'91 CRX Si drilled rotors/caliper problem

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jeithorpe

New Member
I have a '91 CRX Si with aftermarket, drilled rotors with EBC Greenstuff pads. I bought the car from my Dad last year and he doesn't remember what brand of rotors or calipers are on it or where they were purchased from (upgrade was done 8+ years ago), but says they could be Brembo.
With the drilled rotors (which are about 3x the thickness of stock rotors, I think) it can't possibly have the stock calipers on it, right?
So, how do I find out what calipers are on it so that I can get the correct replacement pads?
The brakes started to make some noise a few days ago and it's getting worse rapidly and I'm also not so sure that the wheel bearings aren't going as well. When upgrading brakes, there wouldn't have been a need to change from stock wheel bearings would there? Is there any such thing as upgrading wheel bearings?
So, how do I figure out what calipers and rotors I have and do I likely still have stock wheel bearings? I just want to make sure everything is done properly.
Thanks for any help you can provide! -J
 
Does it still have the stock wheels and lugs? How do you know that they're 3 times as thick as stock and not stock sized?
 
It does not have the stock wheels. They are MB Wheels, but stock size.
The stock rotors appear in the shop maunal to be about 1/4"-1/3" thick. The current rotors appear to be about 1" thick with the area between the inner and outer paltes being semi-hollow, connecting the two plates by some "ventilation vanes".
 
Sounds normal to me. Why not try putting on the new rotors and pads to see? 1/4" thick rotors would last about 5 seconds.
 
I don't need or have new rotors. And I don't have new pads because I don't know which model to order (see original post). And of course, that still doesn't answer my question about the wheel bearings.
 
There is no real need to change / upgrade the wheel bearings. Most likely they are stock and/or original.

Personally, i think you need to go to autozone or whatnot and purchase a set of rotors and pads (that you CAN return if NOT NEEDED) and make some comparisons.
 
Check the part number on the caliper & go to your local auto parts store.
 
Check the part number on the caliper & go to your local auto parts store.

Thank you PsychoREX!! Thats the kind of intelligent reply I was hoping for. I din't know that there would be a part# on the caliper itself.

As for the local autoparts store, they don't carry the EBC GreenStuff pads, so I'll likely order online.

Thank you for your advice!
 
There is no real need to change / upgrade the wheel bearings. Most likely they are stock and/or original.

Personally, i think you need to go to autozone or whatnot and purchase a set of rotors and pads (that you CAN return if NOT NEEDED) and make some comparisons.

Thanks for the info about the wheel bearings.
 
actually wait, i am wrong. of course you have to replace bad wheel bearings. but ive never seen any upgrades.
 
actually wait, i am wrong. of course you have to replace bad wheel bearings. but ive never seen any upgrades.

Thanks. I knew what you meant. I've never heard of upgrades for wheel bearings either, but I've never had to replace wheel bearings in a Honda before.

Too bad they're not as easy to replace as the bearings in a '71 VW!
 
Sounds normal to me. Why not try putting on the new rotors and pads to see? 1/4" thick rotors would last about 5 seconds.

Ok, to correct my estimate of 1/4", I checked around and discovered that many solid rotors are .325" thick. Many ventilated rotors are 1.355" thick.

By saying that it sounds normal, are you saying that all stock '91 CRX Si rotors are ventilated disks?
 
Ok, to correct my estimate of 1/4", I checked around and discovered that many solid rotors are .325" thick. Many ventilated rotors are 1.355" thick.

By saying that it sounds normal, are you saying that all stock '91 CRX Si rotors are ventilated disks?

The front rotors are. The CRX Si uses ventilated rotors on the front and solid rotors on the rear. Does the picture in your repair manual state whether the rotor shown is a front or rear piece? Or is it obvious from the pics?

You can try looking for part numbers on the calipers like PsychoREX said, but if it's the front ones you're looking at, I'm guessing the rotors are factory-sized...
 
The front rotors are. The CRX Si uses ventilated rotors on the front and solid rotors on the rear. Does the picture in your repair manual state whether the rotor shown is a front or rear piece? Or is it obvious from the pics?

You can try looking for part numbers on the calipers like PsychoREX said, but if it's the front ones you're looking at, I'm guessing the rotors are factory-sized...


Thank you! It really isn't obvious from the pics; they look solid. Bust after some more digging around, it appears that you're correct about the stock rotors being ventilated.

I'll still have to check the calipers, because I know my Dad had something with the brakes/suspension upgraded, but don't know if the rotors are the same size and if the calipers are stock size or not.
Odd that he kept every single receipt from every oil change, repair and adjustment, but we can't find a receipt for the brake upgrade, which at this point is far more important.

Thank you for your help.
 
UPDATE: After getting home and removing the wheels I've learned several things; The calipers appear to be stock Nissin 16CL13V's. The rotors are Brembo but the only numbers on the rotors are : 35 01 B PA And I haven't been able to find out if that's apart #.

Also, the brake pads have more than enough material (1/3"+++) left on them, inside and outside both, that they probably won't need replacing for at least a year or two.

So what's causing the horrible whining metallic sound that seems to be coming from the left front wheel?

Well, the caliper does bind ever-so-slightly in two (180 degree opposite) points on the rotor. So maybe that's causing the noise?

It could be the wheel bearings, but they were replaced at 90,000 miles and it just turned over 130,000 miles. Only 40,000 miles on wheel bearings? I've never had a car's wheel bearings go bad that fast.

(On the other hand, this car appears to have been a total lemon. My Dad, who is very easy on cars and does every little maintenance item at the exact appointed mileage took very good car of this car. And yet, before there were 90,000 miles on it is had seen it's 3rd radiator, 3rd COMPLETE AC system, 3rd full set of CV joints, 2nd alternator, 2nd water pump, 2nd set of tie rod ends, ball joints, etc, etc. I've never had to replace any of those items on any car even once before it hit well over 100,000 miles. What a POS!)

The only other thing I can think of that would be causing the noise is the wheel bearings. They didn't make any noise when I had the car in the air and spun the wheels. So I don't know.

Anyone have any ideas?
 
UPDATE 2/28/2012. As it turns out, the rotor is slightly warped, causing brief and light contact with the brakepad ever 180 degree rotation, causing the noise.

Case closed.
 
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