I'm having Brake work done on my Fit.

The fronts are due.

But,

According to the Honda Tech my rear Drum Brakes are at 10 millimeter.

Meaning the rear Drums don't need servicing or replacement until they get to 3 millimeter.

And another tidbit from the Honda Tech,

Drum Brakes are more expensive to service and replace than Disc Brakes.

Your constructive thoughts and comments.

 

What mileage are you at?

 

126,500 miles.

2015 Fit EX Stick.

 

Most of the breaking is at the front, drums typically (in the rear) far outlast the front, 2 to 3 x would say, i could believe your rears are OK. the drums have a bunch of fiddly components, discs do not, time =money, i usually NEVER replace disc or drum its self, break the glaze and file off lips, that disc or rotor is a SEASONED cast iron part, ie no more warping, those new discs you just got from china , that were turned while still hot out the "forge" lol.....will possibly warp because thay are not seasoned, in the old days, cast iron was allowed to rest for months...seasoning...sounds like you found an honest dealer!!..I have found the drums more prone to cylinder leaks than discs, but if they are not leaking and there is shoe lining,good job, some of that is you not HAMMERING on the brakes all the time. hows the clutch? i sold a 212,ooo KMS civic with original clutch, still going strong

 

Every road-going vehicle's center of mass is well above the road surface. Stepping on the brakes creates a rearward acceleration at the road surface, which makes the car try to nose-down into a somersault. Thankfully the car's contact points with the road (the tires) are spread out enough to keep that from happening. What does happen though, is weight transfer off the rear wheels and onto the front. That gives the front tires significantly better grip during braking. More grip means the front tires can apply more braking force before they start to slide, so brake systems are front-biased to achieve maximum braking force.

This also makes brake systems front-biased in terms of wear. It's perfectly normal to go through 3 or 4 sets of front pads and/or rotors before the rears need attention. Abnormal wear includes differences in pad wear between the left and right sides, or between the inside and outside pads on one side.

 

Still going strong.

Great grip and forward motion.

Original clutch started slipping at 80,000 miles.

My Honda Dealer is great.

They suggest all the maintenance I need.

Never suggest unneeded maintenance not yet due.

I'm having the front Brakes done.

Rear Brake Drums not needed.
At least for the foreseeable future.

 

thanks for the info, ill plan for 120,000kms for the new clutch (at 67k now)

 

I’m guessing your dealer has at least adjusted the rear brakes. Just adjusted mine in a parking lot while swapping my winter wheels.

I just jack the car up from the rear (must be in gear, be careful the car doesn’t roll). Put the parking brake on one click. My rears are very hard or impossible to turn by hand. I found that my left rear was turbable so I adjusted the left shoes with a flat head screw driver and the little rubber plug access hole behind the knuckle.

if you’ve never changed your rear brakes, it might be the classic case that they are too loose and you barely get any rear braking. Also, 10mm sounds kinda bonkers, that’s nearly half an inch. I’d believe front pads had 10mm or more but brand new shoes I’ve purchased must have about 5mm of friction material new. Don’t know where your mechanic is getting 10mm I call BS.

a little bit of googling shows that new brake shoes are ~4.5 mm.

 

Good catch.
Bottom right:

 

I'm at my local Honda Dealer now.
.
Getting new left and right front rotors and new brake pads.

Rear Drums left and right all OK. Just a bit of cleaning.

And;

New Spark Plugs installed.

All out the door $950.

After the Dealer priced everything out price was just north of $1100 dollars.

My Tech got me a bit of a discount. Which I'm very happy with.

Not all Honda Dealers are bad.

There are good Honda Dealers still around.
Far and few between.

My Honda Dealer;

Napleton Honda of Morton Grove, ILL.

 

Did they give you a printout of that? I'm curious what their pricing is like.

Denso plugs: $60 for 4
Bosch "premium" pads: $51 for the front set
Bosch coated brake rotors: $60 for 2
Maybe 2 hours labor for a moderately experienced DIYer working in a driveway. A shop with a lift should be able to do it in half that.

~$800 is a pretty healthy tool budget, or an absurd profit margin for the dealer, even if they paid their tech $200/hour. A full size socket and wrench set, service jack and stands no problem. With a little shopping around, you might even work in a cordless impact wrench, or a small air compressor and pneumatic impact to make taking off lug nuts super-easy. Sure, DIY isn't for everyone, but don't mistake the dealer's pricing games as doing you any real favors. If it isn't under warranty, 99% sure the dealer is taking you for a ride.

 

The Honda Techs have to live too.

They got bills and rent to pay.

I'd rather go to my local Honda Dealer for my maintenance and work than a local neighborhood mechanic.

Honda Dealer has to make a profit to stay in business.

