Warped Rotors

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by Tom, Nov 19, 2003.

  1. Tom

    Tom Guest

    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!
     
    Tom, Nov 19, 2003
    #1
  2. Tom

    twaugh5 Guest

    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.
    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!
     
    twaugh5, Nov 19, 2003
    #2
  3. Tom

    John Ings Guest

    Why? If they were worn out at that milage, something is wrong.
    A waste of time and money. Never turn Honda rotors.
    If they're bad, replace them.
    Too thin to cut in the first place.
    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.
     
    John Ings, Nov 19, 2003
    #3
  4. Tom

    Saintor Guest

    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.


    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!
     
    Saintor, Nov 19, 2003
    #4
  5. Tom

    MajorDomo Guest

    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
     
    MajorDomo, Nov 19, 2003
    #5
  6. Tom

    blh Guest

    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.
     
    blh, Nov 20, 2003
    #6
  7. Tom

    Tegger® Guest

    quoth thusly in

    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.


    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®, Nov 20, 2003
    #7
  8. Tom

    John Ings Guest

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

    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, Nov 20, 2003
    #8
  9. Tom

    Tegger® Guest


    Can you say "Midas"?


    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®, Nov 20, 2003
    #9
  10. 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.
     
    Marshall Smith, Nov 20, 2003
    #10
  11. Tom

    Sean Donaher Guest

    Very true. Most Hondas are 80 ft/lb. You have to be very careful with this
    since most garages and backyard mechanics probably grew up with GM cars
    which are nearly all torqued to 100 ft/lb.

    I caught a mechanic about to do that with my Civic. I saw him reach for one
    of those preset torque attachments for a impact gun that starts to slip at a
    certain torque point. I asked him if he knew how much to torque the wheels
    and he said, "yeah 100, why?" He was pretty surprised when I told him that
    Hondas only torque to 80. I wouldn't be surprised if even the dealers
    didn't do it right. Bunch of lazy bums. Then mechanics wonder why no one
    respects them or their profession.

    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!
     
    Sean Donaher, Nov 21, 2003
    #11
  12. Tom

    Graham W Guest

    I've just visited your website and find that the link in the text
    "For fault finding instructions here's a good site " is
    regrettably no longer working.

    Do you know where the owner may have located his
    site currently?

    I'm suffering from the same problem of hot restart but
    the fuel pump runs every time I switch the ignition on.

    [I run the British Rover 216 GSi which is the SOHC
    1.6L Honda PGM-FI engine.]

    Can you give me your working email addy too, pse.
    The one on the FAQ page doesn't work.

    Thanks
     
    Graham W, Nov 21, 2003
    #12
  13. Tom

    John Ings Guest

    It just worked for me when I tried it.
    Does the engine catch at all? Maybe stumble and then die?
    Or doesn't it even fart? You might have ignition problems if it won't
    even try.
    I've moved across the country and haven't got my website up and
    working. I dunno why Rogers hasn't shut my old website down, I
    haven't paid them any money since April.
     
    John Ings, Nov 21, 2003
    #13
  14. Tom

    Photon Guest

    wow, you really are a moron.


     
    Photon, Nov 23, 2003
    #14
  15. Tom

    dizzy Guest

    On FWD cars, the front brakes do damn near all the braking. "Mike
    Hunt" is a moron.
     
    dizzy, Nov 26, 2003
    #15
  16. Tom

    mj Guest

    I'd have thought that as well, but I had to replace my bad brakes at 90K
    while I'm still running the original front brakes at 115k on my 2000
    Accord EX.V6.
     
    mj, Nov 26, 2003
    #16
  17. Tom

    mj Guest

    That should have read - I had to replace my back brakes at 90K, while
    I'm still running the original front brakes at 115k on my 2000 Accord
    EX.V6.
     
    mj, Nov 26, 2003
    #17
  18. Tom

    John Ings Guest

    They do damn near all the braking on RWD cars too. Under braking the
    weight of a car shifts forward, sometimes to the point that the rear
    wheels lift off the ground on cars with poor weight distribution.
    Yeah, but what did you have to replace, and why?
    The pads? The rotors? Both? Because they are doing more work or
    because they are back there in the spray and maybe the salt? Or
    because the park brake cable stuck and left the pads dragging?
     
    John Ings, Nov 26, 2003
    #18
  19. Tom

    mj Guest

    ..
    Replaced pads (outside pads reportedly ok, but inside pads almost metal
    to metal) and resurfaced rotors.
     
    mj, Nov 26, 2003
    #19
  20. Tom

    BigJohnson Guest

    If the pads are disproportionately wearing, you are not servicing
    you brake properly. If the wear is being sustained by one pad,
    the calipers are not free. The calipers should be free to
    'float' so that both pads are doing the braking.


    mike hunt
     
    BigJohnson, Nov 26, 2003
    #20
Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments (here). After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.