I have a 1990 Civic hatch running a stock B18c5.

Brakes are 1991 Civic SI calipers, hubs. Rotors Lines and Pads are Cobalt. Motul DOT 4 fluid. (GT-sport pads, G3000 rotors)

Problem: Since the upgrade the temperature of the whole assembly has been so incredibly hot that I burnt of the caliper paint (DupliColor kit) and cant put my hand closer than 1-2" from the rim without burning my skin. Unfortunately no acruate temperature reading.

The pads have been crumbling a bit, loosing little parts of material. And not just on the edges, there have been threads of material from the center of the pad surface that have fallen apart. The pads squeal quite a bit when these pieces are lodged between the rotor (I have had to remove these bits regularly ).

Heat is so bad that I have now started to warp the rotors!

Is this a sign of terrible things to come? or have I recieved a bum set of pads that are causing these probelms?

Any help or experience with Cobalt products would be appreciated.

Ryan

 

You might want to make sure your brakes are not dragging. Check your caliper slide pins, and regrease them. the whole caliper should move easily (provided you compress the piston) against the torque member.

They do squeal a bit, that is normal for the pads. The crumbling part doesnt sound right. As for warped rotors... either excessive heat from brake drag has warped them, or they were not bedded in properly. good luck

 

Did you check to see if the rotor spins freely? Both of the calipers could be stuck, causing constant friction between the pads and rotors to generate the heat.

 

Yes, I applied a liberal coating of grease on the caliper pins (I came from the land of broken bolts (Mitsubishi) and am adimate about proper lube).

The pads do drag. This has not occured until last week's inspection Soon after the feel of warped rotors has started to come through the pedals. The bed in process posted on the cobalt pads box was followed as faithfully as possible. (the high speed braking was done on the freeway at 3am the night of the install)

I did not notice any draggin during the 3 inspections where crumbles and material were noted comming off pads.

I will inspect again this weekend with your advice.

Further information/experience is greatly appreciated.

Ryan

 

which cobalt pads did you use?

if theyre crumbling, theyre toast. get rid of em. call cobalt, talk to andie. see if he can help you out, perhaps under warranty or just good advice.

you may still be able to save and turn your rotors.

id look into getting new, rebuilt calipers. the sliders are not hte only thing that could be wrong, the piston and seal can also cause seizing.

 

what kind of condition are your rear brakes in?

 

The rear drums have OEM shoes installed about 6 months ago. They showed little sign of wear when I installed the rear brake lines.

Cobalt said their rear shoes were "only 15-20% more stopping power than OEM" So I didnt see a reason to add $120 to the cart (plus shipping).

 

could be your calipers are stuck.

Ide replace them if they got alot of miles on them.

there really cheap arnt they???