Do the rotors need to be resurfaced or re-machined when you are changing the brakes or is this only necessary to a certain spec of the rotor?

 

yes whenever you replace the pads the rotors should be turned. many autoparts store with do this for $10-15 per rotor

 

I would strongly, strongly advise against cutting your rotors with any Honda product. Buy replacement rotors and replace the whole thing. I know there will be people here who will disagree with me, but I whole-heartedly believe it is so much better to replace than machine and face possible warped rotors. I had problem after problem both on our Civic and then on our Accord with warping and after replacing the rotor with a Brembo repalcement, I've had smooth sailing.

 

Asuming your rotors are in decent shape, if you are just changing pads you can simple scuff the rotor surface with a 3M disk.

Be sure to properly burnish you brakes to bed the pads and maximize your stopping power.

-SWRT

 

Ya this will be the first time i change my pads but i hear that its not necessary and some say it is but i guess it would be a better bet to re-machine or resurface them thanks

 

I think you are a little confused.
You SHOULD machine the rotors when you get new pads if the rotors aren't warped. Since the previous set of pads will not wear against the previous rotor perfectly evenly, the rotors do need to be resurfaced when you install the new pads. That gives both the rotor and new pads a new surface to start with.
If the rotor is not warped before you machine them, you will be fine afterwards because all you are doing is smoothing out the surface.

Now on the other hand if your rotors are already warped, machining them is a bad idea because they are already warped and have hotspots. Although the surface is flattened out again the hotspots will still remain and the rotors will warp again in the same spot. Also, if the rotor is already warped and you machine it, the rotor will become thinner and will warp again even quicker this time.

So... cliffnotes: machine when getting new pads, replace when warped.

 

, I'm not confused. I'm saying that maching causes warping. Taking metal off of the rotors makes them thinner. As the brakes are used during driving and get hot, they are apt to warping if splashed, etc.

, anytime you replace pad, you either need to machine the rotors or replace so that the new pad is seated properly into the rotor surface. I know that. My point is that I prefer to simply replace the whole rotor in lieu of "cutting" or machining.

 

That depends on how much you take off.
If the rotor is not warped and you are simply smoothing out the surface because the pads didn't wear the rotors evenly... you are barely taking anything off. I mean... BARELY anything.
It also depends on the skill of a person doing the machining. If they are inexperienced and take more than neccessary off... you will probably warp the rotor really soon.

The only cars you have to change rotors out with the pads are German cars. Their rotors are designed with a really soft metal.

 

You guys are both somewhat mistaken and basing things on a persception more than facts. First, Rotors do not have to be replaced or turned [on a brake lathe] when changing pads. If the rotor doesn't show significant wear (grooving, lips on the outter edges, etc) then its an unneccessary process. What you should do was mentioned above, scuff the rotor surface with sandpaper.

Second, warpage is not nearly as common as the TSX owners here make it to be. This is typically pad material transfer and can be solved with the same scuffing action. Finally, once a rotor is below the specs is the only reason to replace it but honestly an Autozone rotor is as good as most others and pretty cheap. Compared to the hassle of turning I always just changed my rotors with Autozone rotors for my Type-R.

To the original poster, take SWRT's advice and you will be fine.

 

Pads will wear in to the rotor and vice versa.

 

perhaps this info is relevent to this discussion.

http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/...otors_myth.htm

 

Yeah, I've read that stoptech info before, but I'm sorry..a large number of people who've owned more than one Honda product can attest to rotor problems and I don't think that all cases can be contributed to improper seating as Stoptech suggests. How can I not see that when I had my rotors turned (from several different shops) they all warped, but once I figured out that I could repalce them, the problem stopped? I go with what works. We could go around and around all day about this, I'm just saying that, like the gentleman who posted above, rather than deal with machining (cutting, turning, whatever you want to call it) I choose to replace when necessary and often offer that advice to fellow Honda owners. As a side note, the Autozone replacement rotors are actually more expensive than the Brembo replacement rotors as purchased from tirerack.com.