Brake Problems...

[Paprika]

Hi people...

I asked in other community I visit about a brake problem I was having, the main person who was helping me ran out of advise so I want to bring my problem over here to the nicest community I attend and see what you all think of it.

Basically
Well it started out as a soft pedal. Cousin replaced the master cylinder, problem didn't go away. Had the brakes inspected by pepboys and they said I needed new pads and rotors and they also reccomended a full brake fluid exchange (includes proper bleeding).

I took those reccomendations to an actually affordable mechanic and had him do the work. He, apparently, did not bleed the brakes like I asked him to, I already didn't like his attitude so I didn't bring it up, but he did do all of the other work.

1 week after new pads and rotors and my brakes starts squeaking. So now two problems. I take pictures of my brakes and one of my advisors said there were some other things that didn't look right about my brake system... more cause for concern.

So I believe, personally, there is air in my brake lines and that mixed with the old old old brake fluid thats been there for who-knows-how-long is causing my soft pedal.

I also believe, from my inspection yesterday, the brakes are squeaking because 1) they were not installed with shims 2) were not properly broken in 3) No anti-squeak (molykote m77) stuff was put in place behind the pads.

Those are my beliefs as my problems, but then thanks to these pictures below my advisor tells me something funky is going on with my rotor (the rusted areas from a 1month old - fairly new rotor), my caliper looks shady enough to be replaced and the mechanic shouldn't have bent the dust shield.. which He just said "there was this piece of metal that was rubbing, I bent it and bent it and got the rubbing to stop"

My dellimah is two fold. I am a HS student who works at a fast food establishment. $$$ is not abundant at the moment. Hell I may have to use my birthday money to fix my car , then on the other side I am not sure what all Is should deal with. Should I replace the caliper? replace rotors again? cough up $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ (i'm sure they're very expensive) and take it to the local Honda dealership?

I would be willing to replace the caliper if I had the money, well they don't cost that much after returning the core... I may not have the inital cost $$$... Here are the pictures:

Hosted on WTDR so give pics time to load up:





http://www.we-todd-did-racing....D.jpg










Tell me what you think. Thanks

[B18bEK]

If you don?t want to blindly buy new calipers and not know if it?s going to work to fix your problem, I know that there has to be places that will inspect your brakes for free. I think pepboys does free brake inspections. If it were me I would get some better ceramic pads.

[98ex2286]

i would take it to a honda dealer n find out what the problem is. might cost u sumtin but breaks arnt somthing u dont wanna have problems with. other than that my knowlege is limited n i dont know what the problem is

[98ex2286]

first off all it has absolutly nothing to do with your calipers, to my knowledge. second, the way your rotors look is absolutly normal. i replaced my rotors on my old 91 hatch and after a week or two you could see the marks of where the rotor and rim touch. hence the rust spots on the inner part of your rotor. and also i replaced my rotors with brembo oem style rotors( no slots or drilled holes). if u used really cheap parts that could be one problem. possibly a warped rotor or something like that but another thing i noticed was if you look at your rotor there are unworn sections close to the outer part of the rotor. this could be due to u had the wrong pads put in or that the guy who put them in really had no idea what he was doing and put them in improperly( highly doubt that they are a breeze to put in).as for the sqeaking is it happening all the time or just occasionally becasue that can also be caused by rust on new rotors and the fact that you have new pads also. bleeding is a very important factor in a brake swap or when the calipers are removed but that wont caused a sqeak and even if you do have old fluid thats not going to make a big difference. theres so many things that can be wrong with it that i cant even list them all but im pretty positive when i say its not your calipers( dont take my word for this, really would help if u told us how many miles were on the car and stuff like that) or your master cylinder or brake lines. i really think that its a problem due to the fact that the "guy" you took it to didnt kno wat he was doing. post some more info maybe it will lead to a better conclusion or possibly an answer.

[Paprika]

Originally posted by 98ex2286@Sep 24 2004, 06:37 PM
first off all it has absolutly nothing to do with your calipers, to my knowledge..

