Almost finished with my 89 CRX Si.
Brakes seemed OK, but there was an annoying squeal which seemed to be coming from the front right pads. Went to replace the pads, there wasn't much left of them, and noticed the rotors were in bad shape. Went to get the rotors cut, was told there wasn't enough left on them.

Bought new rotors, put them on along with the new pads today. Followed the procedure seen here https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/%5Bdiy%5D-how-change-front-brake-pads-%5Bpics%5D-3083149/ .

Now, with everything bolted back up, the new rotor and pads seem to be too tight in the caliper and the rotor will not spin. I do not suspect a bad caliper because the brakes did work before the change. Unless a mistake was made, the new parts are correct.

May I have forgotten something during the installation? Perhaps I didnt compress the caliper enough?

 

When you put it back together, was there a nice little gap between the pads and rotor?
Or did you have to push pretty hard to get the caliper back on?

Better way to do this is to open the bleeder screw a little and push the piston back into the caliper.
A little fluid will come out (probably dirty stuff) and you should do a little bleeding when you get it all back together in case an air bubble made it in.


ALSO-
I didn't notice anything in that write-up for cleaning.
New rotors are shipped with a waxy coating on them to prevent rust.
Using brake cleaner, you NEED to clean off the surfaces of the rotor that will make contact with the pad.

 

Thanks for the reply.
When I put it back together there was little to no gap between the rotor and the pads, to I had to give it a little push to get the caliper on. I did not clean the rotors beforehand, so I will definitely clean them up because there is alot of that wax visible.
Also, I will crack the bleeder and compress once more and hopefully it works out.

 

Okay, so after going through the installation again, the right side is working properly, however, the left side caliper sticks shut after I pump up the breaks. I pulled that side apart again, re compressed the caliper, and it stuck shut again when I pumped the brake.

 

Caliper is bad.
Try bleeding it - maybe it has some goo in it.
If that doesn't fix it, then the best route is to get a new caliper.
Rebuilding one on your own isn't hard, but a remanufactured is usually about $60.
Much easier.

 

Alright, made it to the junkyard in time to grab a newer, good looking caliper off an old EF.
I need to wait for another person to come over so I can bleed it properly, but hopefully this solves the problem.

 

There is a little rubber seal around the piston, that's probably your problem with the original one, $5 at Napa and you would have a good spare, always nice to know how to repair a caliper and, building them for a living, they are incredibly easy to rebuild and haven't changed in over 20yrs

 

Got the new caliper on and bled.
The rotor spins more freely, but it still is slightly rubbing.
The new caliper seemed to be in good shape and working properly.
Is it possible that these new pads and rotor are just a little tight are will rub a bit until they wear down?

 

the brake don't have any way to release itself from the rotor, it just relieves pressure so contact is still there, try driving it and as long as its not pulling you should be fine.