Hello all,

I have a 2008 Honda Civic. It has about 44,000 miles on it. I personally replaced the brake pads twice. I mainly do city driving that's why my miles are so low and possibly why the brakes wear out faster for me (stop and go traffic). When I replaced my brake pads the rotors felt smooth both times so I did not turn or replace them though should have.

I have been feeling a grinding on the front driver's side brake when braking. It feels like that brake pad is doing a little more work than the passenger front. It only grinds when I brake and it doesn't grind all the time but enough for me to notice and be able to replicate. I also recently had a bearing in that same wheel replaced so maybe its all related.

Does anyone know what could be wrong? Might it be that I need new rotors? I have done some Googling and read some things about sticking calipers. I'd like some help diagnosing the issue and determining what the cause is. If its something like warped or damaged rotors I could replace them myself but if its a problem with a caliper I will probably pay a mechanic to replace it. Thanks all.

 

Glad to help but I do not understand, what is it that you describe as grinding.

 

I can hear and feel something grinding when I apply pressure to the brakes. The noise/vibration are coming from the front driver side wheel.

 

Lubricate the sliders, it sounds like the caliper is hanging up on the pins.

 

Wow.... that's pretty extreme. Are they actually both worn out when you change them or is the driver side worse ?

If it was a sticking caliper and now you hear grinding...... your pad(s) may be shot and possibly the rotor too if you had metal to metal contact.

 

stop and go really plays a big part in the worn out brakes, if rotors are smooth and not worn down don't turn them as when turned you take the hard face off and they 'll most likely warp, ( pulsating pedal) if you drive like my wife fast and then quick stop (really hard on brakes) had to chat with her on that one lol, but if one side is worn out before the other probally a sticky caliper, clean/ lube slides, Rusty? or pad came off backing plate ? other wise replace caliper , if you can change pads replacing caliper is no big deal except for bleeding the caliper.
Good luck

 

No both are worn out when I replace them. I've driven 44000 miles in 6 years so yeah its a lot of stop and go.

I don't think I lubricated the slides. Do I simply pull the rubber boot back and lube all around the slides? What type of lubricant do I use?

 

if both worn out at same time, it like you say a lot of stop and go, as for lube, ask auto parts store, but like you say both at same time , slides probably are not sticking, What kind of pads are you using Cheapo's ? semi metallic, metallic or ceramic, if you go metallic or ceramic you'll have to change the rotors also the next brake job, the last 2 eat the rotors, but better braking .
also look at your driving habits like my wife has, let off gas to slow down if possible then use your brakes to finish stopping, not always possible though

 

The first set I used was OEM Honda. The second set was Hawk Ceramic.

You're saying next time I need to replace the pads I should replace the rotors?

 

I'M saying that normally the rotors are also bad with ceramics,if you have a more aggressive pad something else has to give and it's the rotor that takes the wear, look at the center and outer most edge of the rotor where the pad runs, if there is a lip you probably should replace the rotor as it should be flat from outer edge to inner, , if your a novice better safe than sorry rotors are cheap now days, brakes are really important, and I would not turn rotors now days, just about a thing of the past.

 

I buy the lifetime warranty pads from Auto Zone . When they wear out , I take the old ones back and get another set free .

As has been mentioned , look at the outer edge of the rotor . You can visually check rotor wear by the presence of a lip & how " high / tall " the lip is . And , also look to see how rough / grooved the surface of the rotor is .

Also , as has been mentioned , you may need to lube the " sliding " parts of the calipers . The parts stores should have little " packets " of lube for this purpose .

Look at it this way , you have worked on the brakes 2 times in 6 years . That is once every 3 years . Not a lot of time or $$$ expended .

Buy or go to the library and study a Chilton or Hayes book on your car . There may be some particular idiosyncrasy about your brakes , that you discover in the books , that will answer your question ?

My wife has driven GM front wheel drive cars , since 1990 . I end up replacing pads every 30,000 miles , like clock work . I drive a 2008 Silverado HD 1/2 ton . I replaced the front pads a couple months ago , at 100,000 miles & it turned out the pads could have lasted quite a while longer .

So , remember , brake life varies greatly between drivers and between vehicles .

And I will probably get screamed at for saying this , but rotors do not have to be perfect , to work satisfactorily and you do not have the most recent super aggressive brake pads . Unless you are driving a NASCAR or Indy race car .

Best of luck . Read a book , take the brakes apart & clean things well ( protect yourself from dust ) . Lube what is suppose to be lubed & keep dry and clean what is suppose to be dry and clean . Replace parts that need it . Put it all back together the way it should be .

And , also remember to be safe while the car is jacked up . Use jack stands and chock / block the wheels to prevent the car from rolling .

And only work on one side at a time , so if you need to , you can refer to the other side , as an example . If you can not remember / figure out how things go back together .

Best of luck ! :-)

God bless
Wyr

 

Master Ip, greetings

1. both pads are worn out uniformly on both rotor sides, right? Inner and outer?
2. No, you have to take caliper off slides, You undo bolts, then remove rods that are sitting inside the rubber boots by pulling them out. Then you lubricate them generously with brake grease.
3. If caliper were not to slide on guides, you'd have had uneven pads ware patter. Usually, one on the piston side wares faster.
4. After you re-assembled everything, grab caliper and move it back-fore by hand. It should slide about 4-6mm on guides.
5. You DID NOT do bedding procedure, right? As of - bedding for ceramic pads?
6. From what you describe, without having hands on your driver side axle, I can only GUESS that rotor is simply dirty with old pads material, and is catching unevenly on pads. 1st treatment is to clean rotor with brake cleaner and do bedding procedure right away. If this doe not remedy the "grab and go" feel in that side, you have major issue somewhere: dirty hydraulic line not allowing proper brake fluid circulation; bad master cylinder, which Hondas are known for; bad hub bearing resulting in wobble, perceived as grind.
But here's the kicker for you, as Hondas are VERY known for this. When you removed the wheel, was rotor rusted in hub area? Did you have rotor removed? Thing with Hondas is, their rotors rust to hub badly. As a result, it creates uneven contact between rotor and hub. As a result, rotor sits on hub not plumb, wobbling between brake pads. Also, Hondas are very sensitive to lug nuts not properly torqued. This warps rotor.
So, take rotor off, and clean everything first.
Here's similar thread for a Camry:

Tips on how to remove rear brake rotor - GreenHybrid - Hybrid Cars

And you can see how guides are lubricated and how much rust can build up between rotor and hub.