lokee99

iTrader: (3)

Okay so I got tired of trying to figure it out. I said Acura couldn't charge me more than 500 to get me going. Soooo i went in today and they said its 95 bucks to check and see what the problem was and if they find it, then the 95 would go to the cost of repair. After an hour or so they came to me with the bracket that holds the brake pads. Apparently while i was out to sea my ex had my brake pads done by some guy. And that bracket had a stripped helicoil. the bolt was just barely hanging on and he said it was bouncing. Not only that the front left caliper was stuck tight on the rotor... AND the rotors were warped(i knew that), And the pads were bad all the way around. All my tie rod and joints were good though. So I got all that fixed some new tires put on, and alignment and balance. tires I had allready purchased. It came to about 850 bucks. A lot more than expected . So a combination of the stuck caliper and loose brake pad bracket was apparently my problem. I gotta say she never drove so smooth. Dont know if 850 bucks worth of smooth but i like it. Might be possible in others cases.

bibledriver

Deduct the cost of the tires, and the fact that you would have wasted those tires had you not fixed it, and I say it was well worth it

01tl4tl

Did you replace the caliper that was stuck? there are some other concerns to be addressed if it was non operational
or was it just blasted on so tight with an air gun that nothing could slide?
Spec is less than 60 foot pounds on the bracket bolts- and near 40 for the smaller -caliper to bracket bolts.
DISCLAIMER Exact specs not given here- as it may vary with year- so do your own research online- no liabilty on my part for your choices and actions`

TLs I have checked that just came from dealer rape jobs- I mean brake jobs,
had 132 foot pounds on every bolt from the wheel lugs (spec 80) to the bracket bolts---- not good~ well except the upper caliper to bracket bolt- it was missing entirely- so I guess they put the other one on extra tight to make sure the caliper wouldnt flop around and vibrate, come flying off at a bad moment

There is a `known issue` on the TL (my personal experience) when the brake fluid does not get changed like it should- moisture gets in (google hygroscopic) and gets compressed and pushed to the caliper- where it becomes micro sized rust particles than can get stuck or damage the oring-oil seal for the caliper piston. Rust bad for ABS controller too.

Brake fluid should be changed starting at year 3 of the cars life- then every year after that, forever. Its an easy DIY job and 6 bucks of fluid- for the good stuff, the great stuff is $15

01tl4tl

I had several brake issues that took a while to figure out how many parts needed to be replaced (most of them) and could not fix an ongoing steering wheel shake on braking.

Just recently cured it!!!! and the value of the wife saying- oh the car stops so smooth now!
and me not having to grip the wheel and use race braking effort to avoid shake getting off freeway...thats a dollar value you cant even begin to assign... IM-neverhumble-O

Now I am back to testing which front pads are better on the TL--- HPS, ET300, ET500

1st timer

what was the problem that cause the steering wheel to shake?

Edward'TLS

$850 is nothing when you're putting yours' or others' life at risk. There is nothing more important than good tires and a fully functional brake system. A faulty brake system can have serious consequences. It's good that you fix it before anything bad can happen.

Tommy99TL

My steering wheel is shaking during brake too. But the weird thing that make me assumed that it'snot the rotors is because this is just an intermit problem, more likely only after 15min of driving on the street or hwy. The ball joints were leak on both side at this moment so I hope this must be the suspect of shaking stuff. Parts are ordered and I'm currently waitting for the UPS man ring the bell.

lokee99

iTrader: (3)

Same issue I was having.

The tires I had still had some time on them. Just figured that I would just get it done since I was already doing this.

The tires Price was not included. If you add that then it would have been 1050. I had ordered some AVID V4s

lokee99

iTrader: (3)

He said it was all torqued too high so he did it within specs plus that is where i was getting the pull from. Now no pull.

Tommy99TL

My 4 tires are only 3 motnhs old. Brake fluid had been changed not long ago (It looks good when bleeding brake fluid at 4 cornners). Now it could be the calibers that may get stuck once a while but it's too early to tell as I have to fix the ball joints first.

drcookie

$850 to identify and fix your long lasting issue .... well worth it.

lokee99

iTrader: (3)

Yea your right. I've been enjoying the smooth ride. Plus I AVID V4's are nice. The tech there said you got some pretty tires but they dont last as long as the stock which is the Michilen i believe.

01tl4tl

the stock tires dont grip very well - they just last longer because the rubber is harder
Its all relative to how you drive and what you want from the tires

lokee99

iTrader: (3)

Well I love the AVID V4's.

NighthawkBlack

I have never had issues like that and I torque everything to spec when I work on my ride and even torque in order something many mechanics neglect. Gaskets and screws/bolts can only handle certain torque, getting them off when overtorqed can cause them to break leading to more prolblems. Overtorqing can change the orientation of something even so slight that it causes issues as you have seen. I think every dealer should be forced to torque stuff. I learned a long time ago that older cars in Japan cost way too much to fix, I also realized they follow proceedures to the tee at dealers there. With that said I see labor wise why it costs so much but they dont replace things and guess this is your issue, if you factor in the wasted time and money, its a bigger arguement to follow the service manuals explicitly. Glad you found your fix.

fsttyms1

Torque Wrenches are a must and so is torquing things properly