Let me go back a little bit first. Sometimes when stopping lightly on the brakes, as I get close to stopping you could feel a variation in braking power as the wheels would turn causing a slight jerkiness. I thought perhaps there was either brake dust buildup on the rotors or the rotors were warped. Later on when braking coming off a deceleration ramp from the highway the brakes were a little noisy, kind of like the noise you get from rumble strips but not nearly as loud. The next day when I went to take the car in to get the brakes done, the brakes felt alright more or less and the noise wasn't there anymore. The shop said the rotors weren't warped and my pads had about 50% wear on them and I shouldn't need to get anything done with it yet. This was at 60,000 miles. I'm up to about 70,000 now, and when braking down some major hills in the mountains the noise came back and I think there's even a difference in pedal distance. Do I need new rotors? Is it worth turning the stock rotors or should I just go buy a pair of Brembo blanks? Is there a DIY guide somewhere on how to change pads and rotors on an '07 Fit Sport, if that's even what's wrong?

 

You don't specify where in the USA you are. If you are in the rust belt, you could have a "ridge" of rust, built-up along the edges of the swept area of the rotors, that could cause your symptoms. In that case just turning them would work for you.

I'd save the new rotors for the time that you need new brakes!

Here's a tip...if you haven't ever done this, adjust the REAR brake shoes...that way they will share more of the load and lessen the burden on the fronts.



Congrats on finding an honest brake shop BTW. We have the original rotors on our 148,000 mile Acura. They were only turned ONCE to remove the rusty ridge, at 120K miles.

 

I'm in a very rust prone area; NEOH. I don't recall seeing a ridge of rust when I put on my winter tires but I'll have a better look. I still find it strange that they only get noisy when they're hot.

I was impressed that the shop didn't take advantage of me! When I do need them done and if I don't do them myself I'll be back there for sure.

 

I am now at 48,xxx and have the same symptoms. Checked my brakes and I have about 1mm left of life and the rotors are warped a bit. Doing my brakes saturday........weeeeee!~

 

How did you manage to warp the rotors Dan? Are you going to replace the rotor? You sure you didnt glaze the rotor or blister it? Id take off the rotor and inspect it carefully, maybe have it resurfaced and see if that helps or eliminates the problem.

 

I am doing my brakes tomorrow morning. The reason i think they are warped is the feel at braking. hard to put into words really, but it's like hard braking and soft braking repeatedly. I am just going to resurface them, new neighbor owns brake masters and said it'll cost me a Pint of Newcastle for the resurface

Honda wouldn't take beer as payment for the pads

 

Did a lot of stop and go driving the past few days while looking for houses for my mom. Lot of stop sign braking for an hour or two consistently. I think my brakes might be warped now too. 11.5K miles on the car. Now it seems like I have to brake harder than normal, and I do get the uneven brake stutter feeling that I used to not get.

I'm not surprised. This happened on my 2002 Civic too when a lot of stopping was involved. Do you think it's the rotor, pads, fluid, or a combination of all 3? I'm looking to get some better rotors that'll keep cool.

 

didn't get a chance to do my brakes today. I will be doing them Friday though. My neighbor that owns brake masters said just to take my car to his shop and rack it myself...so i will do that

I am 99% sure they are warped though. I do a LOT of stop n go and am now at almost 50k on the odo

 

did you fill it with enough fluids?

 

Why don't you return to the shop that inspected them the first time 10,000 miles ago? Attempting to diagnose brake issues via a forum is not the best idea as brakes are only the most important part of the vehicle. Just my $.02 from a new guy.

 

This probably goes without saying but make sure you have enough room to cut them (minimum thickness). It should be stamped on the back of the rotor or hopefully your neighbor has access to that info via shop materials.

 

Rotors on modern vehicles (regardless of make), warp quite easily (depending on driving style, where mostly highway will increase rotor life) so it is entirely possible that the type of driving you are describing could have put your rotors "over the edge" to now being warped.

As far as the vehicle being harder to stop, that is most likely due to pad wear as the pads sit further from the rotor & it takes more fluid for the calipers to move them to the rotor (hence why it depletes from the reservoir).

I would personally bring this to a shop that you trust & have professionals evaluate it for you & then you can decide what to do from there.

 

Unless there is a leak somewhere, you should never had to add brake fluid. The lowering of the level in the reservoir is due the wearing away of the pads as the calipers need more fluid to move the pads a greater distance.