Couple of questions on replacing brake pads

izitnick

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Hey team! My wife's '16 (bought March 2016) is getting the ol' squealies. Time for a brake job.
I did this myself a few times on my 2004 Civic pretty easily. I'm not anywhere close to an expert but have done it before. I have all the tools and materials i need, except hex keys (which i may have lost in a move!)

My questions are these, and in advance, I really appreciate y'alls help.

1. Despite me standing outside the car and having her brake from cold wheels/brakes, I can't tell if the squeal is coming from the front or the back. She's got about 50k miles and her daily commute is a lot of stop-and-go. Is it likely the front or the rear? I know on cars with rear drum brakes, the first brake job is typically front-only. Is it the same with 4-wheel disc brakes? this is my first four-wheel disc car! I have blocks and jack stands so obviously I can check, but starting in the right place might save me a bit of time.

2. What's the current thinking on the from-factory rotors? Crummy and worth replacing even if they are in decent condition for the first pad replacement? The wheels will be off anyway.

3. I found an old thread with a couple youtube helper videos, https://www.civicx.com/threads/how-to-change-brake-pads-on-the-new-civics-video.14291/ . In your alls opinion, are the two videos good ones? I know the basics, but if there's a better/more helpful video you guys are aware of, i'd love to see it.

Thanks everyone!

edit: clarification on question 1
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1. In my experience the rear pads last more than twice as long as the front so I'd expect you only need to do the fronts at this point.
2. I've never replaced rotors, my 8th gen Si went over 100K KM with factory rotors just fine, I'd be surprised if this gen was any different.
3. Those videos and info in that thread should be all you need, in fact I'm gonna have to save that one for when my day comes for my first brake job on this car.
 

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Depending on how one drives, the rear pads may well wear out first, solely because of (un-knowing) use of 'Agile Handling Assist' (AHA, a.k.a., torque-vectoring), which is standard on (at least) all North American and EU CivicX. If this is the case, then for some reason the inside rear pad goes first in the CivicX that I have seen - and that is where the rear noisemaker is.

But yeah, in most cars the fronts wear faster than the rears.
 

charleswrivers

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As to rotors... any major brand rotor should be fine (ie Akebonk, Centric, etc).

To determine front vs rear... you call always have your spouse drive the car at low speed in you driveway/road in front id the house and use the brakes as she passes right beside you. I agree... sometimes it's difficult to tell from inside.

If you're at the squealers, it'd still behoove you to pull all wheels and inspect them. Squealers are not at a standard distance... but they're pretty pretty low at that point. I'd expect your brake fluid is noticably lower if you're that worn.

Since the squealer is steel, it should be cutting a small ring in the rotor what should be noticable if it's been going awhile.

As to the rotors, so long as you don't have issues with warping, I'd not replace the rotors, so long as they're in spec. Given how inexpensive rotors and how you'll lose thickness in turning them... plus it's crappy to have to go back in to replace rewarped thin rotors on still-good pads, I tend to just replace them. As warping rotors isn't so much from heating bit from uneven wear make sure you clean any rust off the hub and torque your lugs nuts equally. It's really up to you as to whether or not you want to replace the rotor just because you've got the calipers off for the pad replacement. My thought of not changing them so long as there's no indication of warpage is based on me tending to save money. When I did the brakes on the Odyssey at 70k, it was due to warpage. The pads still have about 1/2 of their thickness left. I did install a different pad that I do think bites a bit better.

One bit I will mention though I don't know first hand is how there should be small motors attached to the rear calipers that engage the rear pads for the e-brake. It'll be different than your 7th gen Civic.
 
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izitnick

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X-posting with my new thread. Help!!
I just replaced my front brake pads, 16 Civic ext. Easy peasy. I made a mistake after I got the wheel off - I accidentally took off the wrong bolt and a couple ounces of brake fluid spilled out before I realized and put it back on. This was front driver only where I made this error. Rest of job went easy. Only replaced front pads.

Now when I test drive, the pedal is super mushy and goes right to the floor. I also have a bunch of error measages about ACC and other driver assist features. And now the car won't start and the instrument panel is blinking when I try! I just need to bleed brake lines on all four wheels, or did I do something worse here? Help!!
 


charleswrivers

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X-posting with my new thread. Help!!
I just replaced my front brake pads, 16 Civic ext. Easy peasy. I made a mistake after I got the wheel off - I accidentally took off the wrong bolt and a couple ounces of brake fluid spilled out before I realized and put it back on. This was front driver only where I made this error. Rest of job went easy. Only replaced front pads.

Now when I test drive, the pedal is super mushy and goes right to the floor. I also have a bunch of error measages about ACC and other driver assist features. And now the car won't start and the instrument panel is blinking when I try! I just need to bleed brake lines on all four wheels, or did I do something worse here? Help!!
You've almost certainly put air in the lines based on pedal feel. Does the brake fluid reservoir still have visible level? You'd certainly need to refill and bleed. Depending on how much air got in... and if you drained the reservoir, you could have air in the ABS system itself. I'm not super knowledge about it. I'd start be refilling the reservoir and trying to bleed the system. If you emptied it enough to get air in the ABS portion of the braking system itself (I know my Z had a big contraption under the carpet behind the passenger seat that is essentially the ABS module that all the lines to to/from) I have heard it is a huge PITA to get the air out of it. Good luck.
 
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izitnick

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You've almost certainly put air in the lines based on pedal feel. Does the brake fluid reservoir still have visible level? You'd certainly need to refill and bleed. Depending on how much air got in... and if you drained the reservoir, you could have air in the ABS system itself. I'm not super knowledge about it. I'd start be refilling the reservoir and trying to bleed the system. If you emptied it enough to get air in the ABS portion of the braking system itself (I know my Z had a big contraption under the carpet behind the passenger seat that is essentially the ABS module that all the lines to to/from) I have heard it is a huge PITA to get the air out of it. Good luck.
Reservoir still reads near max. I will try and bleed. Ty!
 

charleswrivers

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Reservoir still reads near max. I will try and bleed. Ty!
Have some more fluid on hand. The air that got pulled in is taking up room in your lines... you'll have to get the air out and will certainly lose fluid in the process. It's only max probably because your pistons aren't retracted. Sorry I can't speak better about the air in the ABS side more .. I just really don't know much about it other than always being warned not to let the brake cylinder empty or to let air get pulled in. One it gets in that ABS control unit or whatever it is... it's supposed to be a bear to get it out.
 

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If you can bleed the lines until the air gets out, great. Unfortunately, if the air is trapped in the ABS module a scan tool is required to open the valves so all the air can be bleed
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