Brakes Binding caliper - normal wear and tear?

camshaft · 10th May 2008, 15:25

Hi,
I've had a binding caliper for a few weeks now I think, but I only realised when the rear tyre in question started making a grinding noise due to metal on metal. I put it in to the garage today to get fixed and was told that it was going to be two new pads and disks for the rear (which I expected) but that it was not a warrenty claim (which I did not expect). My car is 22 months old and 43.5K miles. At the 37.5K service in Feb, the pads were only 40% worn and got a green status. I'm told that Honda would treat it as a warrenty if it was <25K miles but at my milage, it is treated as normal wear and tear. This sounds like absolute rubbish to me and I'm certain that it's mechanical failure but they have me to ransom today as I need the work done. Looks like I'll pay the £250 today and try to claim it back from Honda CS - just wondering if anybody had similar experience with this and any strategy for getting my money back!

Dimplyred · 10th May 2008, 16:44

Have they replaced the caliper that was sticking, or just stripped and cleaned it to free it off.

cylon2007 · 10th May 2008, 23:09

First of all are you really sure that the caliper was binding??

Second if you have got to 43.5K miles on the original pads you have done well. The grinding will be the pads on the disk now all the friction material has been used up.

I would suggest that as both the pads and disks are treated as wear items you'll be very lucky in deed to get anything done under warranty. With modern cars and pad materials the disks do wear much quicker as since they took asbestos out of the pads they are much harder.

camshaft · 10th May 2008, 23:24

Well, I'm no mechanic so I may be wrong in some of these assumptions but I'm pretty sure that it isn't just normal wear and tar. First of all, in Feb service at 37.5K miles the front pads were 50% worn and the rears were 40% worn. I know that this is low for the number of miles but I'm pretty light on the brakes and I do mostly motorway driving. It seems really weird that in the last 3 months and 6000 miles, the brake would wear away to the metal if it's only worn 40% before that.
Secondly, it's one rear pad that was worn - my understanding is that front pads always go first and if your rear pads do go then they should both go at the same time. In this case, the other one was still 50%.
I was never able to physically see the sticking caliper but I noticed that when I was getting the grinding noise under braking, it didn't go away immediately after releasing the brakes. I think I could hear it all the time. This suggested a binding caliper to me and it all added up with the strange brake wear.
They told me that they've cleaned it up rather than replacing it - they obviously don't believe me and think it's just normal wear and tear. I'm hoping that the clean-up will have been enough to stop any repeat as I don't want to have to pay for another set of pads and disks next week.

Pottsy · 11th May 2008, 07:35

I suspect that it will be treated like this:

Pads and discs (and clutches and exhausts) are consumables and are not covered. In theory it doesn't matter how they are used up, they are always consumable. However if a fault has clearly trashed them then you may have a claim for some part of the cost. The snag here is that the brakes have already done a fair bit of work, so it's a part claim, and might be tricky to get across.

I'd be more concerned about the sticky calliper. I'd want to know whether it could happen again, and so would want to know how often "cleaning" is required to stop it happening again (towing their line, where lack of cleaning caused it).

Call Honda CS for a friendly chat and see if they can help. I would approach it with a concern that a lack of calliper cleaning costs £250 each time.

camshaft · 11th May 2008, 17:39

Thanks Pottsy. I suspect that you're right and the best I can hope for is a partial refund. I'll try the frindly approach and see hwo I get on.
I'm also concerned about it happening again - it was easy to diagnose the binding caliper from the noise of metal on metal. Now with new pads, I don't know whether they're sticking or not!
Went out in the car this morning and got the glowplug warning light so God knows wht they did to it in the garage! It didn't appear to affect the car other than turing the fan engine fan on (staying on after the ignition was off, as if the temp was very high). The temp gauge was normal. Anyway, the light has now gone off so hopefully it's nothing.

camshaft · 16th May 2008, 13:33

Just in case this happens to anybody else, the conclusion of the story is that the garage attempted to put a warrenty claim for the work in with Honda, including photos. They didn't think that Honda would go for it but they have and I'm getting a full refund so happy days! I'm just hoping that the piston doesn't stick again.

Dimplyred · 16th May 2008, 14:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by camshaft

Just in case this happens to anybody else, the conclusion of the story is that the garage attempted to put a warrenty claim for the work in with Honda, including photos. They didn't think that Honda would go for it but they have and I'm getting a full refund so happy days! I'm just hoping that the piston doesn't stick again.

Great to hear that.

Good old Honda!!

braddie · 17th May 2008, 23:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimplyred

Great to hear that.

Good old Honda!!

Good old Honda my eye, i too had this problem with my drivers side rear wheel, i was told it was normal wear & tear ,i contacted Honda support who were totally obnoxious & ignorant to the fact that it was a definite fault & basically shafted me.

I certainly wouldn't recommend a Honda to anyone, the only reason we still have our EX is i'd hate to see how much i've lost on it in the last year.

