Hi all. I have a 2006 Honda Accord EX-L 4cyl. Its got about 20k miles on it. I have noticed some vibration in the steering wheel when I am braking from high speeds. Usually this means brake pads are getting thin.. right??

Is it possible for the pads/rotors to go bad this early? (meaning at 20k miles). Should I just take it to Sears auto center or do you have a better idea?

Thanks!

 

It's likely the rotors(warped), probably not the pads.
Is the car still under warranty? That seems to me like something the dealer should know about and possibly fix for free since the car only has 20k miles.

 

I called the dealer and they said they will 'machine the rotors' for about $280. He said brakes are not covered under warannty

 

Update: They said that Honda will cover it for 12k miles or within the first year. It said it 'sounds like the rotors are warped' and will have to be 'machined'.

 

$280!?!?!?!?!

Go to O'Reilly (see link below) or another parts store and see if they have machining equipment.
It cost me $10/rotor to machine.

As for the brakes, I've read and have experienced that the OEM brakes are crap, and deteriorate at an un-even rate across the surface.
This generally means that you will get this wobbling because of either buildup on the rotors (may be invisible to the eye, just as warped rotors) enough to cause the wobbling, or may indeed have some defect on the pad itself because of the wear. I switched pads and within a day they rubbed all the crap off my rotors.

Not saying this is your problem, but I wouldn't rule it out.
Of course, you'll know when you get the rotors machined and 2-4mo later it starts wobbling again.
It just seems odd that a car so young would have warped rotors, but again, we've all seen weirder things!

Also, don't bother with the drum brakes if you have any, just get the disc rotors machined. They most likely won't be warped if they're drum anyway, but I've not seen another Accord Coupe with drum rears like I have (and I kind of hate it, I don't like the look).

A good test is to get up to speed, and use the E-Brake to slow down.. if you have wobbling at that point, it's the rear brakes, otherwise if it's JUST from the pedal then it's the front.

let us know how it goes.


http://www.oreillyauto.com/EW3/FindAStore.do

 

Thats what I thought.. $280 sounds like a lot of money for just 'machinging the rotors'.

Anyone got this done for free under warranty??

 

Unless it happened in the first 10k miles I HIGHLY doubt anyone would warranty brakes. They are considered a wear item so no one covers them since it's basic maintainence (sp?). Getting new pads, machine the rotors and have it all installed on my 2000 Lexus SUV was less than $280 from the dealership.

You could try to get it done under warranty but I don't think anyone ever would.

Do you do a lot of high speed braking? Lots of Stop and go?

 

I called Sears Auto Center - they said $15 diagnostic; and then $35 for machining rotors (if thats what was needed).. the $15 will go towards the $35.. I might just do that.

I have a lot of stop/go at highway speeds as well

 

That sounds like a good deal

 

stop/go at highway speeds will wear brakes MUCH faster, and $35.00 sounds like a very good deal, hopefully they aren't misunderstanding what needs done.