Hybrid civic break pad are the best one i have came across ...its last really long and main reason for that is regen braking takes load off the braking system.

 

I'm resurrecting this thread because I've held off on the brake pad replacement but I'm considering getting this done before a road trip I'm about to take.
I've noticed a few people in the previous posts saying that there isn't a big difference in cost between honda pads and aftermarket pads, but when I called my dealer and asked about getting the front pads replaced they gave me a quote of $214 or so (including resurfacing they said). Does this sound right? Seems pretty inflated to me.

 

I assume that quote is for installed? It's not crazy inflated. In Canadian dollars Honda pads are $70~100, at the parts counter. That figure is from maybe 6 years back, could have inflated a bit. Sometimes the pad shims are included with pad purchase, sometimes not, not sure of the logic for this. But if you do need shims (if the current ones are too corroded) and they are a separate purchase: maybe another $20. Add an hour labour charge and that quote is not too high, if they do careful, diligent work.

To date, with around 87000km's on our '06 we've never had to replace pads. Last time I checked they were around 6mm remaining, well above service limit.


Questions:

1. What's your mileage? HCHII brakes tend to go a long way, for a couple of reasons:

a) The IMA systems's use of regenerative braking takes a lot of load of the brake pads, using the electric motor (as a generator) to slow the car instead.

b) HCH owners as a rule tend to be very conservative in their brake use.

2. Do you know your current pad thickness?

New pad thickness for the HCHII is 9.5-10.5mm, and service limit is 1.0mm. I would not go to 1.0mm, would prefer to replace at around 3.0mm minimum.

 

I'm at about 64,000 miles. I always thought that I was pretty conservative with my braking (and so I thought that they should have plenty of life left), but I'm concerned because I've been hearing a fair amount of squeaking while braking.
I do not know my current pad thickness. I was going to go to the dealer and have them check it out but the muli-point inspections is about $50 if you're not getting any other service done.

 

If you can manage to pull a wheel you can check pad thickness yourself. There's a little opening in the caliper you can look through.

If you go one more step: taking out the bottom caliper bolt and rotating the caliper up and out of the way you can get a much clearer view. I think socket size is 14mm for the lower caliper bolt, unless it's changed from previous Honda's we've had. Be sure to check actual pad thickness: there's a metal backing plate on the pad. When done, just rock the caliper back down and re-install the bolt. The torque spec. is 17 lb/ft. If no torque wrench, that's just normal effort with a wrench.

That said, has your dealership followed the schedule, doing brake inspections? You're getting a bit burnt if they haven't noted remaining pad thickness (or at least percent remaining) on the bills.

"multi-point inspection" is not an expression in the Honda maintenance schedule, it's hard to say but it sounds like they are getting "creative" with the required maintenance schedule. Wouldn't be the first time.

Sort out the pad thickness first. With your mileage, driving conservative, I would guess 3~5mm remaining. And that might make it worthwhile to replace.

 

October 29, 2010

73000 Km's on a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid
Location: mouth of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Harbour.

****SYMPTOM**** Squishy brakes

I would never go to Honda for break service. At my dealership they charge you whatever in labour for the price of the part your getting worked on. So I can buy a set of front brake pads (complete with break squeal, extra pins) at the parts desk for 74.68 (CDN) taxes in as of the above date OR you can get them to do it for double that. That is simply how much they charge. $5.68 a litre for 3.2 litres of oil at change with new oil filter = $18.18 double it plus double the cost of the oil filter = $48 bucks. I'm not sure if that's what they charge for an oil change with filter but I think I remember paying 52 bucks one time. I would never get them to do such an easy task again.


I inspected my front brake pads today and they are barely 40 percent worn and I'm at 73000 Km's but my braking lately (not talking about regen or ima or anythign like that) was very "squishy" lets say for the past few weeks.

I thought for sure the front pads were on their last legs by reading some other peoples posts online but I'd say I have another 80,000 km on these things and I'm not even kidding.

I bought a set of front brake pads before I jacked the car up (BIG MISTAKE) I don't need the pads for another 80K. Anyhow, back to my break problem.
I then checked the brake fluid level which is right behind the big white plastic reservoir with the black cap. You need a light to see the fluid level and you'll probably have to clean the dust off of it to see it. Unfortunately you can't tell the color of your fluid just by looking at this level (I think you'd have to bleed the brake fluid). Anyhow, that was at 3/4 between the Max and Min level so I obviously had plenty of fluid. BTW you do this with key in and ingition turned to II ON.

So that wasn't it. Turns out.. all I had to do was pump the brakes with the car off a number of times and turn the car on with the brake pedal depressed then continue pumping for a bit.

Did some more research. If brake fluid is low, the brake system indicator light will come on.

New or Standard front brake pads are 9.5 to 10.5 mm thick and their service limit is 1.6 mm but I would replace at 3 mm like somebody else mentioned on here.

I would stongly recommend getting Honda's break pads for this job. Comes with anti-squeal paste and new pins if you brake the old ones.

I would also recommend getting a corded impact gun with digital torque meter for your lug nuts. I bought one that does 80 to 350 ft lbs in 5 ft lbs increments for 99 bucks at Canadian Tire. For all honda cars 80 ft lbs is what you want to torque them back on with. You won't break the digital torque meter if you put them on and tighten them up with a good amount of arm force and then make sure your impact gun is nice and square.

So in summary, I wouldn't even bother inspecting the breaks if their squishy without first pumping the brake pedal like I described above and taking it for a spin and slamming on the brakes at around 50 km/h. For some reason I think the Advanced Hydraulic Booster system which is what they call the system beyond the conventional brakes needs to relearn it's "zero position" (that's what they call it). If you replaced your servo unit, brake pedal, brake pedal stroke sensor or master cyclinder they would go in and wipe the information on the computer regarding "zero position" and do the above prescribed method. You however can just force it by your self by doing the above prescribed method.

Thank you and good night.

*&^% 6 hours later, parts I don't need, for a brake job I don't need. How frustrating is that?

I live right on the ocean that explains the rust. It didn't look that bad, the picture makes it look worse then it is. The car was factory undercoated and I get it sprayed with Krown every 2nd year.

 

Ok, with 227,000 my 05 is making the insanely annoying these-pads-are-toast noise. Anyone have any new light to shed on this topic? Specifically, worth having Honda do it or can I get away with it?

 

I personally wouldn't worry too much about getting after market pads. They are all built to standards, so you really can't go too far wrong. Also, lets face it, the HCH is NOT a high performance car so you don't need the latest and greatest stopping technology. With the regenerative braking and the Hybrid's light weight, a pair of used kitchen sponges could do the job (J/K) .

Advance Auto actually has a low end pair for $9.99 (seriously - that's the regular price) with a decent set for $41.99. Both have a lifetime warranty.

I have 160,000 miles on my 2003 HCH and the original pads are still fine. I was thinking about replacing them, but there really is no reason.