Hey everyone, its been a moment. So 3-4 days ago, a scraping sound was oozing out of my front right wheel, my understanding is it could obviousley be the brake pads or someone suggested bearings, its only got 52K original miles so i dont know if it could be the bearings..in any case, my last oil change at Honda, i was advised that i will need brake pads replaced by the next oil change, what they did not tell me was that Honda will automatically service the rotors, whether it needs it or not, when they replace the pads. I did feel the rotors and they are still smooth to the touch. Do i really need the rotors re-surfaced (i suspect thats what they mean by "service" the rotors). Its bumping my overall price to $500+ with the rotor job.

Also, will i be ok to drive it for a couple more days before deciding on what to do? BTW the scraping noise is not constant, it comes and goes but usually starts when car is starting from a parked position and goes away when i actually apply the brakes.

Much obliged
Zero2Hero

 

With the mileage you have on your car, the sound is probably the wear scraper built into the inner front disc brake pad. This scraper is built into the side of the disc pad and is designed to start scraping against the rotor when the pads wear down to a minimal thickness to remind you that the brakes need to be inspected/replaced.

If the rotors feel smooth, and with the mileage you have on the car, I personally wouldn't turn the rotors unless your brake pedal pulsates when you apply the brakes. You're probably going to get push-back from the dealer if you tell them you don't want the rotors turned this time. They obviously want as much money from you as they can get for their brake job, and you telling them not to turn the rotors cuts into their profit margin. Waiting a few days will not make much of a difference.

Honda's full list price for the front pads is around $50.00, and removing the rotors and taking them to an auto parts store for resurfacing, if need be, should run you about $25.00 or less for the pair. Add a bottle of brake lube for the caliper guide pins and pad shims/slides and that's a far cry from the $500.00 estimate you got from them to do the job. Disc brakes are easy to do. If you have some tools and can do the job yourself you can save a lot of money. If not, find a local small reputable shop and have them do the brakes. A Honda dealership is the last place I'd take my car to for brakes.

 

Thanks heaps for the quick and thorough advice..i will get to looking for a local shop on monday and see where i go with it..PS not too mechanically inclined i'm afraid..i think i might just fumble my way if i tried to do it myself. lets see what a local garage will charge me, i'll update. Thanks again.

 

Good sound advice above.

Don't feel bad about blunders (though I understand that they can be more than the wallet and back can tolerate at points.) If you keep going after screwing up in strange and silly ways, you'll learn strange and silly things. Like.. the importance of brake pad spreader clip thingies (left 'em out because the new brakes didn't include them. Warped rotors in under 1k miles)

Or what happens when you grease an upper strut mount (suspension made a clunk noise that was very hard to pinpoint,)
or like, if you hammer an extra long thru-bolt into place in an upper control arm, it'll bend.. (screwed up suspension)

Or what happens if you rewire injectors with high temp multistrand stereo wire just because they come pre-tinned and actually list their temp range on the packaging.. (engine died when reaching operating temperature)

Or if you sleeve a spark plug hole and overshoot the depth.. (cutting a valve)
Or use a fel-pro heavy duty/high mileage head gasket, you'll raise the cylinder heads up and create a void between the intake manifold and engine block that can't be sealed by just silicone, and there's no pre-made gasket for it.. so you learn to make your own!

Perhaps you put the front of your car up on ramps and raise the back end on stands! Then after finishing work you go to raise the rear end off of the stands and go too high and wind up having your car chase you down the driveway with the tail still in the air on the jack until your life and wallet are narrowly saved by a deep crack in your driveway.

Maybe you try to use engine enamel to paint an engine you disassembled, spending a week on 9-12 coats, only to find that neither VHT or Duplicolor can withstand fuel spilled when later taking the injectors out to clean them (likely because they couldn't stick to the rough cast aluminum intake manifold despite my best efforts.)

Or you install new wheels on a new truck that already had aftermarket wheels, and you don't swap the hub rings because they look new and identical. But when you go to torque the wheel the torque wrench keeps turning farther before clicking every time you go around, and nobody knows why. Then later one of the wheels comes off while driving on the freeway. (The hub rings that were already in place were 1-2mm larger in diameter)
Or.. or...... or..

