Tino D'Voe

It may sound crazy, but I have had it with trying to get functional brakes on my '96 3.2 TL.

I have tried two different mechanics in town, I keep having to go back every few months to figure out why the brakes are squeeling, rotors are warping, and fluid leaking.

Last fall, I spent a $1000 on a new master cylinder and new rotors pads, they were squealing since the day I got the car, I took it back twice, they never stopped the noise, and last time they changed something out, wanted another $300 for some more work on these that I think should have been covered under some sort of warranty. So I said I'm not paying a dime, they apparently changed everything back.

I'm pretty sure i've getting hosed, so i want to just start from scratch, and learn how to change the rotors and pads and at least feel like i'm learning something here and not just handing cash over to these shady clowns.

I have done work on my car, basic maintenance, I done a whole head gasket replacement on a mazda 323, so i'm not completely incompetent with basic tools and cars, but I have not touched brakes yet.
I have the 2.5 TL and 3.2 service manuals, I'm wondering if there's any sites or advice on here for getting the job done, any tricks or things to avoid on these cars?

Also, I'm looking at parts, I'm in canada and the websites I've checked here sell mountain and brembo discs, for around $40 each, is there a preference between these brands?
As for pads, I'm seeing a few more options, there's silver sports made in japan, ceramic premiums, akebono, Nissin, NPN. Any recommendations between these?
any other parts i should be ordering? I'm thinking I should change out the fluid as well, as for where to find the slow fluid leak, I have no idea where to start checking.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

vas25tl

check ebay and autopartswarehouse.com for parts, for brake parts I would not go cheap...they're just going to end up giving you a ton of brake dust.

What fluid is leaking?

Tino D'Voe

the only thing is I'm not sure which parts are better than others, the prices are pretty close with the sites i'm checking so thats why I'm wondering about which brands are safe to go with.

I've had to top-up the brake fluid in the master cylinder once every few weeks. Its leaking somewhere for sure.

andrew070489

did you already follow the lines? look real good, i would just get the ceramic brakes, nothing cheap, but reasonable

bigwerm187

yeah i did all the brakes myself... it was a mission to do.. i put all new pads and drilled rotors..lol.. the rear calipers are hard cuz u cant push them in like the front you have to turn the piston back in to make new room for th new pads....

B16crx1

Are you sure you do not have excessive run-out in the front hubs? Unless you drive with your left foot on the brake pedal all the time there is no way to warp rotors in 1,000 miles. It sounds like the new rotors hid the real problem until now. As far as the brakes makeing noise that is caused buy something (brake pads) moving around to much. The noise you hear is vibrations the become audible. I would have someone you trust check the front hubs for run out and when you do replace brake parts make sure you get new shims/noise clips and grease everything that slides or moves with brake lube. Good luck!

B16crx1

If you are leaking fluid that needs to be your first major concern! You should never need to add fluid, if your master cylinder is leaking that can cause pressure issues which could cause a pulse or noise.

Bluish

I have the same make and model you do. I've heard that after-market brake pads can cause squealing. If you've already replaced all the hardware, I would just try new '96 Acura 3.2 TL pads. If you've replaced the rotors with non-Acura/Honda parts, contact the manufacturer and ask them which pads they recommend.

I personally replaced my front calipers and pads ($210 for parts) and my rear calipers and pads ($328 for parts) myself last year. Since it was all new parts, the job was very quick and easy. I found genuine Acura parts on-line. I was going to have the work done, but after getting an expensive estimate I came to the same conclusion you did and decided to fix it myself. I'm now over 200,000 miles and expect the brakes to last for the rest of the vehicle's life. By the way - I still have the factory original rotors.

Go90go

I warped my front rotors after two months of driving. We (UA3s) warp easily because we share the same front rotors as Preludes, while weighing a half ton more. Granted it wasn't only 1K miles driven, but I'm just saying that it's easy to warp ours.

