How to Replace Honda Brake Pads, Tips and Precautions

 Avoid making costly mistakes when you're replacing your brake pads on your Honda.  Brake jobs seem easy enough, remove a couple of bolts, spray some cleaner, and replace the worn out pads, right? I will explain some important steps that the average backyard mechanic neglects to do, not just on Hondas, but on any vehicle.

 Removing the wheels

It makes a difference if you're using power tools. If you're replacing your brake pads in your driveway, you're probably using all hand tools. First task is to loosen the lug nuts while the car is on the ground, just crack them free, if the car is off the ground when you trying to break the lug nuts free the tire will just spin and you will have wasted valuable time, once you have the car in the air you can remove the lug nuts completely and remove the tires.

If the wheel is stuck on the vehicle and it doesn't seem to want to come off, give it a hard kick with your heel like a mule or a horse. Wheels can become frozen on the car from corrosion between the rim and the hub, if this occurred, clean the corrosion with a wire brush before reinstalling it. If the corrosion is not cleaned , it could stop the rim from sitting flush on the hub and cause an uneven torque on the lug nuts, this could cause the wheel to come loose when driving down the road.

Important Note: Please use jack stands for your own safety, Do Not work on a vehicle that is supported by a hydraulic or screw jack only, people get crushed every year because of this.

 Removing the caliper and brake pads for inspection

Next, you need to remove the caliper from the knuckle assemble. There are 4 bolts on most Honda calipers, 2 bolts connect the caliper to the car, and 2 bolts connecting both parts of the caliper. I recommend removing all 4 bolts so you can clean the caliper properly.

Inspect the caliper bracket (the part that holds the pads in place) remove the pads, notice where the spring clips are mounted, there are upper clips and lower clips, these are important, they stop the pads from shifting and vibrating. Remove the clips from the caliper bracket and look under them, most Hondas build up rust under these clips and cause the pads to freeze in the caliper and cause uneven pad wear.

If your brake pads come out of the calipers hard or you have to beat them out, chances are the rust has built up under these clips. You can use a dremel or a course sandpaper to remove the rust, add a bit of high temp grease to the metal surface after sanding, then reinstall the clips, and set the caliper brackets aside.

Squeezing the piston back into the caliper

When replacing brake pads, you will notice the piston in the caliper is extended out because there is less brake material on the pads, the piston is what pushes the pads against the rotors, the less brake pad, and the more the piston will be extended.

Remove the cover on the master cylinder and place a shop towel or rag over the top of the master cylinder, this will prevent brake fluid from spraying out of the master cylinder on to the cars paint while squeezing the piston back into the brake caliper. You can use a set of Channel lock pliers or a C clamp (an adjustable clamp in the shape of a C) to squeeze the piston slowly until it bottoms out in the brake caliper.

Note: Brake fluid will remove the finish on your cars paint, if left for a long period of time on the paint, it will remove the paint completely.

 Check the caliper slide pins for easy movement

The slide pins of the caliper need to move freely. Some pins can freeze up and cause premature wear of the brake pads. Remove the pins and use high temperature grease to lube them up. Check to insure you reinstall the pins properly and place the slide pin boots back over the pins to keep out the elements.

If the pins have any rust on them or you have a hard time removing them from the brake caliper, you can use a fine sand paper to remove the debris and rust, clean thoroughly with brake cleaner and lube well.

 Resurface or replace the brake rotors?

All brake rotors have a minim spec for resurfacing. It is usually found stamped on the rotor or you can find it buy searching Google. Measure the rotor thickness with a micrometer or vernier caliper to determine whether or not it can be resurfaced. If the rotors have thick flakey rust where the pads hit the rotor, I recommend replacing them.

If you're just going to resurface the rotors at the machine shop, I recommend checking the back side where the rotor rests on the hub. This is another place rust will build up, and if it's not cleaned off completely before machining, you could create a brake pulsation ( when the steering wheel shakes when braking ) or even a tire wobble.

Removing brake rotors on a Honda is not an easy task, they are held on by 2 small screws. These screws can be removed with a tool called an impact driver, if it's possible, heat the screws up with a torch, it will help in the removal process. Once the rotors are off you can either replace or resurface them.

Reinstalling the brake pads and rotors

Now it's time to reinstall everything. I highly recommend using genuine Honda brake parts to insure the best possible brake job with no squealing pads. Aftermarket pads always seem to cause a squeal when braking, to avoid this, just use Honda OEM parts.

Be sure the caliper shims are installed correctly and the brake pads are installed properly. Brake pads have a metal tab on 2 of the pads, this is a wear indicator. When the pads wear to a certain point the wear indicator rubs on the rotor causing a high pitched squeal indicating it's time to change brake pads. The pad with this tab will be the inside brake pad, and the wear indicator will be on the top part of the pad when the pad is installed in the brake caliper.

Honda brake pads come with a small packet of anti squeal lube called Molykote, use this paste on all contact points of the pad and caliper ( where the caliper and pads touch ) you can also add a little to the treads of you bolts for easy installation. Torque all bolts to spec and check to make sure you did not twist the rubber brake line during installation.

Note: Never open any brake lines while performing a brake job, this is a closed system, if any air entered the system it could cause a soft brake pedal or worst, brake failure.

 Finishing up

Reinstall you tires, lower the vehicle to the ground and torque the wheels to spec. Reinstall the cover on the master cylinder and pump the brake till the pedal feels hard. Set the emergency brake, put the car in park and start the engine. Pump the brake pedal with the engine started, the brake booster will add more pressure to the pads and seat them against the rotors.

Always road test you work to insure a job well done. If you think I may have left something out, drop me a line and I will add it to the article.

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