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The reason why they are mandating turning the rotors with the brake pad replacement is that you cannot tell how much thickness is left, if there are warps, cracks, burn spots, by simply looking at them and rubbing your hands over the surface. Plus, in order for your brake pads to last and be effective, they require a perfectly flat surface to bond with. Brakes are kind of important for you and an increased liability for someone who works on them legitimately. For the OP, as you state that you are not mechanically inclined, probably not the best idea to start learning and making mistakes on your cars braking system. Same with trying to find the cheapest option available, They are your brakes. They keep you from smashing into me. Stick with the dealership or authorized brake service centers. Go cheap on your stereo or car wax or other non-crashing into me items.

 

@keywestyakker Good, sensible advice, but not what I would do.

@56chevydan Pretty much what I would do.

@Pyts What have I told you about working around dangerous fumes without the windows open? Hmm?

 

There are so many videos out there that you can watch and use to do the brakes yourself.
You can get a good set of pads and rotors for $62.79 from RockAuto.
$500 is crazy to spend on front brakes and the reward of doing it yourself is a very good feeling.

POWER STOPKOE5382 Stock Replacement Kit = $62.79

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...+pad+kit,13824

 

@09JET - Thankyou, will look into it.

 

I agree, Jet. But I'm also aware that the job may be a little intimidating for a first-timer.

Are there any Fit Freakers in Z2H's area that could help out? I think he's in NorCal. Come on, guys. Even if you just stood around and drank a beer, it would be something.

 

You know, you're alright, MC.
And believe me 😂 I'm desperately trying to balance playing it safe and getting out of bed. The brain's the one thing that I can't ID when it's malfunctioning, because I rely on it to tell me!

I need to update my location to GA.

 

UPDATE: So i took it in to Honda today..they said i need the brake pads but that my rotors did not need resurfacing. Right rotar was 21.7 and left rotal 21.7. BUT when i asked the price for the pad job they said $385..i thought it would hover between $200-250 but with tax its close to $400. I called a local garage who insisted that my rotors will need resurfacing 3-4 months after i get the new pads, and that he would do BOTH jobs for $250. The garage seems reputable enough although ive never dealt with them but if yelp is anything to go by...anyway, anyone got final thoughts on this matter?
thanks

 

It's more expensive than a DIY.. i'd want them to bleed the brakes too at that price.. But i wouldn't fault yuh for taking the deal.

 

well yeah i did expect to pay more than if i were to do it myself (which i'm not) ..so would you go with the 250 deal if it were you? Also besides bleeding the brakes, what other crucial add-ons should i be asking them to include ?

 

😂 sorry, just had to say it. I think that's it. Bleeding them is a pain in the butt. Price sounds fair enough to me counting parts n labor. It's an hour's work if you're equipped for it (or so i'd assume, i've never used an auto bleeder)

 

i think so too, 250 with resurfaced rotors seems like a very decent price, i'll call back tomorrow and ask if it will include a brake fluid flush and re-lubing caliper pins.

 

The $250 price is 50% less than the dealer for the same work- so that helps a lot. If you were ever able to watch someone do your front disc brakes, you'd see how easy the job actually is to do. If you were out here in the San Francisco/Bay area I'd give you a hand doing them.

Lubing the caliper guide pins is a big part of doing disc brakes. As the brake pads wear, the caliper has to slide over to make up that loss of pad thickness and stay close to the rotor. The installer that does the brake job will also have to install the new provided metal shims and lubricate them as well. These shims come with the disc brake pads and are fitted into the caliper brackets and are what the brake pads fit into to hold them in place under tension.

If the shop will throw in the brake fluid flush in the price quoted, it's probably as good a deal as you'll find having someone do your brakes for you. If you lift your car and remove all four wheels, where you can get to the four brake bleeders easily, the brake bleeding process should take 30 minutes or less plus a quart of brake fluid. If the shop agrees to the brake flush, make sure they actually do it. You can normally tell by looking at the master cylinder reservoir and see if the fluid visible is light colored or looks darker from contamination. Good luck with the brake job.

 

Replace with MAXX brakes pads and rotors run me 79 $ CDN. Did the job myself.

Or buy the parts and go to a trusted mechanics, should run you less than 250 $.

 

UPDATE: Thanks heaps to everyone who responded as quickly and thoughtfully as ya'll did. I ended up getting a brake and rotor job for $250(out the door), the garage was very close to where i live and never thought to consider it until i followed up with yelp reviews which happened to be near perfect for this place, i was apprehensive about yelp reviews but i guess some are genuine reviews.

High Fivers all around!