Brakes Should this really happen?

[Pingu]

Hi all,

My wife has just returned from another visit to our local Honda dealer and had a bit of a shock. She took the car in because the brakes were grinding only to be told that the rear were metal on metal.

After several minutes of questioning she asked what the rear brakes were like when she took it in to be serviced last March to be told that they were roughly 20% worn after 8000(ish) miles. Now ten months later and after another 7000(ish) miles there is nothing left of them. After asking if they thought that this was a "problem" they replied that the car has VSA and was probably applying the brakes without my wife noticing.

Does anyone else think that there is/was something wrong with a set of rear brake discs only lasting 10 months or less than 8000 miles?

She doesn't drive fast or brake hard. My Civic is driven harder and faster most of the time and after 2 years still has 30% left on the rear... but as they said at Honda "if there was a problem it would have happened on one side more than the other"

She also asked if there was any indication as to when the brakes were getting worn and was told " Yes, you would first hear a screeching sound then a grating sound" and this was the audible alarm. Obviously a feature that other cars don't have .

Does anyone know if there is actually a proper "feature" that should warn when brakes are low, as my wife's car had been displaying a amber symbol "(!)" at startup for a while now, only to be told by Honda to ignore it.


Anyway we are £200 poorer and a lot more disheartened with our Dealer.

We are now looking for another Honda dealer in Leicestershire if anyone can recommend one.

[hlxbravo]

Well all I can add to this is the fact I had a similiar story with my Honda FR-V before I traded it in. It was fine at service time but 6 months later when grinding noises appeared at rear, the service guy told me the same "VSA mate" (with a similiar story to the one above )but for me it was only the pads that were bare and cost me the thick end of about £80.

[cylon2007]

I would be more concerned that 7000 miles and nearly 12 months after the car was serviced neither you nor your wife had checked on the state of the brake pads. You can see how much friction material is left by looking through the wheels, best done when you clean the car.

[Pingu]

Fair point and i do check mine when i remember but as my wife's car is in the dealership every other month, and for the last 3 times for problems to do with alloys and wheel nuts you would also have thought Honda might have spotted it, seeing as though the have had the wheels off each time it went in.

but anyway according to Honda the grinding noise is the indicator to get them replaced

[Munro]

On some cars the brake wear indicator is a metal tab on the brake pad. When the pads are worn down the tab rubs against the brake disk and makes a squealing sound.

I don't know if they are fitted to the civic - but it would be easy to check.

[Pottsy]

http://www.civinfo.com/forum/98914-post39.html
http://www.civinfo.com/forum/general...you-think.html
http://www.civinfo.com/forum/39689-post7.html

I'm not sure what's going on here, but you are not the first. I suspect that poorly fitted pads is a possibility.

[Bog]

Originally Posted by Pottsy

http://www.civinfo.com/forum/98914-post39.html
http://www.civinfo.com/forum/general...you-think.html
http://www.civinfo.com/forum/39689-post7.html

I'm not sure what's going on here, but you are not the first. I suspect that poorly fitted pads is a possibility.

I agree, it's seems that there are more and more stories about rear brake pad wear. I accept the VSA will affect the pad wear to a degree, but I cant see how the rear pads are wearing the same as the front. For most normal drivers, the VSA would not come on that often (if at all). Assuming the VSA is only working when the dash light comes on, I have only seen the VSA work twice in 16000 miles!

During the service, the dealer said my brake were 95% worn at the front and 90%. After checking them myself, I found the fronts to be about 75-80% worn and the rear to be about 75%.

If it is the case the rear pads are being fitted wrong at the factory (Cant see how though, as they are a simple design) or the rear calipers are binding, Honda would never admit to it and just blame the driver/wear and tear

[Bog]

Munro, my 1.8 has those wear indicators and started to squeal at 90%

[Munro]

I wonder if it has anything to do with the rear wheels getting dirty first.

Front wheel drive, but rear wheels get dirty

Pads lasting only 16k miles is not much Bog / Pingu, unless there is something wrong or you use the brakes a lot!

