I just took my '05 6MT in for a state inspection after sitting most of the summer without being used and the rear brakes failed to pass. This will be the second time I have had to replace brakes and the car only has 43k miles on it.

For the most part the TL doesn't get used during summers and I understand that sitting not in use may shorten the life of the brakes somewhat due to rusting but this seems ridiculous. Fronts still have 25+% life left and have never been replaced.

Is this normal? Is there anything I should be looking at with the car that could be causing excessive wear? Is there a type of pad and rotor that will hold up better then the Acura ones? Is sitting for months without being driven on a gravel driveway killing my brakes?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

Unusual as the rears do minimal amount of braking when compared to the fronts. Are they worn evenly down to the backing or on an angle/ tapered? Both rears worn similar, or is one side or one pad worn more than the other? Sliders can become tight or frozen and not allow the caliper to be positioned properly resulting in uneven wear.
Just replaced the rear pads on a Maxima, 3 were like new, but the inboard passenger pad was worn on and heavy angle as one of the sliders froze and cocked the caliper.

 

Yes, very unusual for the rear brake pads to wear before the front. What exactly did they not pass for? How much material was left on the pads? (They should have told you this). Was it both sides or just one?

You may have a bad/sticking caliper/s. When your car sits, is it in a garage or covered parking?

 

I didn't look at both sides. I trusted the mechanic that they were shot and did not investigate it further at that point knowing that I would look at them closer before I made any decision.

Mechanic said that they were just about worn down to the metal. He didn't measure them it was purely visual.

Unfortunately the garage is full of other stuff so it sits outside uncovered on a gravel/dirt driveway.

 

In that case, I'd get a second opinion or check them yourself. Most brake shops will do an inspection for free. Have them show you the pads while they have the wheels off. Service limit is 1.6mm or about 1/16".

 

You have a sticking caliper. Otherwise the rear brakes should go well beyond 100,000 miles no matter how you drive.

Mine had 87,000 or so when I replaced the rear rotors with slotted rotors. Left the factory original pads until 92,000 when the dealer told me theb pads were shot. I took them at their word even though they looked brand new when I did rotors at 87,000 I bought a new set. When I got the stock ones off, they were perfect. The dealer lied. I had to lay them side by side with the new ones to see any difference at all. They had worn maybe 1mm in 92,000 miles. At this rate I would've gotten an easy 200-300,000 miles out of them.

Your calipers are frozen so the brakes are applied all the time. Letting the car sit only makes this more likely to happen. You can probably clean and lube the sliding bolts and install new pads and be done with it. Whoever did your brakes before should have caught this.

 

I took a closer look last night and would guess that the rotors might be shot and one pad is about done. The pads on one side looked probably 4 - 5mm the other side was about 2mm. So it doesn't surprise me that it did not pass inspection.

I will search on sticking calipers to see if I can learn a little more about that.

Are any type of brake rotors/pads going to last better sitting then others? I am not worried about brake dust and most of the driving I do in the TL is winter/rainy weather so for the most part it is not too spirited lately although I would like something at least comparable to OEM. I am probably leaning towards replacing fronts too even though they are not shot so that everything is done at once and is done with.

Thanks for the insights.

 

Just an FYI-One item to keep in mind is that sticking sliders, the pins on which the caliper moves, would cause excessive wear on the inboard pad. When the brakes are utilized the piston moves outward and as it contacts the rotor that force then moves the calipers inward and clamps the outboard pad against the rotor also. If sticking sliders, the inboard would move outward into the rotor, but as the caliper can't slide, the outboard pad is not utilized. A sticking caliper piston will not release the pressure on the pads and as pressure is continually exerted, the pads will wear rapidly with increased heat also. When pulled, check all sliders and lube with appropriate grease e.g. silicone brake grease and check to be certain the piston can be pushed back into the bore easily.

Good luck

 

You need to pull the wheels and check both the inboard and outboard pad on both sides, not just the outboard pads by just looking through the wheel spokes.

If both pads on one wheel are worn evenly but excessively, then that could be a sign of a sticking caliper. If one pad is worn considerably more than the other pad (same wheel), then that could be a sign of sticking sliders. Sticking sliders are an easy fix.

