a hint: Do one side at a time...if you forget where a part goes,
check the other side.

Disc brakes are cake. Drum adjustments (bearing torque, initial brake
adjustment) are a little tricky.