 

I hope every part they installed was made of 24K gold -- you got maybe $200 worth of parts, and I guess they're good because they told you that they cut you a deal by only charging $750 instead of $900 labor.

That doesn't make the dealership or service department good or bad, as the service tech almost certainly has a standard rate that he/she has to bill for each of these jobs. You paid exactly what anyone asking for this service would pay, and way more than a DIYer would spend.

Obviously not everyone wants to work on their own car, or has the appropriate space/conditions to do so, but you certainly didn't get any kind of discount for this work.

 

I agree 100%.

I don't have the knowledge or know how to do any major work on my 2015 EX Fit.

You Honda Dealer Haters keep working on your Fit.

I like having my Fit worked on by my Honda Dealer.

You can keep throwing me and Honda Dealers under the proverbial bus.

I'll keep going and supporting my local Honda Dealer.

 

I'm not sure how I was hating on the Honda Dealership, or throwing you or the dealership under the bus. Just pointing out some facts regarding costs and prices.
We all have reasons for why we do what we do. You don't know how to work on your Fit (if you're curious, it's one of the easier cars to learn on). I don't have the money to get service done at dealership rates so if I want to keep a safe/functioning car I have to DIY.
Supporting a local business is also great, but as you might suspect based on my claim that I don't have money for dealership service rates, I definitely don't have money to shop, new or used, at dealership prices. Just another reason to stay current on my DIY maintenance so that my car lasts as long as possible.

 

That is wildly expensive. It used to be $350 per axle. Drum brakes are not hard to work on, they are just different requiring slightly different tools. I got mad at the prices for shops doing brakes more than a decade ago and learned on my own to do all of it including brake fluid exchange. The parts are very cheap, it's the labor that costs you. You could have posted here and I would have done the job for you for half the price. I'm in the suburb of Aurora outside of Chicago. I've been doing my own brakes for 20 years and have done so across different cars including european ones. FYI, Honda brake rotors and brake drums are basically raw cast iron with no rust protection especially in the Chicago, but aftermarket ones have coating for rust protection.

There are plenty of good Honda dealers in the Chicago suburbs, Honda of Lisle, Valley Honda of Aurora. I mostly just go there if I need OEM parts quick only and do not service my Hondas there.

Also, he said you have 10mm of drum brake pads left? Is that the total of both sides? 10mm is 1 centimeter and there is just not that much material on either side of the drum brake pad. I know because I have a brand new set in my garage right now and each side measures 4 ~ 5mm, that's 8mm to 10mm for both sides total. What he said makes no sense.

Nobody is throwing you under the bus. If you choose to feed the techs at Honda then go ahead and do that but know that you are paying a premium. If you are willing to learn, invest in lifetime tools, and know how to do it yourself then you save money for yourself and your family so what's so bad about that?

 

True that! My first car was a 1971 Nova and I bought a set of drum brake tools for it (at K-Mart!) and those same tools work on my Fit. People often struggle with drum brakes because they are trying to do them using pliers and Vice-grips. The right tools really do make a difference.

Honda of Lisle is my local dealer.... I've never been there though. I do 99% of my own work and what I can't do (welding, machining etc) I'll sub out. The Fit really is a good platform for those eager to learn on.

 

Brakes are definitely better than before.

Brakes stop my Fit just touching the brake pedal.

Spark Plugs;

Engine sounds a bit more smoother.

Nice steady idle.

My Fit runs great.

I'm happily satisfied.

Thanks to my local Honda Dealer.

Napleton Honda in Morton Grove, ILL.

Next issues;

Next Oil Change having the Rear Drum Brakes adjusted.

 

Ever wonder why the dealership service department didn't adjust the drum brakes when they measured your brake shoe thickness as described in your top post?

Note that as someone else described above, adjusting the drums is an easy, five-minute job (especially if you have a lift like the dealership, or if you're already messing with the rear brakes) but now they get to charge you twice. Ask the tech what the dealership's minimum billing period is for labor? I'll bet you a dollar it's not five minutes.

You regularly mention that you prefer the dealership over independent mechanics. I'm not going to claim that every independent is great, but will note that the dealership techs almost certainly have to follow strict procedures and billing codes, whereas most independent mechanics are flexible and fully qualified to do whatever work needs to be done on a Honda Fit. Stuff like adjust your drum brakes when they're already messing with your drum brakes, which saves you money.

Also, I'm pretty sure that independent mechanics have bills and rent to pay, just like the dealership.

 

They should self-adjust. That said, our 2020 had a stuck adjuster, from the factory I believe as the dealer never serviced the drums to my knowledge. If you find the parking brake seems to take progressively more handle-pull to engage, it could be a stuck adjuster. Otherwise they should only need manual adjustment when replacing the shoes.