Been away for a while so sorry guys! and been a while since I've written anything useful lol
Anyway thought I’d write a bit about the brakes since been reading quite a bit about people complaining about the Accord brakes and all the different types of pads out there etc…yes they do seem to lack the initial bite and it would have been nicer if they were a bit larger but besides that the Accord brakes are actually very progressive when pushed and do actually stop well…PROVIDED they are working efficiently! This is the part that gets most people!
The 03 onwards Accord uses two different brake makes for the calipers, Teves at the front and Lucas at the back ….. don’t go confusing this with brakes that are used on the US Acura TSX which the car is compared to…this is where it differs so don’t go buying brakes for the TSX thinking they will fit for the UK car…they won’t.
How to improve braking power – no money just time
The easiest way to improve braking for the Accord is simple…CLEAN THE BRAKES ESPECIALLY THE REARS! Try this even before upgrading brake components etc…
Many people read that the rears have little braking effort so often little attention is given to them when actual from experience for the Accord it’s actually more important! So when people tell you the rears do little work so don’t bother with them, just don’t listen…they’re there for a reason…. If you’ve had the car a while you’ll realise that the car goes through rear brake pads and discs at a similar rate to the fronts..this is for the Saloon, I can’t really speak for the Tourer since I don’t drive one. I’ve had two 2.4 Accords and both show the same characteristic. You’ll also probably observe that you have quite a bit of brake dust on your rear alloys as well…some say the compound is weaker (I initially thought this also) etc. but if you look properly you’ll find the discs wear at about the same rate at the fronts….so shall we ***ume that the disc is made of a weaker metal also (make up your own mind on that one lol)
Many have queried why they tend to have to change the pads/discs quite early on some as little as 20K miles! If anything the replacement is often required on the rears first, so there is a fair amount of brake effort being put through them….it’s something you won’t realise until you get down to the dirty! The main reason you’ll find is because some caliper slides/pads may have partially seized due to corrosion and dust buildup causing uneven brake bias and so abnormal wear …this is more of an issue on the rear LUCAS calipers….if the rears sieze then you tend to put more brake bias on the front and wear them faster and the cycle continues!
WHY…
On both my Accords I’ve found that when cleaning the brakes the rear pads would be often very ‘stuck’ or you may find that one pads moves ok and the other is solid….look more carefully at your discs and you’ll probably find that ones side is worn more compared to the other….effectively what this means is that you only have one side of the pad working on the disc so brake efficiency is decreased…this in turn forces more brake bias to the front and hence more wear. It seems that the rears are quite prone to seizing up due to design. The pads don’t slide on a stainless steel shim like some brakes but directly on the calliper carrier which is iron…the slide section collects brake dust and corroded in time..this basically acts as a stopper to the movement of the pads (or the backing of the pads can corrode onto the carrier) effectively preventing the pad from moving…..if this happens you can actually feel that the car is front biased when braking…especially when cornering…but again it’s one of those things you won’t know unless you know how it should feel if you get me
CLEANING and PAD CHANGING
You need to try this even before you upgrade pads etc. If you’ve not done brake work before you should try….garage tend to change pads yes and probably use the rudimentary brake cleaner to ‘clean’ your brakes but this isn’t really cleaning..it takes off some of the brake dust..but none of the corrosion…to do that you need a wirebrush and possibly a file…do you see garages wirebrushing and cleaning your callipers?
The basic act of changing pads mean the initial hold of the corrosion had to be broken and allows some degree of movement to the pads, so once they are replaced (most of the time with an upgrade pad), people commenting that the pads are a huge upgrade…when actually it’s the freeing up of the pad which helped (but no doubt some pads are arguably better!)…but without cleaning with a file/wirebrush ….the slide surface still contain bumps from corrosion…this then attracts more corrosion/dust etc and the pads jam up again…and possibly need changing sooner…
So before you resort to upgrading pads etc…spend a while to properly clean the system…you never know you maybe surprised!
EXPERIENCE
I've had two 2.4 Accords now and tbh both of them would have needed rear brakes changed pads and disc at around 25-30K (mainly motorway) miles if I hadn’t caught the binding pads (not calliper pistons but the pads themselves)…this is because if one side of the pad binds the other side tends to wear down that side of the disc.
I eventually changed out the front pads and discs on my old Accord at 55K miles and the rears would have needed to be done at maybe 60K but I sold the car before I did them..... so effectively they both have a similar service life. When buying my current car, on the test drive you could immediately feel the car had a front bias when braking and felt slightly nervous and didn’t stop as progressively and again they did need a good clean and lube..the pads were quite stuck…..
IMPROVING BRAKES with small outlay – BRAKE FLUID
Finally something that’s often forgotten when talking about brakes is the actual brake fluid. You can have the best pad in the world but if you’re running old brake fluid which has caught moisture it won’t do any good. It’s relatively cheap to do and there are a whole variety of fluids to choose from but what’s important is that it’s actually changed…possibly even before the 3 year limit that Honda place….have a read of Fahad’s experience here post dated Apr 25 2009, 11:35 PM. The imrovements with this can be quite dramatic!
