Un-Kut

i met a service dept guy that goes on this forum and he says that resurfacing the rotor should make the rotor be perfectly fine until the life of the car, what i heard from this forum is that it is more of a temporary fix... so which one is it?

Eeyore

Based on what other people on this board have experienced, if you can afford it you should buy aftermarket rotors and swap out the factory ones. Get new pads at the same time (duh). You will probably be much happier with this in the long run.

A lot depends on how you use your brakes. I think some people warp rotors a lot quicker than others do just due to their driving/braking style.

paranode

It should be fine for the life of the rotor but not the car.

Un-Kut

hmm why should brake pads be changed out if the rotors are changed also?

exexexex

since if the rotors are having uneven surfaces and need to be machined,the brake pads are like to be uneven as well.

Othello

I had the rotors resurfaced by acura when I bought the car, few months later I felt vibrations again so they ended up replacing them with new ones. So if you have a choice, get new ones as opposed to resurface.

glott

they replaced my rotors and pads completely under warranty, no resurfacing

Alin10123

Resurfacing the rotors will make the rotors thinner. As a result they wont dissapate the heat as well which is probably which caused the vibration in the long run in the first place.
I would take this opportunity and just upgrade if the dealer wont replace them. My local dealer replaced mine no questions asked when i had vibration.

jlukja

Who is the service dept. guy who goes on this forum?

jlukja, who also gets his TSX serviced at Acura of Cerritos.

Un-Kut

sweet, came back and got my rotors replaced and pads replaced:bowdown:

n o o d l z

Resurfacing is just shaving the surface off the rotor to make it even again...if he really said its good for the life of the car he's an idiot. Be glad you got them replaced...

Alin10123

peter_bigblock

Unless there's a LOT of pad left on the used ones, it makes no sense to put old wear items back onto a car. Plus, the aftermarket pads are purportedly better.

Un-Kut

i hear aftermarket pads eat up rotors if the quality is shit

fuckleberry

who is that guy on this forum ?

rb1

Honda rotors should never be resurfaced. They'll just warp again faster than they did the first time. They should be replaced.

I had an 88 Integra that got 120,000 miles on a set of rotors after I got the dealership to quit turning them, even when new pads were installed.

Howard911s

1) depend on how u drive, brake more gentle it will prolonge life of rotor

2) dont wash car and spray your rotor with cold water immediately after long drive where rotor are HOT! that will make your rotor prone to warping.

3) my 94 integra never needed resurfacing for 100K miles, 97 3.0 CL never needed resurfacing, 2001 CL-S needed resurfacing every 10K miles... mh 04 TSX 29000 miles now, so far so good, havent even changed brake pad yet.... depend on the car.. and the rotor....you just never know...

Alin10123

One last thing, overtorqueing of the lugs on the wheels can cause warping too. Be sure you retorque your wheels lugs when you get home to 80lbs.

Tsx536

For those that got their rotors and pads replaced under warranty, how many miles did you have?

RMATIC09

yes, id like to know that also. Ive had my pads replaced once,they were running thin and the brakes almost effected the rotors if i hadent caught it in time.

The only vibrations i have when braking id assume is from a slight bend in the stock rim, however at times, i feel a more sudden jerking, when braking, (very rare, happens time to time), the only thing that worries me about that is becuase my friends 93'' caddilac jerked like crazy whenever he braked, and a few days later, the rotors had melted.

Im sure its nothing like that, but always nice to have a heads up.

Black_6spd

Can you share your experience w/ the service department at Cerritos Acura? The only local comparisons I could make are between Canyon Acura and Tustin. Out of those 2, I'd say Weir Canyon takes it by a landslide. The guys at Tustin just were downright shady.

Un-Kut

Cerritos Acura service dept. is a car owners dream, anything thats under warranty, they will cover with NO QUESTIONS asked and with a smile......

jlukja

I have to agree. They've been very good to deal with. I've been taking my Acuras (91 Integra & 04 TSX) for 15 years.

