DIY 6th gen Civic brake pad and rotor change

[chimchim]

I just changed out my brake pads and rotors (front discs) so I decided to make a DIY out of it. I read how-tos and the Honda factory service manual. I'm not a professional mechanic so I'd appreciate any corrections if necessary. Check out my DIY 6th gen civic suspension for my other DIY. DIY 6th gen Civic brake pad and rotor change Tools needed: - 10mm, 12mm, 17mm socket and wrench - big philips impact screwdriver - mallet - hammer - brake cleaner - silicon grease (if your pads didn't come with any) 1) Jack up the front of the car and put them on stands, remove the front wheels. 2) Remove the two 10mm bolts on the brake line bracket so the line can swing free. 3) (Seen from the inside of the wheel well), remove the two 17mm bolts holding the caliper bracket on. These bolts were the toughest part of this experience. I had to use a steel wrench and bang it with a mallet to get them loose.

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[chimchim]

4) With the two bolts removed, the caliper will come free (don't drop it!). You can either hang it with some wire, or use something to support it. The only thing attaching it to the car now is the flimsy brake line.



5) Using the impact screwdriver (or muscle with a big philips screwdriver), remove the two 8mm screws which are securing the brake rotor.



6) Now that the screws are off, only rust and crud hold the rotor on. Bang it with a hammer to pop it off. I banged it on the rotor center, not on the rotor brake surface. Remove the old rotor, clean off gunk on the hub. Clean the new rotor, and mount the new rotor on.



7) Replace the screws (light torque, 8 ft-lbs), put the caliper back on and torque the mounting bolts to 80 ft-lbs. Leave the brake line braket off, cuz we're not done.

Next... the brake pads.

[chimchim]

Now for the brake pads....

8) Remove the 12mm caliper bolt (lower one). There are two, to hold the caliper body to the caliper frame. Leave the upper one alone.



9) Now that the lower bolt is removed, you can flip the caliper body open, exposing the brake pads.



10) Pull out the old pads and retaining clips and clean them up. Discard the old pads. Put grease spots on the pads at the spots shown (yellow triangles) to prevent/reduce squeeling brakes. That is, we are greasing the BACK of the pad, NOT the part that contacts the surface of the rotor.

Note the triangle pointing to the piston edge. We will be greasing this spot, but not yet.



11) Insert the retaining clips and the new pads.

[chimchim]

12) Because the old pads are most likely thinner than the new ones, the piston will probably need to be pressed inwards in order to widen the caliper enough to accomodate the new pads. I used a big C clamp to push it in maybe 3mm. After compressing, I greased up the ring edge of the piston.

I highlighted the piston cylinder.

(Looking back, I probably should have used a piece of wood between the clamp the piston for protection and more even compression).



13) Flip the caliper back down, replace and tighten the 12mm caliper bolt. Replace the wheel and pump the brakes to rebuild the pressure. Follow proper brake in procedure (not part of this DIY).

I covered my brake fluid resevoir with a rag, but with the small movement of the piston, no fluid leaked out.

Let me know if you like this DIY and if it's useful.

[OblivionLord]

Why did you replace your rotor?

Are you going to continue this DIY with the drum brakes?

[chimchim]

Originally Posted by OblivionLord

Why did you replace your rotor?

Are you going to continue this DIY with the drum brakes?

Economics. $60 for two new Brembo blanks or $70 or more for "labor per hour" just to have them turned (since I don't have a machine to do that). I figured, I might as well just spring for new ones, then I could do it all at once an not leave my house.

Sorry, won't be doing the rear drums.

I've been running Axxis/PBR Metal Master's on Brembo blanks in the front. Lot's of stop, even at street temps. However, they were really harsh on the rotors, chattered, and I had to keep rebedding to get them more even. Most of all, the extra stop in the front imbalanced the braking system. I considered disc swapping the rear, but I gave up on that one for resale reasons. So with an imbalanced brake system, I don't think I had a much better braking distance. So I went back to near OE. I wanted the experience too.

I put on Akebono proAct pads.

[ek9cusco]

good write up chimchim.. so instead of bleeding the brakes from the brake line.. u just left the brake reservoir open and cover with a rag while stepping on the brakes?

i'd be interested to see the drum brake DIY.

[OblivionLord]

What would have happened if you just squeezed the caliper while the resevoir was closed instead of the rag? Unless the fluid still had ways to escape the plastic cover at the top.

[chimchim]

Actually, I wasn't sure what was going to happen with brake fluid resevoir. So I undid the "child safety" cap, but left it on, which (I don't think) didn't break the seal. I was afraid of unnecessary moisture exposure. However, I also didn't want exploding brake fluid, so that's why the rag was around it. My take is that for the small piston movement I compressed, it did not overflow the resevoir. So it turns out the rag was just a precaution.

Also, I only needed 1 or 2 pumps to get the pressure back, and I had no spongyness so I'm guessing I never introduced bubbles which would require bleeding of the brakes. So, I never bled the brakes. I've driving it around a bit braking it in and taking it easy and all seems well. In a couple days I'll try using the brakes hard to see.

My lesson learned: BRAKE BALANCE IS EVERYTHING!! (ie, you really need to upgrade all four brakes the same amount to maintain the designed in; unless you really know what you're doing and taking measurements.) This means that if you still have rear drums, you're screwed. Good luck finding matched drum shoe upgrades. Disc swap is the only way, otherwise, leave the setup stock.

I thought the "slight upgrade" in just pads at the front wouldn't be bad since I also got stiffer springs. But since I had no real specs, I ended up with too much clamp force at the front. I theorize this exposed a worn bushing and corner weight imbalance inherent to my current setup (I don't have coil overs). This was overloading the right front tire too quickly and I got bad camber/toe-like wear; even though I have in-spec static alignment. Plus, the rear drums were hardly wearing AT ALL (assuming because they were doing very little work).

