warped factory rotors
 

I'm wondering if anyone else has ended up with badly warped front OEM rotors. I have 37k miles on the car and the front rotors are now just about unbearable. Acura tells me the front pads still have some life left, but the rotors are apparently sub par and quite warped. I don't baby the car, but i don't drive hard either. I recall having this problem on my old gen TSX as well and Acura replaced them under warranty. I'm wondering if it's even worth having them replace them this time, if they are just going to warp again. What has other's experience been with the factory front rotors?

mark

The rotors on my 09 were warped. At around 40K miles, I replaced them with OEM rotors and the updated OEM brake pad with the pad spreader springs and have not had any signs of warpage ever since.

I'm just the messenger not the author: http://backfires.caranddriver.com/po...ors-don-t-warp

Get your rotors turned and see if that fixes it.

I have the same problem on my 2010 and my brother has the same problem on his 09 accord

Interesting comments... and 5Acuras, that article may perhaps be exactly the problem. I never had this problem happen on my past non Acura vehicles (mostly VWs). Maybe they just don't do a good job matching pads and rotors. I've noticed after the car is parked during some heavy rains that the brakes are literally fused to the rotors. And the first few miles i drive thereafter i can feel the rust deposits being scraped off. But that doesn't take too long. The other interesting point is that this problem gets MUCH worse in my case when the rotors are hot. After a decent amount of downhill braking it is extremely pronounced. But if I just start driving the car cold, even at high speeds there's only a slight pulsation. I guess I'll see what the boys at Acura are willing to do under warranty.

Mine are warped, I also get a loud metal on metal noise from the right rear wheel when braking. However I'm only at 27k miles and I don't brake brake hard, at least I don't think I do.

Sounds like this is pretty common. Maybe I should skip the OEM warranty support and just buy some aftermarket plain rotors and Hawk HPS like I have on the rear of the car. I'm sure they would perform better and be far less likely to have this problem.

that happens when you put too little brake grease on the slider bolts of the caliper and to the back plate of the pads itself.

adams rotors a good option? or any other suggestions?

'Warpped' rotors seem to be common on some Honda/Acura cars. I assume it is probably the way the rotors interact with the pads that creates these hi/low spots of pad material on the rotors. Like a washboard road if you have ever driven on one. I personally have not had the problem. Before you go having them machined, or replaced, try doing a bed-in procedure first and see if that solves the problem.

If you do choose a mechanical solution I wouldn't waste time getting them turned. If your own personal theory is that the rotors are so thin they are warped by heat, turning them down is only going to make them thinner.

Instead just get some new rotors and pads. No need for expensive cross drilled this, slotted that.... let's face it, this is a grocery getter not a track car. Centric blanks and posi-quiet pads are all that 99% of drivers need. Just bed them in after install.

{My 1,200th post. That only took 8 years, I feel slow lol!!!}

31K miles, and bad pulsation.

Going to dealer to raise hell.

our exclusive double slotting is great at dissipating heat...
this keeps brakes cooer to avoid warping, but also prevent brake fad.
they add bite & help avoid glazing as well.

this and much more can be found on our info/FAQ page, which we urge you to have a look at: www.adamsrotors.com/info

So what do if need to do to fix the metal on metal noise? Everything is factory and I've gotten the oil changed at Acura twice so for....?

I was under the impression that you serviced your own brakes. or have you? have you tried cleaning your brakes recently by spraying brake cleaner onto the calipers? they do dry up the grease if you do.

if you did none of that, i suggest you take the car to the dealer since it could be something else.

I complained that they were warped and had them replaced under warranty for the vehicle. Guess the guy hooked me up in this case.

Mine were warped at 34k had them turned for free by a buddy works good as new. besides the shitty rest of the brakes.

No I haven't touched the brakes, I only have 27k miles on the car.

Youre well within warranty. It's best to have it checked. What i told is based on my experience when I service my brakes. but since you have not, it could be something else.

I've been preaching this (read what's in the link) for years, though I assume it mostly falls on deaf ears. I figure, what the heck, rotors are cheap and most seem intent on replacing them as opposed to actually trying to figure what the problem is. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Common problem on Acuras and Honda models. Once rotors are warped you can get them turned, but will only last a little while before problem returns. Best solution is replacing rotors.

My fronts warped at about 40k miles
 

My fronts warped at 40k miles, Of course it was my fault according to the slime bags at the stealership.

Time to upgrade. I'd highly recommend STOPTECH rotors. On the front of the 2G TSX the rotor is a curved vane application with a power alloy compound. It's a far superior rotor to the factory rotor and to most competitors' rotors as well. We offer a brake package as well for the 2G TSX:

http://store.excelerateperformance.c.../i-466578.aspx

I wanted to follow up on this one...

