How often do you replace your front pads and rotors?I have a '97 lx. Ive replaced the pads 3 times since i hit 100k. January, 2013 had 157k miles when my mechanic replaced the front pads/calipers/and rotors. April 2014 I brought it in and they said i needed to have the rear brakes done, so i did them - but the vibration got worse, the whole front end shook when i applied the break until the car came to a stop.

So i brought it to the shop again today. I now have 165k miles on the car now and the same mechanic/garage is telling me that the pads are fine, but the rotors are completely shot and need to be replaced.

My question is: does this make ANY sense? Could the rotors be completely worn out after a little over a year and only 8K miles??! I drive the car about every day, but very light, not heavy traffic/lights/etc. How could the rotors need replacement but the pads still have plenty left on them? all parts were just oem regular stuff. I have this gut feeling that i paid for the rotors last year, but didnt get them. Now im going to have to pay for them again??!

Has this sort of thing ever happened to you? What would you recommend i do? The lady at the counter said the warranty on them was 3k miles. When i asked her these questions she kinda got flustered and had to call me back.

First post here. Thanks

 

Charged me 500 for the break job last year, now another 400 for the rotors+labor?!

 

I have had rotors get warped to the point of needing to be replaced in less than 8,000 miles. Possible causes include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Use of an impact wrench when mounting wheels (hand torquing with a torque wrench using the "star" pattern should always be used when mounting wheels).
• Cheap (typically Chinese) rotors.
• Frozen caliper piston.
• Frozen caliper slide pins.
• Brake (this is how "Brake" is spelled, not "Break" which is what you take when you're having lunch) pad material and construction.

 

Lol whoops. Looks like i spelled it right the first time, i shouldve taken a "break" to write my post.

I talked with a couple people today and got different answers: Should be changed when pads wear down and damage them, change on every 3rd brake pad change, 30-50k miles, etc. etc.

Its not a car i drive to work every day, and i rarely get on the brakes hard.

 

All great advice.
First thing I would do is drive the car until the problem occurs. I would get out and feel the center portion of the wheels. Be careful as they may be extremity hot! This would indicate if a caliper is hanging and on which side.
The vibration is caused by the rotors getting hot and warping.
If the front vs backs are notably hotter I would take the fronts apart and check the guide pins to see if the caliper slides freely.
More than likely it is a frozen caliper and should be rebuilt or replaced.

 

OK, you're having an independent auto shop repeatedly do your car work, which is fine until you have an experience like this.
The specific problem is likely either in the brake pad quality, caliper quality, rotor quality; labor being less likely.
But your knowledge isn't key here, so don't sweat it!

So change something!
Get an oil & filter service appointment with your Honda dealer. It'll be ~ $40.
While there ask them for an opinion on the brakes, just describing the current symptoms.
Likely be cheap, maybe free, diagnosis. Don't offer up your brake history or garage history.

Play dumb and listen. My $.02

 

On point 1. If it's a hub over rotor, mismatched torque is a real possibility. In 97, the hub over rotor keeps that from being a factor. It's still a good idea to torque lug nuts, but on that car in OEM form improper torque really shouldn't effect it.

One thing to add, most brake vibration is due to improper bedding of new pads, not rotor run out.

Here is a pic of a rotor with hotspots due to improper bedding


This is the #1 cause of brake vibration. Yes, rotor run out can cause it, but this is most common.

 

Only one more thing to add...

I've had new (cheap) rotors "hot-spot" after only a few thousand miles, and they were indeed bedded in properly. In the instance of our old family minivan, I went through three sets of rotors and pads in less than 30,000 miles, and finally bought a set of Brembo rotors; problem solved, the Brembos were still going strong after 50,000 miles when I sold the van.

 

Funny how experiences can be different.

On my 5th gen race car, I spent the big $$ on brembo blanks and struggled with hotspots and SERIOUS vibration issues. Trust me, brake vibration at 120 down to 40 in < 400 feet can be disturbing. I now run the cheap Chinese rotors with my race pads, and usually out brake my competition and haven't had brake vibration issues at all.

Perhaps it's the wildly different usage that makes the difference. <shrug>

 

One potential difference is that the particular van I had the issues with was designed with very marginal brakes to begin with (IIRC, the front rotors were barely 11" and the van was some 4,000 pounds), and while I certainly didn't track that van, I lived in and daily drove through a semi-mountainous area. Decelerating from 70+ while decending a freeway ramp with an 8% grade proved to be too much for too long for the cheap rotors.

One interesting factoid is that while the next generation van was still sporting rotors of the same diameter, they were MUCH thicker (providing a much greater thermal mass).