I was roughly told $250 to do the front brakes on my HCHII.. this is ridiculous - I've done the brakes on my '99 Cavalier in the past for about $50 or less in parts.

What tools do I need to do the brakes other than a socket wrench to take the wheels off? i.e. on my Cavalier I specifically needed something like a 15mm hex key to use with my socket wrench. Are there any generic "Haynes" type manuals for our car that are good enough for showing me how to do a brake job? I've done this stuff before so it's not completely new, I just want to know what to expect before I get the wheels off.

Thanks a bunch
-
Martin

 

Doing front disc brakes on Hondas is pretty straight forward. Please clarify though, what do you mean by "do the brakes"? Are the pads going to be replaced (I kind of doubt it: with the HCHII regenerative braking, they last a long time)?

Assuming they're not, it's a little steep. All they're really doing is removing the wheel, removing the lower caliper bolt and rotating the caliper up, removing pads and shims, cleaning and lubing same, having a general look-see and then buttoning it up. They might also run an on-the-car disc machining tool. I think it's overkill do this every dang time, and it pushes the time up.

If you've done this sort of thing in the past there is nothing too difficult about the job with Honda's. I've let the dealer do ours up to now, due to warranty (but am swinging back to the DIY side now, due to several screw ups on the dealer's part). I usually get out of there for front/rear brakes, plus oil/filter, for a bit over $400CAN.

So, while the price is the "norm", it's still steep, and something you could easily do yourself.

 

Sorry, regarding your tools required:

Torque wrench
Socket wrench & extensions
19mm socket for wheel lug nut
14mm socket for caliper bolt <still not sure, the bolt is described as 8mm, FWIW
Anti-Seize compound (the goop with molybenum in it, most automotive stores have it. This goes at all points of contact between caliper, shim and pad, sparingly. Obviously: keep it off the pad front faces and discs)
Piece of string (I kid you not: just to hold the caliper up, tied to the supension)

Hmm, I think that's it. Obviously floor jack and safety stands.

I do have the shop manual, I'll take a look tonight for torque value and specs, but just for now, off the top of my head:

Wheel lug nut: 80 (foot pound)
Caliper bolt: 17 (foot pound)
Pad thickness new: 9.5-10.5mm
Pad thickness min: 1.0mm <not sure I'd wan't run it that close. They're prone to start fragmenting when that thin.
Disk thickness new: 20.9-21.1mm
Disk thickness refinishing limit: 19.0mm
Disk parallelism: 0.015mm

(Updated per the shop manual)

 

Why do you need a brake job on a two-year old car?

 

well, I've put 25k miles on it, they feel a little weak, and I thought I heard them squeek a couple times recently. Seems like it needs new brake pads... maybe not though.

Thanks for the info. Mendel. It sounds basically the same as my Cavalier as I assumed.

 

"Feel a little weak"?

If you pads have more than 3mm left on them, then leave them alone. I have over 40K on my brakes, and the front pads still have over 9mm on them.

With regenerative braking, the service life on pads on this car can easily be 100K miles. The rear brake shoes, may last the life of the vehicle. Brake squeal is normal when the pads are not fully warmed up.

If anything, you may just have water or air in your brake lines. The brake fluid should be changed out every 3 years on the HCHII. I would recommend a brake bleed first.

 

mmrmnhrm,

Why a "brake job"?

First off, it's very unlikely the pads will be needing changing, especially with the HCHII regen. braking (the electric motor takes some of the load off the brakes, acting as a generator during decel.), so it's usually a brake inspection/cleaning/relube of contacts.

The HCHII has a Maintenance Minder which pretty much dictates when things get done. I find ours is asking for brake inspection about once a year, around 20,000km. This is not out of line with printed maintenance schedules from years past, at least not for any Honda's we've had.

The main objective is to clean all points of contact between pad/shim/caliper, and relube with anti-seize. And also, to check for things going bad: like cracked rotors for instance.

Just one experience we had, with "pros":

We had a cracked rotor on one occasion, with a previous Honda. You knew it. Every time you stepped on the brake it sounded sick. Anyway, limped home, popped the wheel to look, saw a crack, made the appointment, told them I'd seen a crack, drove it there very carefully:

About an hour later the "rep" phone back to say it was our lucky day: there was no problem...

Told him to check again.

He called back again. This time they'd found it.

Hung up. Slowly went into a burn. Emailed the service manager, saying:

How the heck can your guys miss a cracked rotor, when the customer has already specifically reported it? He thought that was a very good question, and agreed. Mentioned that he had the rotor on his desk as we talked.

I got a long well with that guy, we were on the same wave length. He's no longer there though, too bad.

Sorry, I'm rambling

 

Orient Express, I agree about brake fluid change: it is stipulated in Owners Manual, a non Maintenance Minder item, to be changed every 3rd year.

Personally, I would stick with the approximate yearly inspections of brakes, as dictated by Maintenance Minder, both to comply with warranty, and because it's very likely a good idea. As far as cost, it is something you can do yourself, no big deal, but see if you can get it recorded on the Service Department's records. One thing that might help you make your case is to purchase the official shop manual. There are details in the back of the Owner's manual on how to do that.

Raidfibre, I've update the spec's. per the shop manual, and added a few as well

 

I changed my front pads myself after 50k. only one pad was shot, the other had over 3mm left. I changed them all with ceramic pads from Pep Boys. Now they squeal like a banshee. I didn't turn the rotors, and I think I should have. I drive in LA traffic, so I'm on the brakes a lot.

 

Did you forget the caliper grease?