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So I was rotating my tires the other day and while I was checking on the brakes I noticed a groove on the right rotor. It follows the shape of the rotor and is about 3-4 inches long. My breakes are squeaking already (24K miles). I'm not sure if it's my imagination or not, but emergency braking distances seem long... but then again honda's don't exactly stop on a dime. Is this groove detrimental to the car's breaking system, and will a resurfacing fix this or do I need a whole new rotor?

 
Rep Power: 381

how deep of a groove are we talking about? does it look like normal wear? and a 3-4 inch groove shouldnt be affecting your braking distance (how are your tires?)

as far as replacement Vs resurfacing.... take it in and see if they will, if the groove is too deep then replace it.

 
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I'm still on stock rubber and the tread bar says that the tires are still decent, but i'd say i have about 1/4 inch left till i get to the tread bar. As for the groove, I can feel it more than I can see it. If i run my finger on it, it feels about the depth of a few pieces of paper, maybe like 5 sheets. I've called Honda about this issue, but they want to charge a buttload just to take a look at it. Apparently rotors aren't covered under the 36k warranty.

 
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if you have a 1/4 (8/32's) of an inch till you hit the tread bar, your tires are brand new...(brand new tires have 11-12/32's of an inch of tread, the tread bar is at 3/32n's... so (8+3=11) Does your pedal vibrate when you breake, cause Mine does that cause i've way over faded my brakes before.. those downhill runs kill brakes...=-( Also, civics actually have fairly good stopping distance, expecially if you downshift as you stop. Ulitmitly the thing determing your stopping distance is the type of tires you have, seeing as you're running stock with full tread, your tires won't give as much traction as a worn tire... Mine are about 3/64's of a inch left... (need new tires SO BAD, as well as brakes... and rotors...) 22k miles btw....

 
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Maybe 1/4 inch isn't accurate, I've got a bit of tread left, but not a whole lot. I do get some break pedal vibration under hard breaking. What causes that? I've had my breaks fade on me once.

 
Rep Power: 381

Welcome to the club, thats why I run porterfields now....

the wheel vibrates because of uneven wear of the brake pads, and possibly a slight
mis-alignment of the front tires.
getting you rotors reserfaced and new pads would clear that up.

 
Rep Power: 0

So does this happen to the rotors every time the brakes fade?

 
Rep Power: 0

yes and no... it will happen more easily if you fade the crap out of your brakes, (like in my case... i managed to get my brake fluid to boil...) and then come to a complete stop and leave the pedal depressed... this causes and eneven cooling on your rotor which will do bad things... And yes, everytime you actually manage to over work your brakes, your rotors and bads are going to suffer. The way you can tell if it's an alignment problem or brake problem, (in my case a brake problem) the pedal won't vibrate, untill the brakes start getting hot.

Hey Zzyzx, I was thinking of getting the EBC redstuff, cause I do a lot of downhill action, do you know if they'd be ok for everyday use? I know they have to get warm before they work well... but they're still gonna be as roughly as good as OE brakes when cold, also, I was thinking of getting the EBC slotted rotors, but they say they're not made for a race pad... and the redstuff says it's a partial race pad....