changing breaks

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dreded90crxsi

Senior Member
I don't really know much about changing break on any car. I know I need new pads all around. My question is do I need to bleed the breaks if I'm just changing the pads? Also do I have to have the rotors resurfaced? I appreciate any help I can get, and I need some help with this soon. My breaks are almost gone.
 
if you don't open the lines, you don't TECHNICALLY have to bleed them...
but, since you need to open the master cyl, and then press the piston of the caliper back in to accomdate the now thicker pad, its a good idea.... but may NOT need to be done. before you go anywhere, after you put the new pads on, give the pedal a couple pumps with the car on... then with steady pressure, gradually give it more pressure. if it drops to the floor easy, bleed it. if its still firm,y ou should be ok- but double check it in your neighborhood before going to far.

you don't HAVE to get the rotors re-surfaced, but it makes putting new pads on pretty worthless.

and, dude, its "Brakes"
 
yea, if you put new pads on, you either need to get new rotors, or have your old ones turned. Your old pads and rotors eventually get little grooves and inperfections in them. When you put new pads onto your old rotors, those little grooves and inperfections transfers onto your pads and basicly turn into thick shitty copys of your old pads.


Since your doing them all the way around, It would be a good time to completely change your fluid. Do this by just bleeding, and when the fluid starts to come out clear, then your done with that side. It takes a while, but it is worth it.


Also, if this is your first brake job, I garentee your going to have problems with the little screw on the rotors. To remove them intact, your going to need an impact driver. However, the screws are not needed, since the reason why they are on there, is because, when the car is assembled, the wheel is put on basicly during the final stages, but the other parts are put on earlier. To keep the thing aligned, they put the screws one. They are just there for the assembly line. Just use a drill and drill the screws out.
 
Just get a C clamp and when you take your old brakes off, use the c clamp to compress the brake caliper piston back into the caliper, then install your new pads and your set. If you decide to replace your calipers, you can get some @ autozone for like $19/each, and they work great !!! Also, if you booger up the screws when your trying to take off the existing rotors, goto a tool shop and ask them for something to take out boogered screws, they will most likely show you this $10 part with 4 different tap looking things. You just tap them into the screw and once they are in there good and tight, you use a monkey wrench adjusted to it and turn them out.
 
Just thought of something, not sure if it matters but my car is a 90 crx si. I checked at auto zone to see how much it would cost me for all pads and rotors and it came out to $125. Is there anything else I might need to do a brake job myself? I haven't done one before so I don't really know anything on this subject like how to bleed the brakes. Also about how long do you think this might take me to do? I have all of sunday afternoon and monday morning to work on this. For tools I have a socket set and a combo wrench set. Are there any other tools that I will need? If someone can give me a link for how to do this that would be great or if someone lives close to Port Saint Lucie Florida that might be able to help me that would be cool too.

edit: If I do the work my self I won't have to pay the shop $400 for the whole thing so maybe I could upgrade my brakes. Anyone got any suggestions on cross drilled rotors and pads? Also thanks for all your help.
 
Originally posted by dreded90crxsi@Jun 26 2004, 05:47 PM
Just thought of something, not sure if it matters but my car is a 90 crx si. I checked at auto zone to see how much it would cost me for all pads and rotors and it came out to $125. Is there anything else I might need to do a brake job myself? I haven't done one before so I don't really know anything on this subject like how to bleed the brakes. Also about how long do you think this might take me to do? I have all of sunday afternoon and monday morning to work on this. For tools I have a socket set and a combo wrench set. Are there any other tools that I will need? If someone can give me a link for how to do this that would be great or if someone lives close to Port Saint Lucie Florida that might be able to help me that would be cool too.

edit: If I do the work my self I won't have to pay the shop $400 for the whole thing so maybe I could upgrade my brakes. Anyone got any suggestions on cross drilled rotors and pads? Also thanks for all your help.

You don't want to half ass your brakes. Have a friend give you a hand. Just about everyone knows how to replace brake pads. If your rotors are grooved bad, buy new ones. It's cheaper to buy new blanks(on my car) than to have them turned. Don't buy cross drilled or slotted rotors, they're a waste of money. Buy new blanks, and hawk HPS pads. My front pads were $52 from www.tirerack.com I have drums in the rear, and no performance shoes were available, so regular bendix shoes were installed.

Don't get the pads, shoes, or the friction surface greasy. If you do, then clean them with brake cleaner. Also, follow the directions for breaking in the new pads.

If you can't do this, or get help, then you should take the car to the shop, or pay a friend. Buy a chiltons manual.
 
Chiltons manuals suck. Get a Helms.

One of the tools you might want to pick up is a brake piston compressor. They're about 5 bucks at AutoZone, and they can really speed up your pad installation. You use them to push the piston back into the caliper. Since you have a 90 CRX Si, you'll also have to use a large screwdriver or something else to get the pistons back in on the rear calipers. Those pistons have to turn to be pushed back in.

A manual impact screwdriver is definitely very helpful too.
 
Tab why are cross drilled and slotted a waste of money? I was thinking about getting a set of cross drilled rotors but if you or someone else can give a good reason why it's a bad idea I'll just go with some regulars. Again thanks for all your help. I need to get this done tomorrow.
 
Can't go wrong with a hammer. I used it to bang the screwdriver in the screw on the rotor.
 
Originally posted by dreded90crxsi@Jun 27 2004, 08:24 PM
Tab why are cross drilled and slotted a waste of money? I was thinking about getting a set of cross drilled rotors but if you or someone else can give a good reason why it's a bad idea I'll just go with some regulars. Again thanks for all your help. I need to get this done tomorrow.

