I'm getting vibration from the brake pedal and steering under braking, mostly occur during downhill braking, around 60km to a complete stop. My car is lowered, did do an alignment after lowering the car. Car has just under 30k km, never changed brake pads or rotors yet, regularly serviced.
Any one can help me out with this?

Thanks in advance

 

Sounds like wrapped rotors to me, but only after 30k km?

 

^^^
Sounds like your rotors. You should have them ground and put new pads on. proper break in is important!

 

Any way can tell the rotors are warped?

The last time I was in the dealer for service, they told me that my pads have 70% left, and it's only been around 3000km since the service.

 

Here's what Tirerack's explanation.

How can I tell if my rotors are warped or if it’s something else?

Brake rotors don’t warp unless overheated. It’s very common to misdiagnose brake problems and attribute them to a warped brake rotor. Warping is caused by excessive heating of the brake rotor and the resulting distortion of the cast iron.

The main symptom of warped rotors is a pulsation felt in the pedal when brakes are applied. If the vibration is felt in the steering wheel or in the dash of the vehicle, it’s more likely a completely different problem: brake judder. A simple run-out measurement will confirm the diagnosis.

 

The thickness of the material on the pads is not the issue.
It is quite likely that one or more of the pads is (are?) seized in the "holder" (torque plate I think it's called). It is also possible that the caliper(s) are not free to move on the pins. For the brakes to work properly the pads and the calipers need to be free to move in and out to squeeze or release the rotors. This is often overlooked during servicing because the exact operation of the parts is not well understood. The amount of lining is almost irrelevant until it becomes very uneven or very low. Many service centers will simply tell you that the rotors are warped because it is easy to replace them but it is very rarely required in my experience.

 

Acura and Honda are notorious for OEM rotors warping quickly. It's and easy DIY even Wagner rotors last longer. I had this happen over the past 15 years on my Acura's.

 

+1. Classic honda junk rotors. Whatever you do, do NOT have your rotors turned as they will warp again. Buy some good quality aftermarket blanks. They will be cheaper then oem and much better quality. I got rid of my oem junk at 12K miles.

 

+2 Also had a warpage issue. Aaand friend with Accord had it...etc, etc, etc.

 

Thanks everyone for the advice. Sounds like need some new rotors soon.

 

I had the braking vibration issue too. I mentioned it to a dealer service adviser about it. They resurfaced my rotors and the problem was gone since then. They said it was under warranty. Lucky me.

I think the issue was caused by my late braking in off ramp and come to a dead stop. I did that a few times since I got my new summer tires. Bad idea! The pads got a lot of heat generated and concentrated on a small area on the rotors at the dead stop. Since then, I avoid late braking or always give myself a couple of meters to roll to a stop after heavy braking.

 

The rotors and pads on the 4th generation are very solid. Unlike Honda traditional messed up rotors and pads of the past, and based on what an experienced mechanic told me recently, he doesn't see any issues even with higher mileage TLs.

That being said, and since you said you have lowered the car, I would look closely at the lower control arm bushings, upper arm, ball joints (very crucial) and all other suspension components. It may be the case that by lowering the car some of the other components couldn't take the pressure and fell apart or about to fall apart. Since this is a safety issue, it is wise to look at this ASAP.

 

^^^^^

That's what I thought too.

The 4G TL has the biggest sized rotors in the Acura lineup; and these rotors are unlike any of the previous small-sized offerings on the Accord's and even 2G/3G TL's, that tends to warp easily.

So far, there aren't many 4G TL members who have reported to have warped rotors, when compared to the frequent occurrence of warped-rotor complains in the 2G/3G TL sub-forums.

 

I can vouch for this as it happened to me on my Prelude. Thankfully, I had a good tech who figured it out.

 

i had warped rotors when I purchased my TL @ 60k km ....so it prolly started way earlier than that....

 

I have warped rotors too...(at 39k)....vibrating when slowing down from 120km/h....