Hey, thanks for responding. I really do appreciate it.

Personally I don't think the calipers have anything to do with the squeeling either, it's go to be the lack of shims and molykote m77 with the semi-metallic pads. Ceramic pads are what I thought I was gettin originally but the cleark at AZ (Autozone) said that the Duralast brakes are made from the same materials as oem for compatibility reasons. But I am not sure what type of pads are best so I'll need to research that.

another thing i noticed was if you look at your rotor there are unworn sections close to the outer part of the rotor.[/b]

The 'outer part' of the rotor being the area closest to the outside edge, not the area immidately surrounding the cener hub, right? In that case, I see how the rotor doesn't appear the same throught the entire friction area where the pads touch it. It didn't phase me much at first though... So I am assumeing the entire friction contact area of the rotor should appear uniform?

The bleeding the the old fluid references I made are concerning my soft pedal problem I am also having, I know they are not the reasons behind the squeeking/squeeling problem.

More information about the car for future reference:
1992 Honda Civic 4dr DX Sedan
Over 137,000miles on it
SOHC D15B7 Engine

Let me know. Thanks again!

[imported_Kyle_G]

its funny because it almost looks as though the pad wear is opposite to the rotor wear [the inside of the pad looks worn.. while the out area of the rotor looks to be getting all the contact. seeing as how theres rust forming on the inner most part of the rotor (closest to the hub)]
as for the soft pedal.. more then likely air in the lines. you dont need to bleed the lines to change the pads.. so the mechanic probably never did. BTW.. pepboys is a rip off.. probably didnt even need new rotors.. they just tell you that.. so youll say "OK" and have them do it.. and rape you for like $400. seen it happen before.
Another thought.. is that your floater pins are seized.. or just not moving properly. If you dont know what im talking about.. think of your caliper as a clamp. the inner pad (closest to the engine) is forced against the rotor by the caliper.. and while doing this.. it (at the same time) pulls the outter pad (closest to wheel) towards the rotor. Now thats where the floater pins (not sure if thats the technical name for them) come into play. those are what the caliper moves along. Or "floats" on. If these are stuck.. then the inner pad (again.. closest to the engine) is/are doing all the work. causing uneven wear on the pads. Now usually this will result in more pad wear on the inside pads... not inside wear (think hub/rotor not engine/wheel) on the pads. (again.. as you have circled in the third pic.) but i suppose in some rare cases.. it might.

NOW, forgive me. but its been a while since ive worked ona pair of brakes.. so everything i just told you could be wrong.. im having trouble picturing the brake setup in my head.. and im working off of a fuzzy memory.

[Paprika]

Thanks for responding Kyle_G - I blieve i know what your referring to and I blieve they are in working order. I watched the caliper in action grip the rotor on both sides.

As far as the mismatch in ware patterns is concerned, they match up to me as they should. The worn area of the outside pad is the area which touches the worn area on the rotor.

pepboys is a ripoff indeed. I called them and asked did they do free brake inspections, they said yes we do. Then they tell me when I get there the next morning that if I do not have them do the brake repair/work I need done (if any at all - i guess) then they have to charge me " a simple preventive maintance labor charge" .. oh well. Atleast they alerted me to the pads being word down very very badly I'm talk these things were totally GONE! Aparently I had been stoping using the backing plate...

What I wouldn't mind doing is getting my calipers sand blasted by the autoshop at school and pretty much rebuilding them I guess. Sounds like a cool thing to do compaired to buying new ones...

[98ex2286]

rebuilding parts is fun, well i think so. i rebuilt a carb on my dirtbike a while back ago. always better than buying a new one. as for the soft pedeal it probally is due to air in yur lines and they would need to be bled. besides that i really couldnt tell u much more i would take it to a honda dealer. more cash but the work is ligit. i also agree that it could be the floater pins are seized. i wish i could be more of a help but my knowlege is limited im not a mechanic.