Dear All,

There are few Questions about Brake system that I wish someone can help me. Currently My 2009 Honda Fit Sport (Auto) reaches 62,XXX miles. I plan to change the brake system which includes Brake pads, Brake Rotors, Brake Fluid Flush, Brake Line. I did some research with my question as follow:

Brake Pads,
I searched in the forum, most people recommend EBC Green stuff, Hawk HPS, and OE. I will not consider OE. So I will choose other two brakes. Which have low dust and good stop? I almost drive hwy so the OE brake make my rims become dark grey.

Brake rotor,
I also want to change front rotors, Now I am looking for EBC slotted and solid rotors, the price have which different, and my friend told me the slot rotors will make your brake pad use faster than solid rotors. Should I change to Slotted or keep buying solid.

Brake line,
I am not sure replace brake line will boost my brake function or not, However, I saw the most of people recommend G-Stop Brake Lines. Now my brake peddle is pretty loosen, if I change the lines, can it help my peddle tight?

Brake Fluid Flush,
Could anyone recommend which brand is better, and how many qt. or oz. should I buy for Flush?

Rear brake,
I ask Honda dealership that they said, I don't need to change the Brake shoes, they only need to clean drums up. But I doubt it. Should I change the Brake Shoes can help me improve my stop performance?

The last question,
I live in south TX where is 100 away from Houston. My town has a Honda Dealer, however, they have very bad reputation in my town. So I would like to find other maintenance shop or Dealership which can accept I bring my own parts (the Honda Dealer in my town is allow me bring my own parts, but I am not sure the dealer in Houston). Does anyone has these experience can recommend?

Current the Dealer give me the price are
Front Brake pads and rotors Install: $125
Clean Rear Brake : $79.95
Fluid Flush: $89.95
Drive Belt: $172
PCV: $82

Are those price fair??

Your respond will really helpful, thanks y'all.

 

The prices for the brake work are average for the areas i have worked in shops. Im not sure of the belt or pcv because I havent looked up the parts or labor.

Now, lets talk about average prices. To me, the work is easy to do so it seems like too much to pay. The cost to install your parts is a can of brake cleaner and maybe a half of a quart of brake fluid. So, maybe $10-15! They want to charge about $295. $280 profit for a fast job in a shop.

For people who have no experience, the price is fair!

Just an idea, find someone who is experienced enough to do this work and offer them $100 to do the work and teach you how to do it. That way you pay less and learn how to do it at the same time. It will take an experienced tech only a couple of hours or less to do. Its easy to do. They will make like $50 and hour and should be happy.

Good Luck

 

Changing brake lines is totally UNNECESSARY on a street car unless you plan to track it.

If you have a "soft" pedal the system probably needs bleeding.

If you are just street driving solid rotors are fine.

If your rear brake shoes are still in spec (which they probably are) there is no reason to change them.

 

Agree. Seems more like the OP is concerned with brake dust on the wheels - Easy fix - Wash them.

I find stock brakes to me seem much better than on some larger vehicles.

 

The current generation Fit has a smaller master cylinder surface area than the prior generation. Pedal movement is more than I'm used to on other cars. I don't think changing all the components will change the amount of pedal movement unless you install a different design master cylinder, and that's not practical.

Unless you're tracking it, flush the brake lines (required every three years), change the pads at 2mm or less (the audible sensors start screeching at 1.5mm) and change the rotors when needed (damaged, or under minimum specs).

As for the other stuff:I'd wait and do these at about 100K when you need valve adjustment and new spark plugs. These prices seem high; the belt is $30 and the PCV valve is $20 (full retail price from Honda). These items should take less than 30 minutes labor total. $250 for a belt and new PCV valve? shudder.

Honda is specific about using their brand brake fluid. I'd get 3 quarts for a flush. But $90 is pretty reasonable for this service if you're not inclined to DIY (assuming this includes the fluid: maybe that's with your own).

Tires will make the biggest difference in how well it stops.

 

^^ I pretty much agree with both of these comments but want to add on one. Replacing the brake lines could be a bit tedious and time consuming for the rear due to the limited space given to remove the brake line's locking tab (at least for my GD). If you do go through with replacing lines, try to use a lift... you'll be glad you did.

Hey there fellow Texan. As far as the prices, they sound about right believe it or not. The brake fluid replacement and front pads w/ rotors are menu (set) prices. The drive belt sounds like you got charged an hour labor + plus the part... similar case with the PCV, labor time + part.

What dealer did you get these quotes from if you don't mind me asking?

As far as the actual parts/components that you want to replace... like previously mentioned, replacing brake lines is overkill (presuming you'll be going braided stainless and didn't balloon/damage a current line) on a car that isn't being pushed on a regular basis. Brake pads... I haven't really seen Fits be it GD3 or GE8 running OEM pads that have heavily dusted front wheels. If they do, its usually due to lack of tire rotation and washing the car.

Now, if you do go aftermarket for brake pads and rotors I wouldn't recommend EBC brake pads. There are some instances were the bonding agent that holds the brake friction material didn't adhere properly and resulted in the material falling of the metal backing plate. If you want something that is a performance pad with low dust, check out Hawk's Performance Ceramic (or HPS) or perhaps Carbotech's 1521 (pricey) street pad.

Rotors... unless you OEMs are warped I'd continue running them. If you do want to replace, I'd recommend sticking with either an OEM blank or finding a Brembo blank rotor. Slotted rotors are good provided that you do enough hard/frequent braking to keep the brake pads at temp. Down fall with them, your brake pads will be "colder" than with a blank rotor and if you were to have a panic stop situation there will likely be a "less-than-OEM" moment of braking until enough heat is generated in the pad. I personally ran Hawk's Performance Ceramic pads with EBC USR 850 slotted rotors (still have these) and had that exact issue that I described during one of my daily freeway drives to work... Whenever a STOCK Fit's front brakes can out perform one with slotted rotors and performance pads going UPHILL, there's a problem.