Originally they were drilled and slotted because old brake pads produced gasses under preasure, which would create a layer of gas between the pad and the rotor, effectivly destroying your braking power. However, new pads don't do this (well, they do a little, but not much) so theres no need.

So:

When talking brakes, more surface area (contact between pad and rotor) = more braking power. When you drill or slott rotors, it decreases this SA, and makes for less powerful brakes.
 
The surface area thing makes sense. I thought the reason for slotted and cross drilled rotors were to create spots that would grab the pads better to give better brake response. I also herd that cross drilled help to keep the rotors cooler because hot brakes don't grab as well. I guess I'll probably just get some regular rotors and see what the best pads I can get tomorrow are. I gotta get my car back on the road again. I get to borrow my mom's caddy tomorrow if I can't change the brakes myself before going to work, but then only have the next morning to finish before I have no vehicle to borrow. Thanks again for all your help everyone.
 
Originally posted by Blanco+Jun 28 2004, 09:59 AM-->
dreded90crxsi
@Jun 28 2004, 02:06 AM
The surface area thing makes sense. I thought the reason for slotted and cross drilled rotors were to create spots that would grab the pads better to give better brake response. I also herd that cross drilled help to keep the rotors cooler because hot brakes don't grab as well. I guess I'll probably just get some regular rotors and see what the best pads I can get tomorrow are. I gotta get my car back on the road again. I get to borrow my mom's caddy tomorrow if I can't change the brakes myself before going to work, but then only have the next morning to finish before I have no vehicle to borrow. Thanks again for all your help everyone.

Cross drilled rotors are also weaker and have a tendency to crack. You don't need slotted unless you're pushing a buttload of power. People run OEM replacement rotors at AutoCross events just fine.

hell, people in road racing series like hondachallenge use oem replacements.
 
Whenever i changed my brakes this past fall, i installed the Brembo OEM replacement rotors and AEM pads....are Hawk pads better then AEM?
 
good cross drilled rotors dont "tend to crack." A little less surface area and alot more heat dissapation to make up for it. Youll have better braking power when your brakes are hot.
dreded90crxsi get what you think will make a differance, a lot of these ppl look at a product and make their own judgements based on what would seem like commen sense to them. bottom line, less heat better braking, it makes up for your lol lost surface area more than 1x over.
this board is all about speculation nowadays. Thank god theres still Honda-Tech.com...
 
I'm gonna be doing my brakes today, got a friend to help me with it too. I think I'm gonna go to the local speed shop and see what they have for pads in stock and just get some oem rotors for now. I don't wanna buy much from the speed shop because they over charge too much. For a cai shipped from almost any site on the net is about $70 cheaper then buying from them. I need pads now though. Thanks everyone for all your help.
 
Originally posted by H22AdelSol@Jun 29 2004, 05:37 AM
good cross drilled rotors dont "tend to crack." A little less surface area and alot more heat dissapation to make up for it. Youll have better braking power when your brakes are hot.
dreded90crxsi get what you think will make a differance, a lot of these ppl look at a product and make their own judgements based on what would seem like commen sense to them. bottom line, less heat better braking, it makes up for your lol lost surface area more than 1x over.
this board is all about speculation nowadays. Thank god theres still Honda-Tech.com...

yea really? Go over to the road racing forum and see how many of them recomend blank rotors. Almost all of them. Those are the guys that matters. Honda-tech has GREAT forums, and they have some bad ones.

True cross drilled rotors that are used on lets say the Porsche Carrea GT, are actualy not really cross drilled at all. Because drilling into a set of rotors DOES do damage to them, the holes are produced when they are forged. The shitty ass rotors you see on ebay are blank brembro's that are then bought by a diffrent company, then drilled. When they are drilled, the vibrations from the process produces micro cracks around the holes. After hard use, these cracks get bigger.
 
Originally posted by H22AdelSol@Jun 29 2004, 01:37 AM
good cross drilled rotors dont "tend to crack." A little less surface area and alot more heat dissapation to make up for it. Youll have better braking power when your brakes are hot.
dreded90crxsi get what you think will make a differance, a lot of these ppl look at a product and make their own judgements based on what would seem like commen sense to them. bottom line, less heat better braking, it makes up for your lol lost surface area more than 1x over.
this board is all about speculation nowadays. Thank god theres still Honda-Tech.com...

uhh, hey buddy. the cross drilling in rotors is not to dissipate heat, that is what the vanes inside the rotor are for. the only reason rotors are cross drilled is to decrease the mass(weight) of the rotor. slots in slotted rotors are to dissipate gasses or keep the pads from glazing (which i have not experienced even on road courses, so you wont have a problem with glazing or trapped gasses when street driving). this not speculation, its actual experience.
here is a quote taken from stoptechs web site.
DRILLED VS SLOTTED ROTORS

For many years most racing rotors were drilled. There were two reasons - the holes gave the "fireband" boundary layer of gasses and particulate matter someplace to go and the edges of the holes gave the pad a better "bite".


Unfortunately the drilled holes also reduced the thermal capacity of the discs and served as very effective "stress raisers" significantly decreasing disc life. Improvements in friction materials have pretty much made the drilled rotor a thing of the past in racing. Most racing rotors currently feature a series of tangential slots or channels that serve the same purpose without the attendant disadvantages.

http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/brake_...ions_122701.htm

i suggest you read the whole article and learn a thing or two about brakes, hell you'll find people on your beloved honda-tech saying the same thing... drop in the autox/road racing forum, those guys know what they're talking about in there.
 
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