stevescivic

okay so about 6 months ago I replaced my uncle's 2005 accord's rear disc brake pads b/c they were worn out right out to the plate at 50, 000kms. Now I'm sure that most of you know that on most typical (if not all) Hondas have their front pads wear out roughly around 45,000 - 60, 000kms under typical city stop and go driving. Now the weird thing with this is that the rears wore out before the fronts did!

Thinking that maybe the caliper was jammed with a huge amount of caked on dirt I cleaned everything up, machined the rotors and then replaced the pads with some honda rear pads.

Today the accord has 75, 000kms and my uncle tells me that he's getting rear brake chatter. I took his calipers apart and noticed that the pads are 50% worn down and that the rear left caliper is making the pad wear unevenly.

What the heck would cause the pad to wear unevenly? I machined the rear rotors before replacing the first set of pads and I know for a fact that my uncle is really each on his brakes. In fact every other car he's owned is like in showroom condition and there are very few instances where he's had mechanical issues like this.

I thought of a few things that might cause problems that he's seeing on his rear brakes.

1. Proportioning valve - does this valve determine what brake pressure goes to which wheel? If this goes bad can this cause the rapid rear brake wear?
2. Master cylinder - I doubt its this problem but you never know...
3. Both rear calipers are no good - the rear right seems to be wearing the pad evenly but the left rear is definitely way out to lunch. There must be at least a 4mm difference between one end of the pad and the other.

The car drove fine when I did the brakes for him at the time and even now the brakes feel strong with the exception of the uneven rear brake wear.

Suggestions as to how this should be fixed? - brakes don't ever smell burnt or overheating.... no brake fade ever either....

Historically on my own cars I've had 3 - 4 sets of front pads before I ever have to change out the rear pads/shoes.

Thanks

BLKGSR24

Same thing is going on with my g/f 2004 sedan. I replaced the rear pads around 30,000 miles and last weekend I rotated the tires and noticed that the rear pads need to be changed again at 60,000 miles. I thought it was weird too because the front pads are still ok. On all my other honda's its always been the opposite. I didn't check for any uneven pad wear, but I think I might check this weekend. Sorry I couldn't be of any help for you, but I was just wondering what's going on or if this is normal with the newer honda's.

BLKFLSH

I have an 03 Accord (EX V6), and I changed the rear pads at 47k miles. The front pads are probably good until at least 60k miles. I thought it was strange that the rears wore out before the front, but the rotors were fine, and the brakes work fine. If the pads are wearing uneven, the calipers may be corroded (rust road salt), and not sliding on the pins like they should. Did you check the slide pins for smooth operation?

It seems, from what I've heard, that all the 7th gen (03-07) Accords do this (rear wearing faster than the front).

ch0baca

yeh, same stuff for me, i had to change rears before the fronts, but fronts still lasting, i'm at 46k

i changed my rears and then my rear right caliper was not sliding or releasing the pad as it should so my pad would freeze up in the winter after parking and then overheat bc the caliper was not functioning correctly, and now the pad is worn down and my rotor has marks on it from the heating, the worst

but, i also did pump the brakes when the caliper was off because i didn't know what i was doing and some brake fluid leaked out of the piston, my first time doing it, i think that ruined it for sure stupid n00b

asnstyle22

it wears out faster than other hondas b/c of the ebd so it utilizes the rear brakes more than the previous models of honda. im @ 60k miles and im on my 4th set of pads for the rear already, it all depends on how you drive =P

stevescivic

okay fair enough that the rears wear out faster than the fronts.

But how do you explain the uneven pad wear?

How can I fix it? replace the caliper?

BLKFLSH

Make sure the pads are not just rattling around inside the caliper (shims and retainers are not loose), and that the pins are straight, and well lubricated. Some people, during assembly, will put the pads on the rotor, then slide the caliper over the pads. I prefer to put the pads in the caliper, making sure they are in good, then sliding the caliper and pads over the rotor.

dtailspls

REPLACE THE BRAKE DISCs, you are making the calipers extend the pistons out too far, thus over-working it. It'd be much safer to have new brake discs, but if you are going to resurface the brake discs, make sure that it still has enough meat left on it. Measure to make sure that it hasn't reached max diameter for usage.

Ross 2.0

If you have uneven pad wear on the back the pads were not installed correctly. You need to make sure the "+" on the piston is turned exactly like that or the piston will only be pushing on that one alignment pin rather than the entire surface area of the piston. I JUST had a case of that last Friday. One corner of the pad had plenty of life left and the opposite corner was on the edge of the rotor.

CBL9

You would have to line up the "+" with the notches on the pad itself anyway though. As for the rears wearing out first, I was always under the impression the rears wear faster udner highway driving. I have 34K on mine, I have serviced, (cleaned sliders, pins, and relubed) in fall and spring when swapping snows and summers at all four corners. I do a lot of highway driving though, I would guesstimate the I have 50% life left until the indicators on the rears, a little more on the front. Hopefully I can hold the record for the longest rear pad life without facking up the rotors!!!

Ross 2.0

You're supposed to. It's possible not to line them up.

stuff215

I have a 2008 accord EX and encountered the same issue. The rear brakes in my accord went at only 11,000 miles. I do alot of highway driving and this is the first time I ever had to change rear brakes at 11,000 miles bought the car brand new off the lot at 0 miles. At this point may look into in upgrading maybe to ceramic when its available.