I actually posted about this problem here - http://www.civinfo.com/forum/general...you-think.html

10th May 2008, 15:25	#1 (permalink)
camshaft Valve Cap Join Date: 31st October 2006 Posts: 5 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Binding caliper - normal wear and tear? Hi, I've had a binding caliper for a few weeks now I think, but I only realised when the rear tyre in question started making a grinding noise due to metal on metal. I put it in to the garage today to get fixed and was told that it was going to be two new pads and disks for the rear (which I expected) but that it was not a warrenty claim (which I did not expect). My car is 22 months old and 43.5K miles. At the 37.5K service in Feb, the pads were only 40% worn and got a green status. I'm told that Honda would treat it as a warrenty if it was <25K miles but at my milage, it is treated as normal wear and tear. This sounds like absolute rubbish to me and I'm certain that it's mechanical failure but they have me to ransom today as I need the work done. Looks like I'll pay the £250 today and try to claim it back from Honda CS - just wondering if anybody had similar experience with this and any strategy for getting my money back!

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This thread is about: Binding caliper - normal wear and tear?, it's in Wheels, Tyres, Suspension and Brakes at the Honda Civic forum Civinfo; Hi, I've had a binding caliper for a few weeks now I think, but I only realised when the rear tyre in question started making ...

10th May 2008, 16:44	#2 (permalink)
Dimplyred Type R GT 09570 Civinfo guru Join Date: 24th August 2007 Location: Staffordshire Posts: 3,101 Thanks: 16 Thanked 31 Times in 31 Posts	Have they replaced the caliper that was sticking, or just stripped and cleaned it to free it off.

10th May 2008, 23:09	#3 (permalink)
cylon2007 Triangular Exhaust Join Date: 14th April 2007 Location: South Manchester/North Cheshire Posts: 440 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	First of all are you really sure that the caliper was binding?? Second if you have got to 43.5K miles on the original pads you have done well. The grinding will be the pads on the disk now all the friction material has been used up. I would suggest that as both the pads and disks are treated as wear items you'll be very lucky in deed to get anything done under warranty. With modern cars and pad materials the disks do wear much quicker as since they took asbestos out of the pads they are much harder.

10th May 2008, 23:24	#4 (permalink)
camshaft Valve Cap Join Date: 31st October 2006 Posts: 5 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Well, I'm no mechanic so I may be wrong in some of these assumptions but I'm pretty sure that it isn't just normal wear and tar. First of all, in Feb service at 37.5K miles the front pads were 50% worn and the rears were 40% worn. I know that this is low for the number of miles but I'm pretty light on the brakes and I do mostly motorway driving. It seems really weird that in the last 3 months and 6000 miles, the brake would wear away to the metal if it's only worn 40% before that. Secondly, it's one rear pad that was worn - my understanding is that front pads always go first and if your rear pads do go then they should both go at the same time. In this case, the other one was still 50%. I was never able to physically see the sticking caliper but I noticed that when I was getting the grinding noise under braking, it didn't go away immediately after releasing the brakes. I think I could hear it all the time. This suggested a binding caliper to me and it all added up with the strange brake wear. They told me that they've cleaned it up rather than replacing it - they obviously don't believe me and think it's just normal wear and tear. I'm hoping that the clean-up will have been enough to stop any repeat as I don't want to have to pay for another set of pads and disks next week.

11th May 2008, 07:35	#5 (permalink)
Pottsy Administrator Civinfo guru Join Date: 10th April 2006 Location: Leics Posts: 4,674 Thanks: 3 Thanked 51 Times in 25 Posts	I suspect that it will be treated like this: Pads and discs (and clutches and exhausts) are consumables and are not covered. In theory it doesn't matter how they are used up, they are always consumable. However if a fault has clearly trashed them then you may have a claim for some part of the cost. The snag here is that the brakes have already done a fair bit of work, so it's a part claim, and might be tricky to get across. I'd be more concerned about the sticky calliper. I'd want to know whether it could happen again, and so would want to know how often "cleaning" is required to stop it happening again (towing their line, where lack of cleaning caused it). Call Honda CS for a friendly chat and see if they can help. I would approach it with a concern that a lack of calliper cleaning costs £250 each time.

11th May 2008, 17:39	#6 (permalink)
camshaft Valve Cap Join Date: 31st October 2006 Posts: 5 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Thanks Pottsy. I suspect that you're right and the best I can hope for is a partial refund. I'll try the frindly approach and see hwo I get on. I'm also concerned about it happening again - it was easy to diagnose the binding caliper from the noise of metal on metal. Now with new pads, I don't know whether they're sticking or not! Went out in the car this morning and got the glowplug warning light so God knows wht they did to it in the garage! It didn't appear to affect the car other than turing the fan engine fan on (staying on after the ignition was off, as if the temp was very high). The temp gauge was normal. Anyway, the light has now gone off so hopefully it's nothing.

16th May 2008, 13:33	#7 (permalink)
camshaft Valve Cap Join Date: 31st October 2006 Posts: 5 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Just in case this happens to anybody else, the conclusion of the story is that the garage attempted to put a warrenty claim for the work in with Honda, including photos. They didn't think that Honda would go for it but they have and I'm getting a full refund so happy days! I'm just hoping that the piston doesn't stick again.