brake change tutorial

[Vikini]

Hello All,

My husband and I bought a used 2005 Pilot EX-L RES from Carmax in May with about 37k.

I'm the primary driver and have put about 4k on it this summer.

I noticed some weird action when doing a hard stop (especially when it's raining) and took it in yesterday to the neighborhood shop. They say I need new brakes and rotos front and rear, and gave me these prices:

Front Pads (less 1/8 life left) and front rotors--$275

Rear pad (between 1/4 and 1/8 life left) and rotors $250

This is a lot of money all at once and though these guys seem like good guys (I used them for maintenance on my Nissan Maxima), I always feel like they're squeezing me.

What I would like is a tutorial for doing this job myself, or at least gather all the supplies so my husband can do it (he was raised doing maintenance on the family car, but spends all of his time now in frontof a computer in an office---I think he'd be willing to do it especially if I get everything together).

Can you guys point a complete car maintenance newbie toward a primer for brake jobs? How do I know for sure I need new rotors? If we do the job ourselves is it possible to get them resurfaced?

I love my Pilot and would like to liberate myself from depending on the guys at the corner and my (often grouchy) husband for maintenance.

Grouchy husband always says "I could have done that" when I tell him I've had maintenance done but interestingly, he never does do it-----I always hear that after the issue is a problem and I've had to pay for it to be corrected.


thanks for your indulgence,

V.

[Vikini]

will continue to search the available information. I may come back if I need hand holding!

[jestmaty]

Welcome vickini!! to hp.org

I know you found a tutorial, but this is the one I've bookmarked for when the time comes for my brake change.

I'm currently at 56,000 miles and nowhere near needing brakes yet.

http://hondapilot.org/forums/showthr...threadid=13435

[Vikini]

Hey Jestmatey,

They showed me the pads when they had it up on the rack, and the front rigth pad right had about a screwdrivers thickness of pad left. They said the previous owners must have rode the brake. I've never had the problem so I know it's not my usage that wore it down.

The front right was also where the sliding/grinding sound comes from if I brake hard, especially when it's wet out, though when they took it for a test drive they couldn't replicate it.


I wish I understood how/why rotors need to be replaced....I'll keep studying.

[ctobio]

Originally posted by Vikini

I wish I understood how/why rotors need to be replaced....I'll keep studying.

There are several reasons why rotors need to be changed:

1. Rotors are worn too thin. Brake rotors have a minimum thickness stamped onto them. Exceed this thickness and at best the brake is subject to warping, at worst can actually shatter and fail. For the latter, the minimum thickness must be exceeded considerably.

2. Rotors are excessively warped. Sometimes this can be machined out on a lathe, but sometimes if there's an underlying problem it can return.

Generally my rule for replacing rotors is as follows:

If they are experiencing warp, I replace them. If they are going to exceed minimum thickness over the expected lifetime of the pad (assume the next set will wear about as much material), then I will replace. If they're smooth, with no significant grooving, and there is no warping, and there's plenty of iron left, I'll reuse them, and consider replacement the next time I change the brakes.

Barring any problems with wear and warp, I expect the average set of rotors to last two sets of pads.