Ok,

So I've got 20.5k miles on my 04 and the brakes are squealing alot. I took it into my Honda shop and they told me that it was just brake dust and just spray it down with water. That seemed like too simple of a fix, so I washed my car that day, especially the rotors/pads, same problem. So I went to the store to buy some more tire shine and saw a big spray can of wheel cleaner that had "Removes Brake Dust" in big letters. Went home and right away washed the wheels and liberally applied the cleaner. Now it seems that the noise is worse. What is the problem, warped pads? If so, any recommendations on replacement parts?

2nd, since my parents (who own the car for another 2 months, argh) decided to trash my auto-> manual swap for the time being (it'll happen when I'm out of the house) I decided to do the sensible thing and saved half of the money (just for you BLKFSH) and am going to spend the other half on some bolt-ons. Does this Grounding kit actually have benefits? The ad saids "increased low-end torque and throttle response" it seems like a load of crap to me. Any comments?

Thanks

 

Your brake noise is being caused by the brake pads vibrating at high frequency in the calipers, and washing them off will have no effect.
I'll get into the discussion better in about 30 minutes (wife's serving dinner) but (in effect) it's being caused by glazed brake pads and polished rotors.
It's much the same as when your High School English teacher caused that chalk / chalk board squeel in school.
To address it:
apply Permatex 123HB Disc Brake Quiet (item# 82017) to the rear of the removed brake pads and reinstall.
I'll elaborate on other methods shortly, but if the shoes are worn to any degree, you've additional options.

P

 

thanks as always.

 

I'm back (steak dinners don't wait (sorry))
Anyway, to review:
It's caused by 'blah, blah, blah bah blah - etc' glazed.
Basically, I would remove the pads and determine how worn they are.
If they've worn (friction material) to within the width of the backing plate (about 1/8") replace them with a low dust/noise brake pad set.
If they've still some usable material left; I'd suggest deglazing the pad surface with some 80 grit Iron Oxide Sand Paper. I'd then deglaze (rough up) the brake rotor with a 6" disc sander attached to an electric drill. (to break up the polished surface). Add some anti-squeak elephant snot (Permatex Disc Brake Quite) to the rear of the reconditioned brake pad and reassemble.
You've done several things:
Supplied new surfaces of both the Rotor and pads which will now wear together for a better fit, eliminated the super-hard glazed brake pad surface which fostered the vibration in the first place and (finally) glued (flexible) the pads to the caliper; effectively increasing their mass and lowering the resonant frequency of the pad to the point we don't hear it.



P

 

Ok, I'm getting my car on a lift this weekend so I can do that when its up (since I don't have a jack).

One question, would it be cheaper/more efficient to purchase a set of brembo rotors/pads for the long run? How long does your average pad last? Thanks for the help.

Also, any comments on the grounding kit?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by msedacca &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ok,


2nd, since my parents (who own the car for another 2 months, argh) decided to trash my auto-&gt; manual swap for the time being (it'll happen when I'm out of the house) I decided to do the sensible thing and saved half of the money (just for you BLKFSH)</TD></TR></TABLE>

You will realize it was for your own good one day, hopefully soon. When you have to support yourself, and pay for your own car, you will be lucky if you have any to **** away on swaps and aftermarket crap. Unless it was made by Honda (OEM), for my Honda, it won't go on my car. Stop worrying about how slow your car is, and take care of it. Best Wishes to you. (believe it or not)

 

I replaced the front brakes (for the first time) at 130,000m on my '97 CD7 Coupe.
The car now is crowding 200k and the car's still on the original rear drum shoes.
When I did the front brakes I did this:

1) Porterfield street level Carbon/Kevlar Brake pads
2) Brembo Slotted/Plated stock diameter Rotors
3) Russells Stainless Brake hose set.
4) Power bled the brake system (got all the water out of it)

It's like a whole different car.
The harder you work them, the better they bite (no more fade); and because of the hoses, the pedal is right there.

P

 

Thanks for all your help. I'll talk to my mechanic and figure out what will be best for me.
I don't have rear discs so it's only a front axle thing.

BLKFSH, believe me, with all the yelling and screaming as a result, you might be right, but I guess I got myself involved in building a project car and was set on all of those modifications. All in all, I guess I should be happy with what I have and I'm putting aside half of my money towards college, and putting parts on that will be beneficial to the car itself, not performance (new brakes, alignment kit, shocks). Well some performance parts, but you know, I am a 17 year old aggressive teenager with raging hormones.

 

Good deal.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by msedacca &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Also, any comments on the grounding kit?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I haven't much to say other than I see no reasonable linkage between grounding an electrical system and generating horsepower. The only consideration I've ever made to system grounds was; I never forgot to reattach one if I was doing work which called for disconnecting one. Oh, that and I would also make up Ground Straps out of Booster Cable lengths; and I'd run them between the Engine to Battery and Chassis to Battery. I'd solder eyelets on each end as required and attach them to the battery using Marine Battery Cable Clamps (with the stud & wingnut attachment). It afforded a quick Disconnect if I needed it, and were easy to maintain.

Grounding Kits (I believe) were intended for High End Mobile Audio Equipment, where you have to guarantee a good circuit to avoid electrical noise.

P

 

So essentially your saying its a waste of money? I mean, how can 45 dollars worth of wires give me a near noticeable boost unless I'm running something like 500hp (which I can only dream of). It just didn't add up.

 

You stand a better chance of generating power from a bucket of Purple Steam and one of those "Turbonators".
In fact, when you're ready; I've still got one Acme Skyhook left. It was supposed to go with the Brooklin Bridge as a package, but the guy had no use for it. Go Figure.

P

 

Haha, you mean after I spend 2k on the manual swap, and then if I decide to go into FI and not go into the N/A department and possibly blow another 5k, I'll let you know. Until that date comes, I'll just keep dreaming about fast cars and hot women

 

Never loose your dream man.
Fast women come and go (just as fast) but your dream should be forever.
If there's one thing I would suggest would be this.
Plan, Plan Plan and ask every question you possibly can with regards to system interactions, parts compatibility, and what works (as opposed to what doesn't).
I can't tell you how much money I went thru as an early (REAL Early) member of the Fast & the Frivilous because of knee-jerk "I gotta have that" attacks; and then found it worked better with something else. A LOT of people got some real deals from me because of those mis-steps.
You've got the right idea(s), don't loose site of them.

P

 

Well if it was my choice, the manual swap would be happening this coming Monday, but unfortunately I have my parents who still "own" me and they own the car. It didn't make sense to me that I couldn't spend my own cash on a car that is essentially mine. It's still going to happen, and I'm putting aside money for it to happen, but the temporary actions are on hold.

 

ground wire kits are really only effective on cars that already have grounding issues like the 6th gen accords do