Hey all,

I'm new to these forums, so I haven't quite figured out how to navigate them yet. This may already be covered somewhere, but I couldn't find what I needed. I got my Fit in November, and it's time for some new brake pads. I'm getting a lot of squealing when coming to a stop and a sort of scraping sound that I would imagine is the clips that are designed to tell you when it's time for new brakes. I'm coming from working on newer Mustangs, where changing brake pads is as simple as unbolting the caliper from the bracket, compressing the piston, and swapping out the pads. Are there any special tools required for the Fit? On my Mustang I had to rent a brake piston compression tool from Autozone that twisted the piston back into the caliper.

Also, I've been told that the Fit has disc brakes in the front, and drum brakes in the rear. Is this true? I've never worked on drum brakes before, so could someone tell me what's different about replacing them vs. replacing brake pads?

I suppose if someone could link me to a general "changing brakes" thread for the front and back, that would give me all the info I need.

Thanks in advance

 

Ask and you shall receive. If I have time lol

DIY GD Drum replacement:
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...brake-diy.html

Front pads are the same as any other car, same as your Mustang, super simple, no DIY required if you've ever done disc brakes before you know the drill.

 

Rear drum brakes on small cars last a long time. There's a good chance that only the fronts need service. To be honest, I don't recall that I've ever had to replace a rear drum brake shoe on any of the cars I've owned, and that's over the course of a few hundred thousand miles driven.

Mind you, I'm not suggesting that you fail to perform maintenance on the brake system of your car...just that you inspect them before you spend money on parts and such.

 

Here's another one with videos: https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...ds-rotors.html

 

The main point to emphasize with Honda disc brakes: Clean and lubricate the Slider Pins that the calipers expand on. Don't mix up the top and bottom pins. Use high-temp brake grease, available from any autoparts store.

 

What do I need to watch for as far as assessing wear on drum brakes goes? Like I said, this is my first time dealing with anything other than disc brakes.

 

The rear brakes usually last a LOOONG time, as someone said. That's because they don't do much of the braking.

To remove the drums, just remove the wheel and, (with the parking brake OFF) pull the drum straight off. (Try not to breath the dust.)

Inspect the brake shoes. As long as there is at least 1mm of friction material left at the thinnest point, you are good to go.


Maintenance:

Lube the area where the shoes rub on the backing plate: Use the aforementioned high-temp brake grease, rub a smear of grease on both sides of a 6" (150mm) flexible ruler, about a half-inch. Shove the greasy end between the backing plate and shoe backer. Also apply a dab of grease to the contact points at the cylinder and springs. That way, everything will move freely.

At the cylinder, look for signs of fluid leakage. That's bad. If you see "wet", order new cylinders for installation later. If you just see a "former" drip (like a dark area where fluid could have been leaking in the past), make a note and check it out again in a few months.

Adjustment:

At the opposite end of the shoe's hydraulic cylinder is a "star wheel". This is the adjuster for the brake. You will get better braking feel when the adjustment is tighter. Also, your parking brake will work more effectively.

To adjust, first put the drum back on. Pull the parking brake lever ONE or TWO clicks. Then, Step on the brake pedal to center the shoes. Rotate the brake drum. It should spin freely with slight drag. No drag when the parking brake is released.

To tighten, release the PB and remove the drum. Then turn the star wheel (easier if you pry with a screwdriver) so that the adjuster gets LONGER. (look at the threads) Repeat the previous paragraph.

It's trial and error, but you will be amazed at how much easier it is to stop. And, how much better the parking brake holds.




I have done this twice in 93K miles on our '07 Fit.

 

Aren't the drum brakes self-adjusting (when you brake firmly in reverse and/or use the hand brake)? I know that's generally the case with drum brakes on cars made in the last few decades, at least, and would be utterly amazed if it weren't true for the Fit.

 

In theory, yes. In practice, you will get better braking my doing it manually by adjusting the star wheel, as described above.

Try it.

 

1+ pretty much the same.

 

Hey all,

I know it's been a while but I finally got a chance to get out and check on the brakes now that school is out. I held off on driving it as much a possible so I wouldn't worsen anything that could be wrong. The brake pads are fine, still plenty of pad left. I was able to narrow the noise down to just the back wheels. The brake shoes still have 3 mm of material left, but when I measured the inside diameter of the drums they were at about 195 mm ( hard to get an exact measurement just using a ruler). Could the drums be the source of the scraping noise I'm getting? If so, would simply replacing the drums get everything taken care of?

 

Don't spend money unnecessarily...

Clean out the drums with a damp rag (no dust). Unless you have deep ridges inside they are probably good (with 3mm of friction material remaining at the thinnest point). Is the thickness uniform within a mm or two?

Perform the actions I mentioned in Post 7.

Then put the drums back on, and spin the wheels (off the ground) to make sure there is no scraping noise.

You will prob not need to spend any money.