Rep Power: 0

Ok, first forgive me for a long post I will try to keep it as short and
detailed as possible.

I've got a 2001 Civic EX coupe. I was noticing that the brakes were making
some normal noise indicating the pads were going. I bought some new
mid-grade pads and and had the rotors cut a lil bit incase they were out of
shape.

After a approx 500 miles I noticed coming down a long hill to a red light
the back was making alot of noise and some vibration. I took it back to my
buddy and we noticed the rotors had round black marks about the size of a
nickel every 3" in the middle of the contact surface. We replaced the back
shoes, cut the drums and cut the front rotors again. Assuming that the
fronts were overworked cuz of the rears being so bad.

Another 500 miles go by and now I have this noise and a lil vibration
coming from the front of the car on the passenger side. Now I'm thinkin
maybe the rotors were cut too thin and they can't dissipate heat properly.
I buy some new rotors (Acme cheapy's) and I take off the old ones. I
noticed the black marks I mentioned earlier but this time only on the right
rotor. So I went and replaced the rotors.

Another 750/1000 miles later I noticed this noise had come back again. I
did a search on this site and talked to a few knowledgable friends of mine
and both resources came up with the same idea. "Caliper stuck-up" So I
ordered some new calipers from Acme and new rotors again. (I got a buddy
who works there and can get me parts dirt cheap) We replaced the calipers
and rotors and noticed again the black marks on the rotors while doing so.

Another 500 miles after doing all this everything seemed fine until I went
down that same long hill to a red light and it started again.

I am at a loss. I have replaced rotors in my cars before and I have never
had problems breaking them in or thereafter in the past.

If anyone has any idea what this could be any advise is very appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Oh! Almost forgot. Before any of this happened I did get T-boned on the
passenger side door. Low impact I was doing like 20mph and the guy hit me
at like 10mph. It was repaired while all this brake stuff was happening. Could be something from the impact??

 
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Anything guys? I was thinkin about getting new powerstop cross drilled rotors and some soft Honda OEM pads. I was also thinkin to get some brembo drums cuz one of mmine was pretty bad when we cut it. But, what if I do all that and the problem still occurs....

 
Rep Power: 335

I think my brakes are giving me problems too. Most shops in my area check your brake components for free, and have them check your brake fluid too.

I got new pads a year and a half ago, but when I slow down from high speeds my pedal vibrates so I'm thinking it's my rotors (all oem). I'm going to have the goofballs at the dealership take a look when I go there for an oil change next time.

 
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Yeah, i bled the brakes a week ago when i put new rotors and calipers. I'm thinkin it is something else maybe a line or a wheel bearing?

 
Rep Power: 335

wheel bearings i know just make a loud roar-type noise when you're going at steady speed. Had mine repacked because of that. Not sure if they would be causing the noise when you're breaking though

 
Rep Power: 813

get powerslot rotors and Hawk HPS pads. I can't wait to throw stock brakes in the trash.

 
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the thing bothering me is why is it only happening on the front passenger rotor....? That is makin me think of other things, like maybe a line...

 
Rep Power: 813

the rotors warp very easily on these cars it seems.

 
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where is the best price online for powerstops?

 
Rep Power: 324

try this. remove both rotors. clean the face of the hub and the back of the rotor VERY GOOD. no surface rust or dirt whatsoever put the rotors back on and use a torque wrench to tighten your wheels. make sure that all the lugs are the same torque. I forgot the wheel lug torque spec but someone here can chime in with it for me. I believe that this will solve your problem.

 
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well, i know the rotors i got will have the black marks on em (at least the passenger one) and I will need new ones. So i am wondering what would be the best rotors to buy. I don't race, but I do drive around 80/85mph on the highway. I travel alot prolly about 2000 miles a month. Thanks.

 
Rep Power: 813

www.truehonda.com

powerslot rotors
hawk hps pads

thats a great combo. I'm ordering it soon. Uneven lug torque can mess up the rotors like said above.

 
Rep Power: 425

The best rotors to buy are the cheapest ones you can find.
Black marks?
****... look at this.

Who cares. Its just pad lining stuck to the rotor. It doesn't do anything. There's nothing wrong with the stock brakes other than you can't repeatedly come down from 80+ MPH on them without them overheating. I'd also check the surface of the hub plate to make sure the rotor is running true and not off axis, and if you've replaced the calipers I'd stop changing pads every 500 miles. When you change your rotors, do you ever have them run for trueness (straightness)? Or do you just keep changing them.
Oh yeah, don't ever resurface drums. The tolerance is so tight that you really should be buying new drums every time you do new shoes.

 
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Thanks, the black marks are not like that at all tho. It is like a black dot the size of a nickel every 3 inches in the middle of the rotor surface area.

Also, I only changed my pads once.... it was the rotors I was changing.

 
Rep Power: 454

first off, you can tell if a caliper is stuck up by looking at the pad wear. if the inside pad has more wear then the outside pad, then the piston is sticking in the caliper. If the outside pad is wearing more then the inside, then the caliper hardware is worn out.

Second thing, dont buy the cheap stuff. I know other people recommend it, but I dont. Remember you get what you pay for.

Now first thing is replace your rotors with a good quality rotor. I dont recommend the cheap **** cause under heavy load, then can break. A teacher should us a autozone rotor that was on a 1999 chevy cavalier that had split in 2 when the customer came to a stop at 50 MPH. Next thing get a good set of pads. OEM or some performance ones will do. Now If you have new calipers, you are ok, but make sure that the hardware is new. Look at the boots and pins. Make sure to lube the pins when putting the caliper on. Next replace the drums, you already cut them, and I dont agree with that either. I had mine cut before, and a few hundred miles later, they made a loud grinding noise and when they were checked, they were way under spec. Even honda doesnt recommend turning them. Replace the shoes and hardware while you are at it, and adjust them when you are finished. This will set the clearance between the shoes and drum. To check it put the drum on and spin it and there should be a slight drag. check your wheel cylinders too. then bleed the brakes.

After, brake the brakes in. Brake softly for 500-1000 miles.

Now worst case sinerio, you have a faulty part which is causing this. Check your bearings and suspension. It can contribute to the vibration.

 
Rep Power: 329

First things first is your concern the vibration under braking or the black marks on the rotor?? You basically have given me clues to what most likely is the cause. Get a dial indicator and check the runout of the HUB, not the rotor! If the hub has more than .003" it needs to be replaced. This will likely involve replacing the bearing too. Next if the hub has less than .003" make sure to use good quality rotors as replacements. Now before installing the rotor on the hub make sure that there is no rust/whatever on the hub surface. Install the rotor using 4 lugnuts with washers under them and torque to spec. Now ensure that the brake rotor too has less than .003" run out. If it dont, undo the lug nuts and rotate the rotor 90 degrees on the hub and rinse and repeat untill you have less that .003". If you can not obtain less than .003" i suggest having the rotors turned on the car via a quality on the car brake lathe like pro-cut(aka VBG) or some company i HATE called Hunter RE-engineering ! Pretty mush anything else out there wont give satisfactory results.

Now on to the calipers.... Make sure that as streetglower stated above the pads are wearing evenly. If they are check that the caliper slides are lubed and moving smoothley. Also OEM quality or better on brake pads dont use cheap 3rd world quality brake pads