[robbo51]

Brakes probably need looking at

[longpig]

It is almost impossible to fit pads wrongly as the piston and pad beds do not allow for any error or wrong type of pad to be fitted.
Now having said that it is possible to fit a pad with softer material on it!
Working on old mini coopers we always chose "Don" or "Mintex" kit as it was harder and gave more immediate "Grab" but that was back in the days of asbestos.
Modern material is softer and wears faster but as soon as you hear the tinkling of the telltales against the disc----Pit stop straight away!! it is a better system than the old electrode embedded in the friction material cause some jokers selling a car would just snip the wires from the pads to put out the alarm light on the dash!!

[adamcivic]

The Accord is the same - it eats rear pads.

[sambuca2907]

I had exactly the same on my previous Civic... 1st service - 20% worn. And on my 2nd service - was told they were worn away and needed to be replaced. I asked to see the old pads so they were worn away. Just strange how over the 1st 12,000 miles 20% wore away - then after another 12,000 miles of the same driving style 80% had gone!

[Smiffy1]

I'm with longpig, sounds like the pads are a soft material which do not perform as well as the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) pads - is it a new car with new pads? I don't know how far you are from Francis Honda in Narborough (0116 275 2800) but I took my Civic Type R in after having the same kind of problem when visiting a friend (heard the telltale grinding and took a pitstop). They told me the pads were worn because they were imports (softer with less material) and had started to score the discs. I thought it was going to be an arm and a leg but they replaced the pads and offered me a disc skim for £40 a wheel (much better than the cost for new discs) and the brakes were back to normal again. They did warn me I would have to get the discs changed next service due to minimum thickness regulations but thats another 6,000 miles away. Whatever they do, make sure they use good quality replacement parts and not the cheaper imports that some garages are using. You lose performance and the pads have a shorter life span.

[philiphenderson]

Originally Posted by sambuca2907

I had exactly the same on my previous Civic... 1st service - 20% worn. And on my 2nd service - was told they were worn away and needed to be replaced. I asked to see the old pads so they were worn away. Just strange how over the 1st 12,000 miles 20% wore away - then after another 12,000 miles of the same driving style 80% had gone!

Without making you paranoid how do you know they were your pads?

Phil.

[Unknownsoldier]

I always ask to see parts from my vehicle and if possible always mark them with a paint pen in an inconspicuous place (if it's not there, then they arn't yours).

Tom

[civicfan]

Originally Posted by adamcivic

The Accord is the same - it eats rear pads.

I know it from French cars - on very old ones (as the Peugeot 405 available 20 years ago) the back pads were pretty thick, as thick as the front ones. Then, probably the service stations moaned that the company makes them starve (mine lasted 140.000 km!) and the new types were made in exactly the same frame, even with the same part number, but at least 50% thinner. C'est la vie...

[sambuca2907]

Originally Posted by philiphenderson

Without making you paranoid how do you know they were your pads?

Phil.

Well you're never gonna know - you guess that when the dealer tells you that you need new pads and you say "ok then - BUT I want the old ones to take home with me", that you're gonna get the same ones! But you're never gonna know!

[vivid bluey]

Well more woes with my Civic!!!!!! It went in today for it's 2nd year service only to be told it needs new brake discs due to corrosion!!!!! WTF!!!! 2 years old with under 10,500 miles!!!!! What a load of C**P!!!!
This car is gonna have to go !!!!

Anybody else had disc problems so soon?

Power of dreams? STUFF OF NIGHTMARES !!!!!!!!!!
__________________
Civic 1.8 ES Vivid Blue, exstension chrome exhaust pipe trims (COOL!!) , Colour Coded Boot Spoiler, blue LED interior lights, Blue Footwell Lighting, White & Blue Front LED side lights, Aluminium Tax holder, Non Honda Body & Bumper Protection Mouldings, Gray52 Foglight Protectors, Alien & Yeti danglies & an Italian flag badge on its' ass!! Union Jack Civinfo sticker. More to come.

[sambuca2907]

Originally Posted by vivid bluey

Well more woes with my Civic!!!!!! It went in today for it's 2nd year service only to be told it needs new brake discs due to corrosion!!!!! WTF!!!! 2 years old with under 10,500 miles!!!!! What a load of C**P!!!!
This car is gonna have to go !!!!

Anybody else had disc problems so soon?

Power of dreams? STUFF OF NIGHTMARES !!!!!!!!!!

What the hell... after 10,500 miles!!! I'm on 13,000 now with mine and have had no brake disc problems...
I damn well hope they were replaced under warranty...