TSX420J

have the same prob but i got a good amount of shakes and only 11,900 miles.
ive braked really hard like about 10 times if that any use to ya'll.. if i upgrade to cross drilled and sloted rotors, stainless steel brake lines and better pads will it increase my braking capabilities or is it just for looks? i also want to change the caliper but not right now..i would like to go brembo big brake kit but way too much money for me to spend right now, even rotora's is too pricey for me now..

Tsx536

I called up Acura of Stockton and they said that brakes are wear items and they wouldn't cover them. I have 40K miles though. Has anyone with that high of mileage still been able to get the dealer to replace there rotors under warranty?

kboosman00

I've had my rotors resurfaced twice already. The last time was at 29,000 mi right now I'm at 40k and it looks as though its coming back . So to alleviate this I will be replacing them next week with U.P. Racing Brake rotors w/ hawk pads from Marcus (of Heeltoe Auto)

II TSX II

I initially had my rotors resurfaced and pads replaced at around 21.7k miles under warranty. Second time I had rotor problems was around 39k miles. Dealer said they usually perform warranty repairs the first time around... but said they'd see what they could do. When I came back to pick up the car and return the loaner, found that they replaced the rotors and only charged me for the oil change. I know I'll be paying for the next rotor replacement. Looks like rotors only last ~20k with my driving.

Black_6spd

Honda's brake designs have been notorious for being VERY unforgiving when re-surfacing. The tolerance for parallelism is very tight that many brake lathes cannot meet the spec. To make matter worse, very few mechanics know how to inspect for the tolerance.

Still Water

Define "parallelism". Also what is it that they don't do right when checking for tolerances?

Black_6spd

Parallelism is the allowed width variation in relation to a datum surface. Parallelism in brake rotor terms is the variation between the back seating surface and the face of the rotor facing the wheel. It can be inspected a number of ways. The quick and dirty way is to check several points on the rotor surface with a micrometer. If the difference between readings exceed Honda's tolerance, its out of spec and will eventually make the brakes pulse.

Still Water

Thanks for the reply.

Do you why Honda rotors have been said to be more strict as too a narrower tolerance range and as some have stated, do not "turn" well with respect to any mid-to-long term fixes? I guess what I'm thinking is probably shared by many others here in that why go through all the time & bother of f'ing with a warped rotor when a better option would be just to upgrade from the OEM's to a more stable rotor and be done with it. I've been down that "pain in the butt, waste of time" we'll fix it for you, blah, blah route before. I'd rather just cut to the chase.

I'm thinking that while my TSX is still under warranty I'll just hold in reserve a set of Hawk pads for replacement when needed and look to do the same with a better rotor option. BTW, has anyone heard of or had a similar problem with their rear rotors?

Black_6spd

I don't know the exact reason -- I only suspect that their design stack up tolerances from the other brake components places a heavy burden on the rotors. I think my Integra called for .0005 for parallelism. While not a tall order for a Honda manufacturing facility or supplier, the good ol' garage often don't maintain their inspection or lathes well.

I forgot to mention: One possible remedy is to simply machine the rotor while still mounted to the axle. This method seems to compensate for the stack up tolerances between the rotor and the back seating surface. This worked well for my Integra after I got frustrated that many shops' brake lathes were sloppy. I ended up forking up a pretty penny, but it paid dividends in the end. I never had to resurface again and kept my car for another 100k miles.

If I ever need resurfacing again, I'll probaly opt for this option again.

Still Water

My thoughts exactly as to the "on the axle" option. I'm thinking a good use of this site would be to compile from the members based on their experiences, the best route to take when presented with a warped rotor. Kind of a theory v. reality, dealer v. what's in your best interest road map to fixing an all too common problem. As for me I'd just as soon fix it right the first time as to jimmy-jacking around listening to bad advice and/or trying to save a few bucks.

Thanks again for your comments.

Black_6spd

Another thing -- I just noticed another flaw in this whole warped rotor issue. I made a mistake above when mentioning one of the common inspection methods. DO NOT use that method. Many micrometers are not capable of measuring to the ten thousandth (.0001). The common accuracy associated with a micrometer is +/- .0005. I didn't notice my error until I realized what the parallelism spec was.

A dial indicator or CMM is capable of measuring with more accuracy and precision.