I finally got a chance to take the car in to Acura. They found that the front rotors were both badly warped. Not deposits or anything, legitimately warped rotors. I have 38k miles on the car. The admitted that this has been a common problem on the 2009/10 TSX and that the rotors and pads are different on newer models. They also admittted that the pads have lots of life left and that rotors are generally expected to last for 2 sets of pads. He said often a TSX should make it to 100k miles before they need new front brakes. They also would not do anything about it under warranty, which is pretty lousy considering everything stated above. I am going to call Acura Corporate before I give up, but I expect that to lead nowhere quickly. It's only brakes, so it's not like it's going to put me in the poor house, but from higher end brands like Acura et al, I expected better support. Anyway, let me know if anyone else has better luck at the dealership with similar mileage.

OK OK, so if the dealer told you it was pad build up, you wouldn't need new rotors, and they couldn't sell them to you (they'd tell you to re-bed the pads). They did tell you that the rotors are warped, so you need new rotors (which they will gladly sell to you and oh, you have to pay for them). Anyone else see a pattern here?

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-su...nd-other-myths

http://www.mossmotors.com/SiteGraphi...ake_discs.html

So your brakes are badly warped and there is nothing they can do but sell you a new set of brakes. I bet they have sold a lot of brake jobs.

Did they propose to use the new parts from the current TSX? Or the parts meant for your car?

Did you try to do the bed-in procedure? It's free and may solve the problem. If not then go with replacement parts and do the job yourself. It is not that hard.

So the rear inner brake pads needed to be replaced. The squeak was a clip that's apparently made to scrape the rotor before the entire brake pad gets worn down to metal.

That wear tab is meant to indicate the pads need replacing, not just the inner pad with the wear tab. All the pads on both sides. Only one side of the car has the wear tab if I remember correctly.

pretty sure both sides have it just in case one side wears out before the other which doesn't happen often.

A little advice needed, all
Mine is TSX 2010, it's at 38.5K, up to now no pulsation, no vibration when brake and no metal squeak, the rotor surfaces are still smooth without any groove so no warping yet, I assume but I don't know how long it would last. Does any way (any tool) to check the thickness of it?
Also, since they haven't warped yet, I'll try to replace just the pads (front pads). Do you guys think it's a good idea or just a waste of time? Does any way or any indication that the pads need to be replaced? like how many more miles will it get before completely done?
TIA

Another followup...

I spent some time on the phone with Acura customer care. They basically told me to go f**k myself. But they did admit that they have changed the pads since the ones I have. They claim it was due to premature wear, mostly on the back breaks (so if you need new rear pads before say 30k miles, fight on this point), but I am guessing there was just an incompatibility between the pads and rotors they chose. I very nicely complained more to several more people and eventually the service manager at the dealer said they would replace the front brakes with no labor. I offered that I would actually prefer other pads/rotors besides Acura OEM. Hopefully I won't regret this decision since they can't guarantee the aftermarket stuff. Anyway, the final conclusion is that I am going to take them Centric Plains and Hawk HPS pads and they are going to put them on for free. Could be worse I guess.

Hopefully I won't see the problem again... Or at least not for another 40k miles or so ;)

Who out there is running Centric Plains and Hawk HPS on the fronts? Anyone? I'd especially like to hear how they are holding up after 15k+ miles on them...

I feel a slight pulsating starting and only hit 20k but I bought it with 19k ..car is still under warranty should I waste my time on a trip to the dealer?

Cu2Suspect, If I were you I would try. I think I could have won the argument if I had gone in at 20k miles... Let us know how it turns out.

Yeah only drove about 1k miles since I've owned it, it's weird cuz sometimes it's more noticeable then others,

Same here, that's what happens to me not always have the same pulsation. But I'm taking mine in and will keep you guys posted

My brakes have started to pulsate a bit. I doubt the dealer will replace the rotors even though the car is still under warranty. Will probably get my rotors turned elsewhere....

Guys, it was heat related for me. If I was doing a lot of downhill braking they would heat up and get MUCH worse. I honestly think they just have a mismatch with their pads and rotors that put too much stress on the rotors causing them to heat up too much. It sounds like it's happening for a lot of folks and on a car of this caliber it shouldn't be happening at all. I drove two VWs that had much better brake longevity than my two TSXs. And I drive pretty conservatively. No hard braking at all really. One thing I have noted is that this all started after my car had been parked for a week at the airport. It rained a lot while I was away and when I drove out of the airport the pads were literally rusted to the rotors. When I drove for the first few miles the braking felt awful. I don't think the rust deposits wore off evenly and since then the problem has been happening.

Let me know what happens kind of sad that this car only has 20k and needs brake work... :(

I have an appointment for Monday 14th. They will take a look at the shocks/struts since they are making some weird noises.
I'll make sure to mentiont he brakes too