Hi everyone. I'm working on the front brakes of my wife's 1990 civic dx (stock) and have a few questions. I have searched the forums without much luck.....

First off i have found a service manual and have been using it. Front driver side was making a dragging sound. Popped off the wheel and took the bottom bolt out of the caliper. Swung the caliper up and removed the pads. The inside pad had just hit metal at the top edge. I was surprised to see the pads did not have the squeelers on them that i am familiar with.

Anyhow my question pertains to the rotors. The manual states that i should check the run out, thickness, and parallelism....if needed refinish the rotor with an on car brake lathe. Wouldn't it be cheaper to replace the rotors if needed? Also the manual doesn't go into replacing the rotors that i can find. It looks like i remove one bolt top and bottom on the caliper to get it out from around the rotor, then remove two philips head screws in the rotor and knock it off the hub to remove?

Can anyone comment on the rotor removal? Sound like i'm on the right track? If i pull the rotors can they be checked at an autoparts store? I know they could do thickness and parallelism but not sure about run out. Fortunately the rotor doesn't look gouged, but i may replace them while i have everything apart.

Seems like someone would have done a write up on this......i have honestly searched but haven't found much. Maybe i'm using the wrong key words.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Ideas or not, it is getting torn apart and fixed.

Thanks!
RC

 

I would get them resurfaced/turned either way, mainly because the brakes had worn all the way down to where the metal was hitting the rotor.

 

When pads have worn down to the metal, new rotors are almost always necessary. They are not very expensive; it is almost cheaper to replace them than to try to resurface.

To replace the rotor you'll need to take the caliper bracket off by removing the two large bolts on the inside side. Also remove the two Philips flat head screws holding the rotor to the hub. If those screws get torn up during removal you don't need to put them back. They're mostly to keep the rotor from falling off on the assembly line. In normal operation, the lug nuts will hold the rotor on.

Also new rotors usually have a coating on them to prevent rusting during storage. Before installing, use brake cleaner to remove this coating from the surfaces that the pads touch.

 

I have had my auto zone rotors for about a year and a half now, and haven't had a single problem with them. I believe they were 40 bucks or something.

A machine shop would be able to check all that stuff you mentioned, but like mk and destruction said, may as well replace them.

speaking from experience on an EF, those two screws game me a lot of issues. Mine were stripped from when i bought the car. Just know they might put up a little bit of a fight to get out.

also, i know that my haynes manual has had very great write ups on breaks in the ef. It has guided me through replacing almost everything so if you need extra help, that would be a 15 dollars well spent.

 

+1 to the replacing rather than resurface...

I even own a machine shop and recommend replacing, a while back, it was cheaper to machine them down, but Honda rotors are cheap to replace. There is a good chance that your rotors are warped because you said they are wearing unevenly. Some special instances, the damage is to much to fix. I would ask around for prices to turn the rotors. If you take them off, it wouldn't take but maybe 5-10mins to resurface. If that's what you want to do.