My son had a friend do his rear brakes on his 1998 GSR a couple months ago. He says everything has been fine until about 3 weeks ago when he noticed a grinding sound. I noticed his his fluid was low and the light was on. I bled his brakes and found a loose bolt on the passenger rear where fluid was leaking. Tightened up and no more leaks.

Well, disks still grabbed by the pads. We adjusted the parking brake nut, but no difference. I watched as he applied the parking brake and the parking brake was not locked up on either side.

Seems odd that both sides are grabbing. Thoughts as to what to try next? Thanks...JK

 

Are the rear brakes grabbing only on certain spots of the rotor? Check the hub face for corrosion which can cause rotor runout (wobble). This happens commonly on these cars.

 

No, they are grabbing the entire rotor.

 

Try screwing the caliper piston in further to get more clearance and allow for self-adjustment. This is outlined in the Helm manual. (Search google for "hondahookup manuals".)

 

OK, plot thickens (at least for me). I took off the caliper, came off rather easy. The hub/disk is still hard to turn. The brake pads do not move at all and are binding the on the disk all by themselves.

I have the Acura shop manual but not sure how to remove the pads and the pad retainers. Son's friend who did the job is in Europe for another 2 weeks. Any guidance would be great. Thanks...Jack

 

Remove and re-grease the sliding pins. The pins were stuck and were making the rear brakes stick on my car and that did the trick.

 

If the rotors have heat discoloration, then the pads are probably semi-welded to the rotors. Use a strong screwdriver or a small prybar to separate the pads from the rotor. A hammer and some heat might be necessary to get them to loosen up.

Replace the rotor, pads, pad retainers, caliper pins, and rebuild the caliper or replace it if the piston is stuck.

When you re-install the caliper over the pads, make sure that the tab on the back of the inside pad lines up with the channel in the face of the piston.

There's more advice, but until you figure out the real cause of the problem, I can only help you so much.

 

I should have clarified a couple things. The disk/hub does indeed turn, its just that it is rubbing against the pads with a fair amount of friction. And as I mentioned, I have the caliper off, so it is not the caliper at this point. The pads do not move at all, like they are rusted in place. How do the pads get removed? Do you take the retaining clips off first? No mention in the Acura service manual the order to removing the pads. Sorry for any confusion and thanks again for your help.

 

The pads normally just fall into the retainers. You should be able to remove them by hand, but a lot of times the pads are manufactured improperly and/or the pad retainers have a lot of rust/dirt buildup and prevent the pads from moving in and out from the rotor.

If you can't remove them by hand, then you'll have to pry them out. Replace the pads if they're cracked or worn unevenly and replace the pad retainers because I don't recommend grinding them with a surface prep pad. Grinding them down removes the coating and allows rust to form.

You may have to grind down the ears on the pad backing plates so that you can slide the pads into the retainers without forcing them in. But, you don't want them to fit too loosely or they'll vibrate and squeel.

Apply a light surface coat of high-temp grease on the pad ears to help them slide back and forth.

 

If the brakes were just *done* not that long ago, how did they get rusted in place in a few weeks? Lots of rain? I'm not sure why you would have to mess w/the parking brake nut either. Have you tried turning the car on and pumping the brakes? Are the brake lines messed up?

 

Brakes were done in mid-May. It has rained here a lot and his car sits out. I have a feeling the retaining clips are bad and they did not clean this up before installing the new pads or use any molykote. I just ordered some new clips so I'll see what happens.

The car has been driven since mid-May and this problem/grinding noise, according to my son, just started a week ago.

 

Well it's pretty common for discs to rust up really quick in the rain, but I've never heard of a case where the pads would seize to the disc is such a short period of time. Usually, just running the car and hitting the brakes a few times scrapes off all the built up rust.

Seems like you might be on the right track if you grease up the caliper where the pads sit. Check the fluid levels too since you said the fluid was low recently. If that bolt you adjusted didn't cure the leak, there may me a slow leak in the lines.

 

Thanks. I was able to pry the pads slightly apart and the disk turns nicely now. The pads are not seized to the disk, they just cannot move back from the disk. I will be installing new pad retainers, clean up the mounting bracket and lube the pad ends and hope that will solve the problem. More fun tonight ...

I bled the rear brakes as well and no leaking of fluid, so I think I got that problem solved, but will keep an eye on it.

 

Make sure all of the pictured parts are included:


http://www.hondapartsunlimited...dIrno=

Part 24 is critical for pad movement.

 

I was able to pry the pads off and replaced the retainers, filed the pad ends a bit and lubed everything up. Things turned out pretty well.

I bled the rear brakes as well and no leaking of fluid, so I think I got that problem solved, but will keep an eye on it.

Thanks for all of the help and guidance!