 

What you guys/gals could do when coming to a dead stop from a highway off ramp is to put the car in "N" and let off the brake at the stop to prevent the hot ass pads from staying in constant contact with that specific area of the rotor. This causes hot spots which would lead to wrapped rotors over time, especially with a 2+ ton car which needs a lot of friction/heat to stop.

 

what do you guys recommend to get as replacements? i dont need a BBK. i had slotted and drilled rotors with ceramic pads on my old cars, loved em. i do all the replacements myself, so i save on labor.

 

Depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for a little upgrade in braking and looks, then some slotted rotors with a nice street pad would help. But then only downside is a lot of shops refuse to machine slotted and/or drilled rotors.

I find the stock brakes on the SH to be great from the factory besides the crazy amount of dust produce. I would just keep the blanks for now and maybe just get some low dust ceramic pads.

 

+1 Thank god!
Finally someone with some wisdom in this forum. I was beginning to think that there were nothing but 16 year-old idiots with pictures of their neighbors cars here on AZ.

 

If my rotors are warped, would I notice a vibration while braking at any speed, or just higher speeds? Sometimes when I'm braking from 40-60, I'll notice a slight vibration or pulsing, but not all the time.

 

perfect timing...
https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-2009-2014-123/adams-rotors-once-year-arthnxgvng-15%25-off-till-cyber-monday-sale-899924/

 

Depending on the level of warping, you should be able to tell whether your rotors are warped by running your finger along the surface of the rotors (not in a circular motion, but from the center going out or vice versa). It should feel smooth and flat without any bumps along its surface. If you feel any bumps along the surface as you run your finger on it, then that'll let you know whether it's warped.

 

Talk about freakin' amateur hour on the internet......

 

What's your comment in reference to?

 

Where did you learned or hear this from?

Those "bumps" you are referring to are scoring marks/grooves, and not a way to tell if your rotors are warped. These marks are usually caused by trapped rocks or sand, excessive braking, or aggressive track compound pads. Vibration felt threw the steering wheel or pulsation felt when applying the brakes is the best way to determine warped rotors.

 

^^ +1 ,if a rotor has a variance of 0.0005" it will pulsate,disc thickness variation should not be more than 0.0002".To measure that a dial indicator is required to check run out ie the difference between the highest and lowest reading on the dial.

If a rotor is warped to the extent that you can actually feel it with your hand then the car would be the equivalent of holding a jack hammer with regards to vibration.At that point the driver will need an examination.

 

That's what I was referring to. When your brake pads are excessively worn out to the point where all your braking compound is gone, and you just have the metal part against the rotors. This will cause grooves on your rotors, causing vibration on the steering wheel when applying the brakes. Not sure if this would be considered "warping" per se but it does cause the simptoms of vibration on the steering wheel when braking.

 

Hey KK (fellow Canuck) where did you get that data?
You are correct about the dial indicator, but Acura specifies a max. runout of 0.002" (two thou) which is ten times your figure.
It might be worthwhile for anyone interested to consult the service manual recently provided to us by Art in another thread.
Pages 19-16 to 19-19 deal with front brakes.
I am going to do a new thread (eventually) which will describe how I maintain my brakes. I never have to replace rotors and very rarely replace pads. And we get all kinds of salt and sand on our roads in this area. There is a lot of misunderstanding on brake servicing because the shops love to do $800 brake jobs. Takes them typically an hour.

 

Oops!! You are correct,i have one decimal place too much in my post,sorry and thank you for the correction.

 

That's what I thought! Merry Christmas.

 

Sometimes re-bedding the brakes can help if the vibration just started. The inconsistent brake deposits on the rotors are what helps gets the vibrations started. Unfortunately if you have been running for a while with them pulsating then you have likely overheated portions of the rotor and the only way to really fix this is to replace the rotor. Turning them doesn't always fix the problem as when you overheat and cool down the steel you actually temper that steel and make it harder. This means it won't wear the same and will warp again (the reduced thickness will only amplify the overheating)