I have a 2005 civic still under warranty. My rotors are warped, and causing shuddering when slowing at highway speeds. Brakes are a wear and tear item, like oil filters, so I am not expecting wear to be covered in the warranty.

Warped rotors, however, seem to be a different issue. When I went to the dealer to ask about the coverage on warped rotors in the warranty, they refused. They want $95 for resurfacing the fronts.

Is this right?

TIA

 

rotors are considered wear items and wouldn't be covered by warranty in normal cases. they probably assume you were on the brakes too hard and warped them with excess heat.

 

I assume that they improperly torqued the wheels down with their air tools. This is the mechanic's way of making business when the customer returns with warped rotors...

Braking hard is what rotors are designed for....

 

not on a eco car. its meant to be driven slow and braked on lightly.

 

Ur Sarcasm is killing me....
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Curiouz_G &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">not on a eco car. its meant to be driven slow and braked on lightly. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

new rotors are $12. Dont bother resurfacing them, go to Autozone and buy another set. Put them on yourself. Done deal.

Nothing on the brakes is covered as far as I know. The only thing I could see them fixing is a caliper if the seal blows out or something.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Boilermaker1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">new rotors are $12. Dont bother resurfacing them, go to Autozone and buy another set. Put them on yourself. Done deal.

Nothing on the brakes is covered as far as I know. The only thing I could see them fixing is a caliper if the seal blows out or something.</TD></TR></TABLE>This was what I figured I would end up doing. Never hurts to ask.

 

Great plan. Go buy some cheap Auto Zone rotors that will warp in a couple months, and you'll be right back where you started. You really shouldn't replace parts that don't need to be replaced, especially if you are going to use cheap crap to do it. Fix it right. Machine the rotors and get on with your life.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MatterMatt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Great plan. Go buy some cheap Auto Zone rotors that will warp in a couple months, and you'll be right back where you started. You really shouldn't replace parts that don't need to be replaced, especially if you are going to use cheap crap to do it. Fix it right. Machine the rotors and get on with your life. </TD></TR></TABLE>Hm... Strange how most of the auto-x guys I have met have used autozone rotors with hawk or pbr pads and never had a problem.....

If the original parts are warped already, they must be crap. If it is cheaper to replace crap with stuff that does not seem to have a problem at the track under hard braking, then that seems to be a great plan. Thanks for your input.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MatterMatt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Great plan. Go buy some cheap Auto Zone rotors that will warp in a couple months, and you'll be right back where you started. You really shouldn't replace parts that don't need to be replaced, especially if you are going to use cheap crap to do it. Fix it right. Machine the rotors and get on with your life. </TD></TR></TABLE>


I have NEVER warped, cracked or ran out an Autozone rotor, and I beat the **** out of my brakes. Its a lump of iron. There is absolutely nothing special about a 1 piece rotor, they're all the same.


Oh yeah, machining rotors tends to make warping problems worse... the thinner they are, the faster the heat gets to them.

 

When rotors are close to or beyond the minimum serviceable thickness they warp faster. I've machined rotors and beat the crap out of them too and never warped, cracked or ran them out. Thats because I mic them before and after to see how much life is left on them. Everyone I know (myself included) that used anything that says Duralast, Autosport International or what have you for anything beyond daily driving has complained. That makes them crap to me and not worth the money or time.

 

brembo blanks ftw!

 

Brembo blanks and rillwoods are good i use brembos with hawk pads and its a great set up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SuperSlow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I assume that they improperly torqued the wheels down with their air tools. This is the mechanic's way of making business when the customer returns with warped rotors...

Braking hard is what rotors are designed for.... </TD></TR></TABLE>

The rotors are screwed to the hubs from the factory. I doubt torquing the wheels on had anything to do with them warping.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MatterMatt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Great plan. Go buy some cheap Auto Zone rotors that will warp in a couple months, and you'll be right back where you started. You really shouldn't replace parts that don't need to be replaced, especially if you are going to use cheap crap to do it. Fix it right. Machine the rotors and get on with your life. </TD></TR></TABLE>

a lot of the autox people use these rotors and i haven't seen any complaints from them. BrakeExpert is a brake guru, knows everything about honda brakes and he uses these rotors. i trust him when he says these rotors are good.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by toyomatt84 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The rotors are screwed to the hubs from the factory. I doubt torquing the wheels on had anything to do with them warping.</TD></TR></TABLE>You are right. And the wheels are torqued on to the rotors by machine at the factory as well. But then again, when you go in for tire rotation and anything else requiring taking off the wheels that were torqued onto the rotors that were "screwed" to the hubs from the factory, it is a mechanic with air tools who shoots the lug nuts on with an air tool. 9 times out of 10, it is because of this that rotors warp. So I guess you are SO WRONG.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SuperSlow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You are right. And the wheels are torqued on to the rotors by machine at the factory as well. But then again, when you go in for tire rotation and anything else requiring taking off the wheels that were torqued onto the rotors that were "screwed" to the hubs from the factory, it is a mechanic with air tools who shoots the lug nuts on with an air tool. 9 times out of 10, it is because of this that rotors warp. So I guess you are SO WRONG.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Unnecessary bit there at the end, but whatever makes you feel better.

Anyways, the wheels are torqued to the hub, not the rotor itself. It's easy to over-torque wheel lugs, but most times on a car that has floating rotors, you'll see warped rotors due to it. Since the rotors on the Civic are not floating, it makes it very unlikely to see them warped due to over-torqued lugs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by toyomatt84 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Unnecessary bit there at the end, but whatever makes you feel better.

Anyways, the wheels are torqued to the hub, not the rotor itself. It's easy to over-torque wheel lugs, but most times on a car that has floating rotors, you'll see warped rotors due to it. Since the rotors on the Civic are not floating, it makes it very unlikely to see them warped due to over-torqued lugs.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Hm... Not sure why you keep disagreeing on this topic. It is like saying "it is unlikely that you will get mugged at night in oakland if you don't carry cash, as most of the people who get mugged carry cash."

As the hubs and wheel sandwich the rotors, unevenly overtorquing the lugnuts will lead to warpage of rotors upon thermal expansion during braking. QED. Please come back with better theoretics. Or whatever makes you feel better.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by toyomatt84 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The rotors are screwed to the hubs from the factory. I doubt torquing the wheels on had anything to do with them warping.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Over torquing the wheel lugs will cause rotor warp. While the rotor is seated on the hub the wheel doesn't completely seat on the brake rotor, ie the wheel seating area isn't a flat/solid surface. Too much pressure between the hub and the wheel will sandwich the rotor and after many heat cycles this will cause the rotor to warp.

 

We all use torque sticks rated to a torque specification when impacting the lug nuts to tighten. They may only have a tolerance of +/-10% or slightly more, but we sure as hell don't ever use the impact gun on lug nuts without them.

 

I just put Brembo blanks and Hawk pads on mine for $145 shipped to my door

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pyork03 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I just put Brembo blanks and Hawk pads on mine for $145 shipped to my door </TD></TR></TABLE>U mean for the whole set of 4 wheels?

 

Torque sticks work if you know how to calibrate and use them properly. You can deform a hub face if you torque a wheel improperly. But, I'm sure most of the time warped rotors are caused by late braking or hard braking at excessive speeds. Our shop will machine a customers rotors if they are within 12/12.

If you wash your car and let it sit with wet rotors you can get a patch where your brake pad is located that has different friction properties than the rest of the rotor and cause a brake vibration even with zero run-out.

I don't like seeing techs use an impact with just a socket. I don't particularly care for replacing wheel studs on hondas.

We charge 200 dollars to machine rotors. ( on car lathe )