Hello all.

I had an '08 with the disintegrating rear pads, fixed it all myself, no thanks to Honda.

Now, I have a '13 EX-L I bought new 30,000 miles ago and the left rear pads ground themselves into dust because something hung up. I replaced the pads with new ones on both left and right sides, now a month later the right side pads drag, seemingly when after I've used the parking brake (but that's not for certain). This is an intermittent problem, not a daily issue.

I don't know if the parking brake cable is hanging up a little bit or if it's an issue with the caliper. When I changed pads, both left and right pistons screwed back in easily.

I'd appreciate any input or experience with this problem. A mechanic I know says he sees a lot of similar problems on other makes, too. I had a similar problem on a VW Jetta TDI, but that was after 250,000 miles and 11 years of road salt.

Thanks.

 

Get the car up (properly supported) & remove the right-rear wheel.

You can see the action of the handbrake cable pulling on the little crank at the caliper. Have someone pull the handbrake lever & then release it.

Back at the caliper (hope it hangs up at this point), I've usually been able to feel whether it's the cable or the little crank.
- If you can release it by pulling the cable, then it's probably time for a new cable.
- Sticky crank (corrosion?) usually means replace the caliper.
- Maybe the spring has lost its tension from heat?

 

Thanks Jim. I'll give your tests a tryout.