YeuEmMaiMai

it's not uncommon to replace rear brakes on the Acura CL and TL at 55-65K miles.....since the 03 accord uses a lot of similar or identical parts, it would not suprise me that you are eating rear brakes......I am an oddball though as I am still on my fronts at 78K on my CLS

CBL9

Did the dealer "tell" you to repalce them? Were they @ the wear indicators? I would have had a talk with a service advisor to find out the route of that problem, something is NOT right there.

stuff215

I have a friend that works at the dealership tell me the same thing that its odd for brakes just to hit the indicator mark at only 11,000 miles. My friend replaced the rear brakes and resurfaced the rotors. The good thing is that I didn't have to pay for the rear brakes and for the resurfacing of the rotors. Funny thing is was that the service provide I was talking to said the rear brakes were at the indicator mark. He made up this little story saying "All brakes have there flaws and bumps". I stood there talking to him saying exactly "Brakes don't just magically wear down at 11,000 miles unless it came from the factory with a defect check it again please". Im bringing the Accord back this week just to check the rear brakes again, there nothing wrong with it since it was replaced. But I just want to make sure it doesn't happen again to soon.

bobilichetti

I had to change the rear brake pads on my 2005 Honda Accord EX at 28116 miles. Only the rear brake pads wore out, but not the front ones. The dealer told me that when Honda replaced the drum brakes with disc brakes, they designed it with small pads and they ware out fast. I contacted Honda Service (Toll free: 800-999-1009) and complained about it. They told me that they wear out because they are small pads. When I questioned why they were designed with small pads, they told me that they will pass on my comments to the engineers. They told me that they will not take any responsibility, because it is a wearable part. They also told me that they have not received any other complaints. When I told him about numerous posts about this problem on the internet forums, they refused to recognize them. I think it is very imporant that everyone who experienced this problem should complain to Honda Service (800-999-1009), so that they take notice of this problem and take some corrective action.

asnstyle22

i dont think its really b/c the brakes are small, there is that brake distribution thing that makes it so it distributes braking power to all 4 corners and in comparison to other year accords, gen7 is heavier so i guess thats why the rear wears out faster than the front. so overall it is b/c the pads are smaller and they are being utilized more than before, but i guess its an engineering thing b/c if the rear brakes were too big, might throw off the braking causing the car to lose traction and lose control and crash.

bobilichetti

Thanks for your comments.

I agree that excessive rear brake wear is because of non-uniform distribution of the braking between the front and rear brakes, in additioin to under-capacity of the rear brake pads. Unless enough people complain about it, it appears Honda will not take any corrective action, whether it is engineering redesign or recall for retrofit. That is the reason that everyone who experiences such a problem should complain to Honda by calling their toll free number. I am confident that Honda monitors the bulletin boards, but when the complaints on the bulletin boards are brought to their attentioin, they claim that the postings on the bulletin boards are not trustworthy.

ekb16

iTrader: (1)

its bcuz of the material they use on the rear pads

if u think thats bad u should see the rear pads on the new model accords..they wear out at 20-25k

aCCordcHIka06

That sucks. Now I'm worried I just picked up a sued 2006 Accord.. Ugh.. Well no car is perfect that's for sure! Thanks for this thread and the heads up.

k20civicsi

My mom owns a 2008 Honda Accord 5 speed sedan and her brakes had been squeaking for a while at 25K miles. She took it to the dealer to have them check it out and they didn't really do much for her and she got pissed and told them to ride with her. They said she needed to have her brakes replaced asap that day and she was not allowed to drive out of there until it was done. Anyways, even though she had warranty on the car, they made her pay the $170 that it cost to do it. They sad they have had issues with the brakes on the newer Accords and that they still have not figured out how to fix it yet or what's even causing it. Once they figure it out, they are going to put a recall on it, then she can be reimbursed her money. I don't know if this helps any of you out, but this is just what Honda told my mom.

bodykits

Great thread.. no one can predict such thing... though sh*&^ it happens sometimes...

RedHonda

I had no idea how common these rear brake problems were... I'm looking at getting new pads and rotors for my 2003 accord coupe v6, anybody have any suggestions as to brand types or material types?? Thanks

starchland

my story:

100 000 km

rear brake pads seemed to have worn out really fast (less than 30k) and somewhat uneven (if you look at the pad its worn on an angle) almost like it was installed with the little bump not in the right spot. However I remember taking special caution for this.

At first, I thought the calipers were seizing up for whatever reason, and it did feel that way when driving the car because the pedal felt less sensitive and overall the car more heavy.

Took apart the rear calipers, and found the pads very low, the slider pins appeared to be fine, the pads seemed to be a little dirty/debris and rusted in the caliper. so i cleaned that up thinking it would be the fix...however after applying the brakes, the caliper piston seemed to not want to retract. Upon inspecting/cleaning/lubing what I could on the piston(it seemed in great shape on both sides) the problem was much less prominent however still there a little. This seems weird to me that both rear pads would wear so fast and at a slight angle. I will monitor the situation and will replace the pads to see if its an issue with the piston coming too far out of the bore (the discs are still fine) before I replace the calipers or rebuild them. Any input on the situation? lengthy I know :p

starchland

just wanted to bump this thread in regards to the thread that was closed for no reason. lots of people complaining about premature wear on the 7th gen (and possibly later gens) I have experienced it myself. not sure what to make of it...