Rear shoes... I honestly wouldn't worry about. The rear drum's shoes aren't too shabby believe it or not. Just make sure that they are within spec, adjusted properly, AND not glazed then you should be ok. Carbotech makes the 913 compound for drum shoes (at least for the GD3) and they are great but very aggressive... I wouldn't recommend them for a daily driver or to someone that drives casually/easily.

Finally brake fluid... Honda's Dot 3 good for what it is in a daily driver. It only takes a bottle and a half to 2 bottles completely replace the brake fluid in the system. 3 bottles if the fluid is absolutely HORRENDOUS, I'm talking looks like mud horrid. Just suck all the old fluid out the reservoir (noting your fluid level before hand, it helps note brake wear), fill it up and evacuate the old fluid from each corner starting from the driver front and working clockwise till you get the driver rear.

I hope this tidbit of info helps you any.

 

Thanks y'all gave me kindly advice. According to y'all advice, I decide I will not change brake lines and use hawks brake pads(HPS). Because this car uses for work and daily shopping, so even I use very expensive parts, it would become waste money. My original purpose was just want more safe when I drive everyday. However, there're some questions I found after I did the research:

1. I cannot find the Hawks brake pads(HPS) and Brembo solid Rotors can fit my 2009 Honda Fit. The website (amazon, autoanything...) all show me it only can fit 2008 Honda fit model. Does anyone can provide me the parts number? I am worry about if I bring wrong parts to maintenance shop. Seems it will be embarrassed....

2. I would like to thanks you guys told me I can learn how to repair it by myself. However, my job kills my life I work over time every day, I don't have enough time to make it by myself and if I make mistake when I work on it, I cannot go to work. (I only have this baby car-.-"). So the best way I can do is find a weekend and give my car to maintenance shop to help me. I live in Victoria, TX. Maybe some people know we only have one Honda dealer in this town and my co-workers, Google, Yelp...etc all are not recommend this dealer.Could anyone recommend another dealer in Houston or maintenance shop (no matter in Victoria or Houston) to me?

3. The pvc and Drive Belt if don't need to replacement when it hit 70k miles, I will wait until 100K to do it. But I am curious about what kind of situation I need to change in 70K? because I drive it everyday with almost hwy mileages and average speed 70-75 miles (sometime need to overtake other cars would kick pedal very hard or change lower gear ). Are those action effect the belt gets old/consume faster?

Thanks y'all again and hope I can finish this work before thanks given.

 

Jeez, you're way out there in the boonies. I completely understand your situation on not wanting/needing to risk being down a car though.

Have you considered Honda of Lake Jackson? They're pretty thorough with your car and do some good work there. In addition to that, they're 45 minutes south of Houston so you wouldn't have to deal with the crazy city traffic... not sure how they would handle using aftermarket parts though. Call their service department and as to speak with an adviser or the service manager regarding this.

Now, I did a little bit of parts cross referencing using Honda part numbers and found that the rotors for the GD3 ('07/'08) and GE8 ('09 to '13/current) are the same.

As for the Hawk High Performance Street pads (HPS), I did cross referencing Hawk's part numbers for the '07/'08 GD3 Fit, '09 & '13 GE8 Fit, and the '05 DC5 generation Acura RSX Base (shares same pads as GD3 Fit) and all of which came back the same part number, which is HB418F.646.

In the case of the PCV and drive belts... I personally haven't seen any cases were a Fit needed the PCV replaced at that low of a mileage. As for the drive belt, if memory serves me right your generation Fit features an auto-tensioner for your drive belt which features wear indicators on it which will look something like this...





At which point, if the arrow is outside the red lines then the belt of course needs replacement due to stretching. If it within the lines, the belt is ok (do still check for and replace if cracking or fraying).

 

LOL what is this? Don't bother with this. I am assuming that means they're going to turn the drums but you don't need it. If that means they're going to spray it with brake cleaner and put the drum back on it's not worth $80.

I'd keep the OEM rotors as long as they are in spec. If you insist on changing them for whatever reason get Brembo blank rotors. You don't need drilled, slotted or whatever. Hawk HPS are ok. Don't expect a huge change in initial bite, they just can handle more heat than OEM pads before they start fading (in my experience).

Do PCV at 100k, belt only if needed (signs of cracks, fraying or stretched beyond spec). Highway miles are the most gentle on the belt, since changes in RPM are what stretch it, not so much constant speed. You don't need to do much maintenance before 100k with the Fit, especially if it's mostly highway miles. If you haven't done the transmission fluid yet I would have it changed.

 

Thanks Hooti post the picture to me. However, I still not sure which location is it (I am the idiot of mechanic T.T"). I try to Upload the picture, but the forum won't allow me use attachment function. Maybe because I am the new in this forum. at the final, I decide to change the Brembo rotors and the Hawks HPS brake pads and brake fluid flush. Also I'll try to upload the picture of engine. After I collect whole parts, I think my car would hit 70K miles. At that time would be perfect timing to replace those thing and record by myself. Thanks all of you provide the idea. Recently My job gonna kill me, Sorry about the late for post.

 

You need to look at the how to post photos thread. You need to host them somewhere like photobucket first. Attachments not allowed just look at the block for "Posting rules" at the very bottom of any post. It tells you what you can do.