So that’s it….point made, your REAR brakes are JUST AS IMPORTANT as your front…so keep them clean and they’ll return the favour
Anyway thought I’d write a bit about the brakes since been reading quite a bit about people complaining about the Accord brakes and all the different types of pads out there etc…yes they do seem to lack the initial bite and it would have been nicer if they were a bit larger but besides that the Accord brakes are actually very progressive when pushed and do actually stop well…PROVIDED they are working efficiently! This is the part that gets most people!
The 03 onwards Accord uses two different brake makes for the calipers, Teves at the front and Lucas at the back ….. don’t go confusing this with brakes that are used on the US Acura TSX which the car is compared to…this is where it differs so don’t go buying brakes for the TSX thinking they will fit for the UK car…they won’t.
How to improve braking power – no money just time
The easiest way to improve braking for the Accord is simple…CLEAN THE BRAKES ESPECIALLY THE REARS! Try this even before upgrading brake components etc…
Many people read that the rears have little braking effort so often little attention is given to them when actual from experience for the Accord it’s actually more important! So when people tell you the rears do little work so don’t bother with them, just don’t listen…they’re there for a reason…. If you’ve had the car a while you’ll realise that the car goes through rear brake pads and discs at a similar rate to the fronts..this is for the Saloon, I can’t really speak for the Tourer since I don’t drive one. I’ve had two 2.4 Accords and both show the same characteristic. You’ll also probably observe that you have quite a bit of brake dust on your rear alloys as well…some say the compound is weaker (I initially thought this also) etc. but if you look properly you’ll find the discs wear at about the same rate at the fronts….so shall we ***ume that the disc is made of a weaker metal also (make up your own mind on that one lol)
Many have queried why they tend to have to change the pads/discs quite early on some as little as 20K miles! If anything the replacement is often required on the rears first, so there is a fair amount of brake effort being put through them….it’s something you won’t realise until you get down to the dirty! The main reason you’ll find is because some caliper slides/pads may have partially seized due to corrosion and dust buildup causing uneven brake bias and so abnormal wear …this is more of an issue on the rear LUCAS calipers….if the rears sieze then you tend to put more brake bias on the front and wear them faster and the cycle continues!
WHY…
On both my Accords I’ve found that when cleaning the brakes the rear pads would be often very ‘stuck’ or you may find that one pads moves ok and the other is solid….look more carefully at your discs and you’ll probably find that ones side is worn more compared to the other….effectively what this means is that you only have one side of the pad working on the disc so brake efficiency is decreased…this in turn forces more brake bias to the front and hence more wear. It seems that the rears are quite prone to seizing up due to design. The pads don’t slide on a stainless steel shim like some brakes but directly on the calliper carrier which is iron…the slide section collects brake dust and corroded in time..this basically acts as a stopper to the movement of the pads (or the backing of the pads can corrode onto the carrier) effectively preventing the pad from moving…..if this happens you can actually feel that the car is front biased when braking…especially when cornering…but again it’s one of those things you won’t know unless you know how it should feel if you get me
CLEANING and PAD CHANGING
You need to try this even before you upgrade pads etc. If you’ve not done brake work before you should try….garage tend to change pads yes and probably use the rudimentary brake cleaner to ‘clean’ your brakes but this isn’t really cleaning..it takes off some of the brake dust..but none of the corrosion…to do that you need a wirebrush and possibly a file…do you see garages wirebrushing and cleaning your callipers?
The basic act of changing pads mean the initial hold of the corrosion had to be broken and allows some degree of movement to the pads, so once they are replaced (most of the time with an upgrade pad), people commenting that the pads are a huge upgrade…when actually it’s the freeing up of the pad which helped (but no doubt some pads are arguably better!)…but without cleaning with a file/wirebrush ….the slide surface still contain bumps from corrosion…this then attracts more corrosion/dust etc and the pads jam up again…and possibly need changing sooner…
So before you resort to upgrading pads etc…spend a while to properly clean the system…you never know you maybe surprised!
EXPERIENCE
I've had two 2.4 Accords now and tbh both of them would have needed rear brakes changed pads and disc at around 25-30K (mainly motorway) miles if I hadn’t caught the binding pads (not calliper pistons but the pads themselves)…this is because if one side of the pad binds the other side tends to wear down that side of the disc.
I eventually changed out the front pads and discs on my old Accord at 55K miles and the rears would have needed to be done at maybe 60K but I sold the car before I did them..... so effectively they both have a similar service life. When buying my current car, on the test drive you could immediately feel the car had a front bias when braking and felt slightly nervous and didn’t stop as progressively and again they did need a good clean and lube..the pads were quite stuck…..
IMPROVING BRAKES with small outlay – BRAKE FLUID
Finally something that’s often forgotten when talking about brakes is the actual brake fluid. You can have the best pad in the world but if you’re running old brake fluid which has caught moisture it won’t do any good. It’s relatively cheap to do and there are a whole variety of fluids to choose from but what’s important is that it’s actually changed…possibly even before the 3 year limit that Honda place….have a read of Fahad’s experience here post dated Apr 25 2009, 11:35 PM. The imrovements with this can be quite dramatic!
So that’s it….point made, your REAR brakes are JUST AS IMPORTANT as your front…so keep them clean and they’ll return the favour
