Howdy folks,

I'm gonna be changing my front pads and rotors soon on my Fit and just looking for advice. I have changed front pads and soft lines on a 1993 Toyota Camry, and have done the rear pads and rotors on my 91 Civic with Integra rear discs swapped on so I've do have experience here. But just wanting to ask if there are any weird, out of the norm stuff I should be aware of. Things like lack of space for certain tools to fit (had that prob on my Civic rears), weird sensors new car might have that old ones don't etc. I'm looking for pads now and I see some say "Wear Sensor Included: Yes" or "Wear Sensor Included: No". What's up with that? Never had to worry about that on the other cars I have done.

Thanks!

 

The wear sensor is just a piece of metal that is designed to SCREECH when the pads wear to a certain depth (about 1.5mm on Honda pads). It's an early warning.

Honda OE pads include the wear sensor.

 

Oh ok cool thanks! So nothing out of the ordinary it looks like to worry about.

 

Why do you need to change your rotors?
Are they scored, discolored, or your brake pedal pulsates?
For best results use genuine parts; aftermarket pads are narrower than OEM and will leave ridge on the edge of the rotor.
For pad replacement:
Remove and clean pad retainers Pos 12:

Apply high temperature anti-seize to the retainers before installing them to prevent groan noise during hard braking
If rotor removal is necessary:
Obtain 4 rotor mounting screws M6 14mm long Pos 19
use hand impact tool to undo these screws or
carefully drill their heads off using low speed (cordless drill) with 1/4 inch drill bit; once head of screw is gone use pliers to remove rest of the screw after removal of the rotor
Too much hammering can damage the wheel bearing

 

Yeah, last time I rotated my tires they felt like they were getting a lip on the outside. They are original with 150,000 miles on them so figured just do it all while I'm there. I've recently done plugs and coils, valve lash, and oil pressure sensor so this is my next on the to do list. I should do my ATF while I'm at it (was done about 30k miles ago).

 

Eek, 150K miles on original rotors! You are very easy on your brakes sir. I am too, and I changed my rotors when the original pads went at ~80K.

There's nothing tricky with the Fit rotors. Based on your experience you'll breeze through.

 

Most of those miles are highway driving to work. The CRX (gone), Civic (in storage) and now my 66 Chrysler have been my around town/grocery getters (and occasional part time DD's when the Fit was down).

 

You can fit a LOT of groceries into a '66 Chrysler, hidden out of sight, too!


Just some brake job observations,


Even if you have to drill the head off the rotor screws when removing the rotors, you don't need to re-install them. They held the rotors on, in the factory, before the road wheels were fitted.


Up here in the Rust Belt, the Rusty Ridge that the pads don't touch occurs even on OE rotors. Our Fit has 100K miles on the OE rotors with no vibration yet (it's on it's second set of pads).

We got 120K miles out if our CRV's OE rotors, and 150K miles out of our old Acura TL rotors.

 

FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU

I've drilled out the rotor screws, taken the caliper off and removed the rotor bracket. But the rotor won't come off. I've tapped it with a rubber mallet and blasted it with PB blaster. Anything I'm missing? I HAVE to get this back together today!

 

GOT IT! I found a 12 mm bolt to thread through the holes on the rotor and that broke it loose.

 

Figured you knew that one, sorry. Yep run a bolt in and it pushes the rotor off the hub. Subies are the same way, probably others. Another tool for your toolchest

 

Yeah I didn't think of it before posting. I guess always been lucky and they just have always came right off for me. Took 2.5 hours for whole job. The most of it was drilling out the screws. Had to go borrow a drill when mine went dead. D'oh! Unlike the rear of my EF, I was lucky enough to be able to turn the wheel to get more space and hit the rotor bracket bolts (the 17mm) with the impact and they came right off. I had a hell of a time doing the rears by hand on my EF as there was no space for even a ratchet and I busted my knuckles a dozen times.

 

is there any real reason to replace the rotor screws when reinstalling? it really seems, with proper torquing, that the wheel seats the rotor just fine... even far enough to make it a pain to get the rotor off again...

 

I like to modify electrical stuff but I installed new rotor to hub screws while doing CRV and my friend's 08 Accord

 

In a word, NO.

 

:thumbsup:

 

I have never replaced them personally.

 

Hey Edison, I'm doing my brakes within the next month or so. Replacing the pads and going to do the rotors as well even though I'm not feeling anything bad now. I'm just over 100K on the originals so I figure why not since I have everything off already.

What brand rotors did you go with? What brand pads do you have? I purchase Hawk Performance pads, but not sure about the rotors. Thanks.