$1000 spent on a master cylinder and brakes? I could've done it for you for half that, including paying someone else to bleed the brakes as I hate doing that myself, haha.

~Cheers~

bigwerm187

yeah my stock rotors were warped to beacuse the old owner never changed then and they were thin as hell wen i to them of......

Tino D'Voe

please dont rub it in...I was working 15 hour days during that time and had no choice, i couldnt even get around town to get more quotes.

As you can understand, i'm pissed and frustrated!!

So.....I'm working my own hours now so I have time for things like this again.

I'm going to start by going through all the lines to see if i can detect a leak. How can I check to see if its the master cylinder causing the problem? I cant seem to find a leak anywhere there.

As for the brakes, I'd still like to just start all over again, get new pads and rotors, make sure i know how to do it myself, and that its done right. Can you recommend a brand or type of pads to match up with the brembo rotors? The most expensive ones listed are the "Akebono Pro-ACT Ceramic w/Shims" for around $100 for the set, i'm assuming that's the left and right wheel? Other should i get these or one of the other sets, Nissin, NPN, for around half that price?

Any more suggestions or links on swapping the pads and rotors out?

Go90go

^ Sorry but I didn't mean for it to come across that way.

Trace the lines, because if the master cylinder is leaking, you should be able to see it in the bay.

~Cheers~

Tino D'Voe

well i've been trying to figure out where this brake fluid is leaking from, with no luck.

So far I cant seem to find anything around the master cylinder, its bone dry. The brake lines under the hood seem to be ok, is the brake fluid part of the ABS system at all? could it be leaking through there?

I've looked at the front left and right calipers with their brake lines, nothing there. I'll check the rear calipers tomorrow.

Any common places i should be checking?


Other than that, I'm still ordering parts for the disc brake/pad swap. Could anyone tell me if the spindle nut on the 3.2 is the same for the front and rear discs? I cant seem to figure this one out cause the 3.2 manual only shows this part for the front suspension, no mention of what to use in the back.

B16crx1

Check the inside for the large vacuum hose that goes into the brake booster. The seal can go bad and your engine can suck in brake fluid. Check the inside of the car where the master bolts to pedal. It can leak on that side to. Is your ABS res going empty?

Tino D'Voe

Found it!! its the left rear caliper. The thing's leaking like crazy. I had someone press the brake while i was watching it and it looks like its coming from somewhere around the top, I'm just going to replace the whole thing, any suggestions from here? I guess i should definitely replace the pads and rotor on this since there's been brake fluid splattering all over it for a while.

B16crx1

Good deal! Is it leaking from where the line bolts to the caliper or is the seal leaking? Either way your right to do pads and rotors i'm sure they are contaminated by now.

When you go to replace it, use something soft like a rag in a pliers or something to pinch line so you don't lose alot of fluid, makes it much easier to bleed.

Ysidro

from my experience, if you want something done right, you have 2 options.
1) do it yourself which is easy on the 3.2 model.
2) if you have the cash and dont care, just bring it to the dealer. its a bit pricey but atleast you can complaint and get some sort of warranty.
I use to have the e-manual, and willing to share but I lost it.
goodluck.

LDH

I was just curious why you even needed to remove the spindle nut?

For compressing the calipers they sell a tool for the front that should cost about $10 and for the rear there is another tool that attaches to your ratchet and cost about $12 to make it easier. For me both tools were well worth the money, but another method would be using a C-clamp with an old pad if you don't feel like buying more stuff.

