mbuxton

Hey guys. New to the forum, as you can see, but I have a quick question. I picked up my 2008 Accord EX-L coupe in February of this year and from the very first drive home, I noticed that my brakes are very squeaky until light application. I thought the pads would adjust and the noise would at least soften, but that has not been the case and I just hit 6k miles on the odometer. On top of that, I've been averaging just 21 MPG with the 4-cylinder (automatic). I do a mix of highway & city, so I was hoping for at least 25 or so. I'm thinking I'll just drop the car off to the dealer, but I wanted to get some ammo before going in and dealing with an inept service advisor.

Thanks in advance!

K20DC2R

i have the same issue with my sedan 4 cyl. brakes squeak crazy...drives me nuts!
as far as the gas milage ive gotten okay milage. i get about 21-25 in town and 30ish highway... ive noticed that you have to reset the trip to get accurate readings and esp after a fill up with gas. when you reset the trip it changes the average mpg. good luck with the breaks tell us what they say!

MSchu

I get more mileage than that in my v6... about 30'ish. as far as your brakes, have either of you tried a different compound?

hondaracer4vtec

Yep I got an average of 28 mpg on my 6-6

460 miles on the tank til the light comes on. thats mix driving here in NYC with traffic and stuff.

Septimus Prime

You're actually getting good mileage (roughly 29.3 mpg). At first, I thought my mileage was weak on my 4-cyl. EX-L coupe too, but then I reread my owner's manual.

As it turns out, when the gas lamp illuminates, the car still reserves 2.8 gallons of gas, which translates to an extra 55-85 miles, using EPA estimates for local and highway driving.

With an 18.5-gallon tank, that leaves us with only 15.7 gallons to use before the lamp comes on, so 460 divided by that comes out to 29.29 or so.

MSchu

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Septimus Prime &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You're actually getting good mileage (roughly 29.3 mpg). At first, I thought my mileage was weak on my 4-cyl. EX-L coupe too, but then I reread my owner's manual.

As it turns out, when the gas lamp illuminates, the car still reserves 2.8 gallons of gas, which translates to an extra 55-85 miles, using EPA estimates for local and highway driving.

With an 18.5-gallon tank, that leaves us with only 15.7 gallons to use before the lamp comes on, so 460 divided by that comes out to 29.29 or so.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Excellent answer

hondaracer4vtec

True that but when I go to the gas station it means I've been driving with the light on and I filled up with 16.5 gallons when i hit 460 so it up there. When I got the car I was hoping to get at least 25 but this just surpised the hell outta me with 28

cjo_28

Your vehicle is rated at 21city/30highway. The government calculates these numbers by testing all vehicle EXACTLY the same (temperature, humidity, rate of acceleration, tire pressure, blah, blah), that way customers can compare apples to apples.

Government calculations cannot predict your driving habits. 21 MPG city and highway driving, in the summer with the A/C on, is common.

If you want any help at all, keep a log and be precise. EXACTLY how many miles driven divided by EXACTLY how many gallons used is your MPG. Write it down. Keep a record through 3 or 4 fill ups. Use different gas stations. Take an average. Be realistic on the amount of highway driving you do (or even better, record the highway mileage).

If your calculation are still 21 MPG, maybe the dealer can find something, but don't hold your breath. They don't have a magic wand. The computers miss very little, and if the computer detects a problem, the check engine light would be on. If the computer didn't detect a problem while constantly monitoring your vehicle, chances are the tech isn't going to detect a problem either.

cjo_28

There isn't a service bulletin on your brake pads yet. If you have under 12K miles, the dealer will probably do a goodwill brake job even if the tech doesn't hear a noise (it's intermittent, right?).

Honda could update the brake pads and issue a bulletin later on, so be sure to document your compaint at your dealer (go more than once if you need to). If new pads and a bulletin come out when you have 30K miles on the odometer, it might get you a free brake job even though brake pads are only covered for 12K miles.

mbuxton

Sorry guys, I've been out of town for a few days.

The brake noise is *not* intermediate; it is constant and usually occurs under medium to light pressure. As far as the gas mileage is concerned, I actually have recorded it for the past 4k miles or so. It is consistently at 21 or 22 MPG, regardless of highway miles driven. My current tank looks like it'll come out to around 18 MPG with zero highway miles (I've avoided a toll road I typically take to work). Also, I reset the trip meter each time and divide the number of gallons it takes to fill the tank into the number of miles driven before resetting the meter, which gives me an exact MPG rating. So this problem has nothing to do with ignoring the reserve tank, unfortunately.

I've yet to make an appointment since I've been out of town, but will definitely do so soon! I should have just gotten the damn V6.

mbuxton

Any help?

hondaracer4vtec

Did you make the appointment?

The mpg depends on how you drive dont let it pass 3rpms and you should be fine.

kapowser

I had that problem. Have an accord coupe for 9k miles, brakes squeaked after they attempted to fix another problem (crunching noise driving into an elevated driveway), got them changed last week at dealer no charge, no more squeaks.