2004 Accord 3.0L EX AT

Hi everyone. Having a brake issue I'm hoping you can help me with.

After coming to a stop at a four way, I turned left and slammed into a curb at low speed (understeer-was having powersteering issues which have been corrected via a recall). Both front and rear passenger tires hit the curb, though the front likely hit first.

Within a couple of miles, I hit a bump entering an overpass. A metal on metal Tssss sound was immediately audible. When I hit the bump at the exit of the overpass, the Tssss stopped. When I applied the brake, a grinding, whiny sound similar to a kazoo or an old, weak horn is audible.

I replaced the front pads and visually inspected everything. Nothing looked out of order. I noticed that the rotor mounting screws were missing, so since the Tssss sound sounded like something dragging on the rotor, or the rotor plane changing angle relative to the pad planes, I figured it couldn't hurt to install the mounting screws.

The noise persisted after installing the rotor screws. I inspected again and found a gouge on the inside of the front passenger rotor. It's only an arc, though. Not a full circle. Maybe 3.5-4". Not deep, but deep enough that the pads don't contact it. In the gouge, the color is rust colored.

Over the last few days I've started riding with the windows down and experimenting with braking. Sometimes, there are no grinding/whining sounds or other unusual sounds at all. However, a bump (nothing special about it) can cause the Tssss. The Tsssss may come and go a few times before I brake, but when I brake, it transitions into the grinding, whining kazoo.

Sometimes I can pump the brake and get Grind-Grind-Grind-Grind-No Grind (to stop), or some variation of that. Most of the time, no amount of brake pumping will stop the grind, though.

If I don't come to a complete stop, when I disengage the brake, the grinding/whine tapers away, as if following the motion of the piston as it pulls back in? That's what I visualize, anyway.

Any ideas? The Tssss audibly transitions to the grinding/whining/kazoo sound when I brake. The Tssss starts (and can stop) when I hit random bumps. The overpass mentioned above always triggers a Tssss and it always stops at the exit of the overpass (only consistent thing about it...). The grind is only present when I brake (so far). Its intermittent.

I've still not inspected the rear... Plan to do that tomorrow.

TIA.

 

After inspecting the rear.

Recheck the metal backing plate to be sure it is not bent in/out towards the brake rotor....or a rock that might be stuck between the backing plate and the rotor.

 

Sorry it took so long to get back. Getting smacked and kicked by another stone..

Anyway, just finished up and long story short, I'm a moron. It was just the rear brake wear indicators. Replaced the pads and no grind at all. With it being intermittent and starting immediately after hitting the curb, I was sure it had to be linked. Always making it harder than it is... The rear pistons were a, well, pain to figure out. Should have started with a search instead of dismantling every woodworking clamp (not much else to work with since the c clamp wouldn't work) I have in attempts of compressing a screw in piston... Lesson learned.

Thanks for your support.

 

Keep an eye on it. If you used too much force trying to press the pistons straight in, you might have damaged the handbrake auto-adjust mechanism. Over time, you want to pay attention whether the handbrake adjusts itself properly.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Lots of time spent trying to figure out how to compress it (no two planes with a landing for the tip of the c clamp to be even close to inline with the piston axis, which should have told me something...), but not much actually accomplished other than building anger. I finally found something that would work (a long wood clamp), but it isn't very robust, so I don't think I was able to put too much torque on it/force on the piston. When it didn't show any signs of giving (with the bleed valve open), I figured I had to be doing something wrong. Still kicking myself for not searching first. Just figured that the front and rear would be the same...

I'll definitely keep an eye on it.

 

And THANK YOU ! for the follow up. I can't tell you how many times we never know the end of the story. Knowing the end helps everyone.....I'm glad it was a simple fix.