Changing the front rotors and pads is fairly simple on the 3.2.
1. Remove the rim
2. Remove the 2 screws that hold the rotor in place (Impact screw driver would be good for this)
3. Remove the 2 caliper bolts and place the caliper on a jackstand or put off to the side, so the brake line isn't stressed.
4. Remove brake pads
5. Remove the 2 bolts for the caliper bracket
6. Take a mallet and hit the rotor to break it loose and remove it.
7. Take some brake cleaner and clean out all the loose brake dust that has built up over time.
8. Clean the front and rear of the new rotor with brake cleaner (Becareful to not touch the rear of the rotor). Place the new rotor back on with a lugnut to hold it in place, and put the 2 screws back in.
9. Bolt the caliper bracket back on and clean the rotor just in case you touched it.
10. Clean the front of the brake pads and grease the rear and all the shims. Place the pads on to the bracket.
11. Use the tool or c-clamp to compress the caliper (Open the cap to the master cylinder because fluid will start going back up).
12. slide the caliper back on and bolt up the 2 final bolts.
13. After both sides are done pump the brake pedal until it feels firm and the piston on the caliper applies enough pressure for the pads to not move freely.
14. Then bleed the brakes if it hasn't been done for a long time or reattach the wheels and take it for a test drive.

Tino D'Voe

well....i finished the whole project last week and let's just say...i learned a lot!!

first of all, i'm still alive, already made a trip to whistler and back, my brakes work perfectly, and dead silent!

I ended up replacing my rear left caliper first, bled all my brakes. I drove that around for a while, things were great so I went ahead with the rotors/pads once ups dropped them off.

For some baffling reason, I thought you need to take off the axle nuts based on how it was shown in the acura service manual. I guess they show the spindle nut because the only thing they have on the rotors is in the suspension section of the book. After i took off one rotor with the hub still on i realized the mistake. I torqued it back on at i the recommended torque and punched the corner back in with a drift..not a big disaster.

Now for the rest of the brake job....the rotors came off really easy. all four were just held on by the two screws that i tapped off using an impact screwdriver. I cleaned the new ones with brake cleaner and screwed them back on.

pads were easy too, i made sure the new pads came with shims (for some reason none of my other pads that i had the shop install had shims on them...perhaps why they squeeled all the time and those buttheads never fixed the problem after going back twice!) anyways, i bought some moly paste, put a light coating between the pads and the shims...everything was nice and smooth....except:

a few major disasters i nearly created but thats what makes DIY fun! right?

rear caliper.....you need a tool to turn it....cant push them in. luckily i didnt' blow a seal trying to push it in with a tool i picked up that's designed for only the front calipers....i know, i'm a newbie.

front calipers.....take the lid off the master cylinder before pushing the caliper pistons in! i left mine on, (surprisingly there's zero mention of taking it off when following the acura manual...i think there should be a reminder cause i can see even pros forgetting this step). i found brake fluid all over the place when i was done, and i freaked out thinking i must have blown the master cylinder somewhere. i washed everythign off and it looks ok so far, no leaks so i think it was fluid that just got forced out of the seal of the lid.

caliper bracket bolts.....rear 28ft/lbs, front 80ft/lbs........dont try 80 on the rear, bad.

anyways. i survived that one, now i can figure out brakes, i think i seated them properly and they're running great. the only thing i wish is that they were a bit more responsive when you're pressing lightly on the brake pad...it feels like the brakes kick in a bit late, but they do have way more stopping power than before it seems...not sure what that delay is, maybe someone can explain what the issue is there?

B16crx1

Do you know which pads you got? You can look on the side for what they are "rated" at friction wise. EE or EF or FF something like that. If the are EE that could be why, the letter ratings are for hot and cold friction. The up side is they will be very quiet, the tougher a pad is the louder it will be. Glad you got it all figured out!

Tino D'Voe

I never did notice the rating on the pads...i cant seem to find anything online either.

The pads for the front and rear are Nissin premiums. The front rotors are blank brembos, and mountain for the rear.

Baker831

When it comes to mechanics, if you can't do it yourself, make a friend who can. He will probably charge you close to nothing when compared to sum random dude in a shop.

When you do get repairs done by a guy in a shop. Try to act like you know your shit. Depending how oblivious you are, the mechanic will multiply by 3, to the power of 2, and subtrAct by 10. Do the math and it equals your repair expenses.