[OblivionLord]

Unfortunatly its hard as hell to find a SI or Integrea rear Trailarm/Disc/Caliper as a set in any of the junkyards here where I live or even on ebay.

So I'm stuck with the drums.

[chimchim]

Originally Posted by OblivionLord

Unfortunatly its hard as hell to find a SI or Integrea rear Trailarm/Disc/Caliper as a set in any of the junkyards here where I live or even on ebay.

So I'm stuck with the drums.

This was another reason for no disc swap for me.

BTW, I can't believe how easy this brake thing was. Compared to the suspension, this was way easier. Basically, if you can change your own oil, you can change your brakes.

The biggest problem is getting your rotors turns due to lack of equipment, and disposing of the toxic old brake fluid and brake cleaner. (Please don't just dump it in the trash)

[ek9cusco]

Originally Posted by chimchim

The biggest problem is getting your rotors turns due to lack of equipment, and disposing of the toxic old brake fluid and brake cleaner. (Please don't just dump it in the trash)

but chimchim.. i thought you didn't have to bleed any brake lines.. so i'm assuming the brake fluid came from the rag?

[chimchim]

Yeah, sorry for the confusion. I did NOT bleed my brakes during this procedure, for the exact reason of difficulty in disposal and of course because I never introduced air into the system (brakes not spongy).

[ek9cusco]

nice.. just what i wanted to know. i'll be working on the brake pads and perhaps rotor for the ES1 later this week.

[OblivionLord]

Since you got drums in the rear.. I order you to do a DIY for the drums !!!

[ek9cusco]

lol... if i have the helms manual.. i would.. but seeing that i don't have that.. u wanna buy me one?

besides.. i think only front pads needs to be replaced at this moment and maybe the rotors too.

[makelab]

so, is it possible to remove the rear drums and put in discs? i have a 2001 odyssey, and would like to do that at some point. i have no clue how to do drums.

[chimchim]

Originally Posted by makelab

so, is it possible to remove the rear drums and put in discs? i have a 2001 odyssey, and would like to do that at some point. i have no clue how to do drums.

Yes it's possible, but since you would have to disassemble the hub and get the rear disks from a donor car, it's easier just to replace the entire rear trailing arm with the disc hub attached instead. Unless you're putting an aftermarket kit on.

As for an odyssey, I dunno the deal.

[ek9cusco]

chimchim.. have you ever done a brake job on the rear drum before? i got the helm manual now.. but the drawings in black and white seem kinda misleading.. you got a site where it displays it more clearly? or perhaps a DIY write up somewhere? i have a 2002 ciivc.

[chimchim]

I wish I could help you, but: nope, no, no. Sorry.

I've been reading the repair manual and although it looks complicated, I don't think it'll be that bad. check out howstuffworks.com to understand the mechanism of drum brakes.

[ek9cusco]

thanks chimchim.. i take it you haven't done any drum brake pad changes before huh? from what i heard there are 2 springs that secures the pads... which could pop out and poke you in the eye if you not careful. other than that.. i'm clueless.

[ek9cusco]

Originally Posted by chimchim

Note the triangle pointing to the piston edge. We will be greasing this spot, but not yet.

damn.. i forgot to grease the top part and the bottom part of the pad.. where the teeth sticks in to the calipers. instead i just put a lot of great on the back of the pad..

i see you didn't put a lot of anti squeek on there.. i thought you had to put a lot on there.

now the part you said about greasing (on the piston), what kind of grease did you use? also the anti-squeek?

[chimchim]

Originally Posted by ek9cusco

damn.. i forgot to grease the top part and the bottom part of the pad.. where the teeth sticks in to the calipers. instead i just put a lot of great on the back of the pad..

i see you didn't put a lot of anti squeek on there.. i thought you had to put a lot on there.

now the part you said about greasing (on the piston), what kind of grease did you use? also the anti-squeek?

Actually, I gooped up the end, and the picture is before I spread out "the beads" on the back of the pads.

I used the black moly silicon whatever grease came with the pads. Same one on all points with the yellow triangles. Keep in mind that I put the grease on the OUTSIDE of the piston which contacts the back of the inner pad. I read you use a different kind of grease when you disassemble the piston (which I did not have to do)

No squeaking so far.

[ek9cusco]

cool.. thus far no squeek from the front either. but gonna double check it this weekend.

[OblivionLord]

Someone donate to this guy a Haynes or Helms book so he can give us a genuine Honda-acura.net picture tutorial on the drum brakes. hehehhehe

[ek9cusco]

damn i got the haynes manual.. but it's not very clear as to how to do it step by step.. at least not for a novice like me.. hehe

[ek9cusco]

hey chimchim, if you ever want to borrow my haynes for doing a rear drum.. just let me know. i'm in s. sj..

[SpidermanESI]

Hello guys!


I have a 1992 ESI Civic and

[SpidermanESI]

Hello guys!


I have a 1992 Civic (1.6 125 hp) with automatic gearbox

I am trying deseperately to replace the front brake discs and I find this tutorial great!

But I have got a problem: the two screws that secure the rotor are impossible to unmount. I tried to spray WD40 and I am afraid of damaging the screw heads.

Any suggestion to help me removing those screws?

Thanks a lot!

[SpidermanESI]

Well finally stopped what I was doing.

I cannot at all remove those dam###d screws!

I'm gonna buy a screw driver. I have one at home but not enough powerful I guess as the torque limiter enters in action.

How powerfull should my screwdriver be? 2000W? (I'm just guessing)