Scintered brake pads are very hard on disks. That said, at 108k, I just changed the rear brake pads on the mrs' '06 and the rotors looked fine. I just replaced the pads for something like $25. Autozone lists the rotors for $83 so draw your own conclusions about that. I know you can get them substantially cheaper from Rockauto. When I change pads and don't change rotors, I like to pull off the rotors and hit them with some abrasive to knock the glaze off of the before I put on the pads. On these, I couldn't get them to release so they didn't get that treatment. I think I would have needed some sort of puller. Me and my rubber mallet couldn't get them to pop loose.

The procedure for deactivating/depressurizing the brakes is in the owners manual. Took me a couple of tries to get it right, but when you do, you should know it. I was pretty careful taking off the pads because the manual says that if the vehicle senses wheel rotation, it turns the brake pressure back on.

I've bought a number of aftermaket service manuals for different vehicles. I've used Haynes, Clymer, and Chiltons (my newest one for the '93 Civic). By far and without a doubt, the Chiltons is the biggest piece of crap ever. So far I've not seen anything for the hybrid anyway.

 

"I was pretty careful taking off the pads because the manual says that if the vehicle senses wheel rotation, it turns the brake pressure back on"

Is this on your Accord? What year/trim level? What manual said that?

Unless Honda's doing something new, this is totally perplexing to me. The brakes use hydraulic brake fluid pressure. Turning a wheel is not going to "turn the brake pressure back on", as far as I know. Unless this is something to do with the Anti-Lock system??

If you put a C-Clamp on a brake caliper piston and push it back into the cylinder, say to put in a new (thicker) pad, that piston will stay pushed back as long as you don't step on the brake pedal.

 

No, it was not on my accord. I guess I need to change that in my profile. We traded the Accord in on the Mariner in '06.

 

Is this an ABS thing or a Hybrid thing?

I read this quote to the guy that is going to work on my front brakes. He has worked on ABS, but never a FEH. He thought you were referring to the ABS system and said he thought there was nothing unique about the Hybrid brakes. Is there something additional I should make him aware of? I will leave him the owners manual if that helps.

 

It is most definitely a Hybrid thing. The hybrid brakes integrate an antilock feature...so sometimes the term ABS is used throughout the FEH braking system, but they work very differently than a non-hybrid vehicle. For starters, the brake pedal is not directly connected to a hydraulic master cylinder, it is connected to a computer. The computer uses multiple inputs such as vehicle speed, brake pedal position, battery State of Charge, etc. to determine how to slow or stop the vehicle....then the computer engages the combination of stopping mechanisms that are appropriate for the situation. If the computer chooses to use the traditional hydraulic brake pad mechanisms at the wheels....... it engages a pre-pressurized hydraulic reservoir/system to slow or stop the FEH. This is why the hydraulic pressurization system must be "disabled" prior to working on replacing the pads. Numerous sensors will tell the computer that the brakes may soon be needed (such as wheel rotation) and the pump will be told to pressurize the system.

The computer also has another stopping mechanism (too much to go into here) to choose from. It is a motor/generator in the eCVT, and when that is used to slow the FEH, it also re-charges the HVBattery. Hence, no plug-in.

Sounds like, from another post, that the owners manual has some discussion of disabling the hydraulic pressurization for the purpose of replacing the brake pads.

 

Is 3mm left on rear pads bad after 40k miles and 3 years?

 

While looking for something else for my FEH I found this website. It offers two rotors and two pad sets for $106...

http://www.am-autoparts.com/AM/Brake...=ShoppingComSF

Don't know the quality or anythings else, but a frame of reference for you.

 

First, let me decribe the symptoms:
As I slow to a stop, my '05 FEH seems to lose a bit of brake pressure (i thought anyway) and subtly jumps (i.e. stops braking as much) forward a bit (while braking to a stop, somewhere in the 5-10 mph range). There is also a clunking noise of some kind. A mechanic drove the car and did not think it was the brakes. Since then I have noticed a warning light come on sometimes when this happens, the one with a car and wavy line below it, indicating traction problems, I assume. Of course, there are no traction issues...

I have been assuming it was a brake issue. It happens in electric and hybrid mode, but it does not seem to happen if i shift to neutral as i brake. Does this mean it is a transmission issue? I am confused and figure if I can't describe the symptoms better or get them to happen with a ford dealer service guy in the car, i am wasting my time bringing it in. Not to mention i am not ready to pay a transmission repair bill after everything else I have paid for on this car in the last 18 months.

 

First off, stopping while the gear selector is in Neutral canceles any regenerative braking. If this issue is only happening when you are in Drive or Low then it could very well be a eCVT transmission or other hybrid specific braking issue.

The eCVT transmission carries a 8yr/100,000mi warranty (10yr/150,000mi if you live in a "Green State" including CA, ME, MA, NY and VT). You're certainly under the 8yr mark but you didn't mention your mileage so hopefully your under 100,000/150,000mi. If you are in fact under 100,000/150,000mi then you should probably let the dealer have a look at what's causing the warning/traction light to come on. Don't forget to mention that it doesn't happen when you stop in Neutral.

 

You mentioned a "malfunction" light did occur. You should take your vehicle to an auto parts store and have a code reader check your vehicle to see if there are any "codes" indicating a problem. Many auto parts store will do this for free. You can also purchase a code reader at these stores or big box vendors such as Walmart. A scanguage II unit is also a code reader.