The rotor/s may or may not be shot. You need to measure them with a micrometer. Again, most brake shops will do this for free or you could buy a micrometer for around $20 (maybe less, been a while since I bought mine). The service limit on the rear rotors is 7.5mm (0.3in)

 

I replaced my rear brake pads and rotors back in July of 2010 (it's now November 2010). I used the cheapest stuff from Autozone. I have about 6000 miles on them, and they're worn on both sides (one side is down to the wear indicator already).

So you're pretty sure both calipers are stuck? Wouldn't I feel some rolling resistance? A few weeks ago, I was having issues with the ABS kicking in during medium braking. That worries me because when ABS kicks in, I lose a ton of braking power (or it feels that way because the pedal is vibrating from the ABS). I wouldn't want ABS to kick in during a panic stop, where only the rear wheels have lost traction when the fronts haven't. I thought a multi-channel ABS system was supposed to be able to let you have full braking even if some of the wheels are locking up.

I was thinking about getting Autozone's ceramic pads for the rear because I read that ceramics have less grip compared to regular pads.

Shouldn't forcing the piston back into its bore have fixed any stuck piston problems? It was only 4 months ago!

If the rear wheels turn freely when I jack up the rear, does that mean the calipers aren't stuck?

If this happens again, I wonder if I should get a set of reman calipers from the dealer. They're expensive! No stores carry the rears for the 6MT. I wonder if the 5AT's rear calipers would bolt on with no issues.

 

When you mention sticking calipers, are you meaning sticking pistons?

If the sliders are fine but the piston is sticking, it will wear both pads pretty much evenly.

If the sliders are sticking, it will most likely wear the outboard pad more.


I'm really tired and just kind of thinking out loud here so I hope it's somewhat sensable...

I hear you on the ABS. The multi channel stuff does not work as advertised. I've written a bunch of stuff on how much I hate that you lose all braking power to all 4 wheels when only one wheel might actually need the ABS at that time. I've entered a corner hard while trail braking. With this driving style coupled with the stiff front swaybar my car tends to lock the inside front pretty easily. Instead of pulsing just that tire, it basically takes all braking away from all 4 tires. I absolutely hate it.

But back on point, that sounds like a real issue if ABS is triggering when not needed and cutting power to all tires.

This could be a completely separate issue such as a wheel speed sensor. However, I've been doing a bit of research on the electronic brake force distribution (EBD) part of our system and I've bought a few technical papers to try and understand it. The EBD takes the place of a traditional F/R proportioning valve. The ECU has control of the proportioning. It allows the rears to do much more of the work during a normal easy stop and starts reducing rear pressure in relation to the front during hard braking. I almost wonder if yours is malfunctioning to where it's sending too much pressure to the rears. There's a standard the car has to meet with a completely failed system. I believe it has to stop 60% as well as it does with a fully functioning system without the ABS intervening. Not sure how to troubleshoot though.
The material doesn't make a difference. Look at the rating stamped on the back or side of the pad. Stock TLs used an "FF" friction rating. As long as your replacement pads have that rating, they will have roughly the same friction. Honda has been using ceramics as OEM for a long time.
Not always but you would think if you can push it by hand, it would be ok. However, if the bore is getting galled it can easily stick again and there's nothing to really push them back in the caliper in service.
Depends. It means they aren't stuck at that moment. If they stick but then you drive the car around long enough to wear the pad down to the point they don't grab, the wheel would appear free. More than likely you're applying the brakes right before you park so this should not be an issue. If you jack it up again, hit the brakes extra hard for that last application and see what happens.
Same calipers as far as I know. It would be interesting to see if there really is a difference. If so, the 6mt calipers would have a larger piston to compensate for the larger front brakes but most likely the compensation is done in the front piston size.


Thinking about this a little more..... If your sliders or pistons are sticking, imagine you're doing an easy stop and the fronts and rears are sharing a nearly equal 50% of the stopping. Sliders are now stuck at this braking pressure. You now stop harder and instead of increasing front pressure and decreasing rear pressure, the stuck slider is still applying the same braking force at the rear and you trigger the ABS.

Once you confirm the calipers are not stuck at the moment, you can take the car out, try not to hit the brakes (maybe use downshifting and the e-brake) and go out to where you can hit the brakes reasonably hard and see if ABS kicks in prematurely. Then do a series of easy stops followed immediatley by harder stops and see if ABS kicks in prematurely.