Has anyone here self-installed new disc-brake pads on theirOdyssey?

I have a 2001 with disc brakes on the front. I have done similar brakes on
an Altima I used to have. I think I got the wheel off the Odyssey last year
and realized the pads were still good, but also that I might need a larger
C-Clamp tool than the one I had in order to push the caliper assembly back
to its widest position to actually to the removal.

Can anyone here who's done this procedure alert me to any gotcha's before I
proceed? Any special tools or techniques?

Thanks!
Be

 

GEt the biger clamp anyway - if you need it, you need it, if you
don't, you've just got to make 20-odd extra turns.

 

The calipers shouldn't have to be spread far to do the removal; if so, the
ridge on the rotor is excessive. That sometimes means a new rotor is in
order, but not always.

I prefer to put a bleeder hose on the caliper nipple and open the bleeder a
half turn or so before spreading the caliper - you can close the bleeder and
remove the hose until it's time to push the piston all the way in. Without
that bleed hose, the preferred place for the displaced fluid to go is (1) to
the other caliper, if it is already off, or (2) back into the reservoir.
That's not a cheery prospect, especially if the fluid has been topped up to
compensate for loss as the pads wore, because sooner or later the reservoir
is likely to overflow. Yuck! In addition, doing it that way can greatly
reduce the force to spread the caliper. I've spread more than a few by
tipping the caliper with my hands when the bleeder is open.

BTW - if the caliper is a floating type (doesn't have hydraulic passages to
the outside of the caliper) it is *mandatory* to clean and lubricate the
slide pins with disc brake grease before reassembling. I was in la-la land a
couple of times and didn't do that. Twice I was right back in the calipers
to correct my oversight when the brakes went loco. I think being disturbed
may be the last straw for slide pins that were running dry. Anyway, see
http://tegger.com/hondafaq/rustybrakes/brakes1.html
That describes it as being specific to rust-prone cold weather areas, but my
foibles were in Phoenix. I recommend you read and heed the whole web page to
save yourself anguish.

Otherwise, you are good to go!

Mike

 

Up here in my neck of the woods, it's common for neglected brakes to refuse
to allow the caliper to be pulled off. This is because the caliper has
become rusted to the pads and shims.

If that's the case, a nylon hammer can be used to persuade the caliper to
come off the pads, which is all I ever do.

The ridge thing is something that affects drums, not discs.

 

I've seen a pretty severe ridge on a rotor before... '83 Chevette, IIRC.
Had to pry the pads open by wedging a long, large slot screwdriver
beween the outer pad and the disc before I could pull the caliper off.

 

Then the system must be set up to attach the pads to the caliper, as in
some Ford products. Honda does not do it this way.

 

Big-ass spring clips that fit inside the piston and into holes on the
backplate on the opposite side of the caliper.

FWIW, the way the pads clip in on my '87 Accord would make them very
difficult if not impossible to slide out if there were ridges on the
edge of the rotor.

 

The accepted way per ASE is as you described it.


--
Stephen W. Hansen
ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician
ASE Undercar Specialist

http://www.troublecodes.net/

 

Job done.

I replaced the pads with some ceramic ones sold by Auto Zone that have a
lifetime warranty. If/when they wear out, they will replace them again and
again. I liked that they had their own shims attached to the sides.

OK - here are the two basic gotchas as I found them:

1) there is a bolt that gives access only to an unusually narrow-necked open
end wrench. Your basic craftsman adjustable wrench is too thick, as are
many stock wrenches. It needs to be held in place while another bolt is
loosened further back.

2) the two bolt-headed pins that have the rubber skirts on them are not the
same. The one on the bottom has an additional ridged rubber shank that is
part of the overall shank. The one on the top is all metal. Take note which
one is which as you remove them, so that you put them back correctly.

BTW, after doing this I would deeply assume that any of those brake job
places you might go to would skip the steps of removing those bolt-headed
pins, cleaning off the old grease and applying new, and hand-washing (then
drying) the rubber skirts. My guess is that they will just slap the pads in
and not fuss over these items.

The weirdness I discovered on this job was that the passenger-side pads had
1/8 inch wear left; the driver-side pads were down to the warning metal.
These were the original factory pads; the car has 36K miles. Why would there
be such a difference in the wear? Is there something else I need to check?

Be

 

Gee, just a guess, but could it be that you have a driver in there all
the time, but passengers only some of it. Tus the drivers side takes
more
OR
the passenger side circuit has a tad [more?] air in than the other
side
OR
you brake more when turning right than you do when turning left.
OR
the passenger side caliper doesn't move as freely as the drivers side
OR
many other posible reasons.

lots of different reasosn, i'm sure if you think about it, you can
come with othres, even down to 'the passengers pad being ever so
slightly harder, either at one point, or throughout, than the other'.
I've tried to stick with the more plausable ones though.

 

Sounds like the previous time somebody skipped the steps... since it was
original, it probably came from the factory poorly lubricated. A Toyota tech
in the Yahoo Prius group warned me he's seen brakes come through completely
dry of lubricant and legend has it that isn't unique to Toyota.

When the slide pins bind the caliper no longer floats freely and the pads
wear oddly (and always more quickly). In any event, that is a strong
indication of the slide pins binding on the driver side. I don't know of
anything else that will do that.

Mike

 

Caliper piston seizing. This is common.

 

Or... that could do it.

Mike