I need help with my disc brakes...

[SickBeast]

Here are the specs of my car:

2006 Honda Civic EX Sedan
Manual Transmission
All-wheel disc brakes

I was at the dealer for service this past week and they said that my rear brake pads needed to be replaced, and they said that my rotors were rusted right out so they had to replace them as well. They quoted me $540, so I told them to just change the pads and machine the rotors.

I'm concerned that the dealership was trying to fleece me for a few reasons. First, why would the rear brakes wear out before the front ones? Doesn't this defy the laws of physics? Second, why would the rear rotors rust out but not the front ones?

I've found the rotors on sale locally for $20 each. How difficult a job is it to change out the rotors myself? What tools and manuals would I need to do it?

Thanks.

:beer:

 

[Black88GTA]

Rotors are extremely thick pieces of steel. They don't just "rust out" especially on a 2006 MY car. They develop surface rust within a day or two after you park the car - this is normal, and goes away once you drive again.

Rear pads are typically good for 50 - 70k miles, since most of the work is done by the front brakes. Assuming there are no other problems with your rear brakes (seized caliper, etc) those should last a long time. How many miles are on your car?

Sounds like they were trying to rip you off

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Black88GTA
Rotors are extremely thick pieces of steel. They don't just "rust out" especially on a 2006 MY car. They develop surface rust within a day or two after you park the car - this is normal, and goes away once you drive again.

Rear pads are typically good for 50 - 70k miles, since most of the work is done by the front brakes. Assuming there are no other problems with your rear brakes (seized caliper, etc) those should last a long time. How many miles are on your car?

Sounds like they were trying to rip you off

I have 85,000kms on the car, so say 55,000 miles or so.

The car is a manual transmission and is mostly driven on the highway. I rarely use the brakes. Another shop told me they were down to 50% or so about a year ago.

I'm not going back to that dealership. Thanks for confirming what I was thinking.

Oh, I live in Toronto, Canada, and we do have a ton of salt on our roads, and we've had a couple of really bad winters in a row. Could that have done it?

Thanks again.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Oh, I live in Toronto, Canada, and we do have a ton of salt on our roads, and we've had a couple of really bad winters in a row. Could that have done it?

It's plausible. Many rotors are cast as two plates connected by fins with space between them. I guess if enough salt and grit got in there they could rust. Practically, though that's not going to happen. Especially not in just a few years.

Salt and other grime won't stick to the outside long enough to actually matter. Your brakes might actually be going bad, but it probably isn't rust.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Considering the rotors on my car were 10 years old when I bought it and hadn't come even close to rusting out either they were trying to rip you off or you have some really crappy rotors for OEM equipment for your brakes

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: Black88GTA
Rotors are extremely thick pieces of steel. They don't just "rust out" especially on a 2006 MY car. They develop surface rust within a day or two after you park the car - this is normal, and goes away once you drive again.

Rear pads are typically good for 50 - 70k miles, since most of the work is done by the front brakes. Assuming there are no other problems with your rear brakes (seized caliper, etc) those should last a long time. How many miles are on your car?

Sounds like they were trying to rip you off

I have 85,000kms on the car, so say 55,000 miles or so.

The car is a manual transmission and is mostly driven on the highway. I rarely use the brakes. Another shop told me they were down to 50% or so about a year ago.

I'm not going back to that dealership. Thanks for confirming what I was thinking.

Oh, I live in Toronto, Canada, and we do have a ton of salt on our roads, and we've had a couple of really bad winters in a row. Could that have done it?

Thanks again.

I was born and raised in Michigan, and lived there until I was 23 years old. I replaced a fair number of rotors while I was there, and never once had one "rust out" on me. All were replaced due to wear. And Michigan uses tons of salt on their roads.

Now, all of those rotors had some rust chips flaking off from the non-swept areas of the internal vents, but were very sound structurally. I have heard stories of a brake rotor actually crumbling in a tech's hand, but that was off of a 20 year old car with tons of miles on it.

Your rear brake linings may have been getting sort of close to their wear limit at 55k (assuming originals) but the rotors were probably fine.

 

[MovingTarget]

They should be fine....if you are really worried, then you should post pics. For an '06, I highly doubt that rust is an issue...

 

[StageLeft]

Maybe they were ripping you but it's really hard to say based on what you posted here. If you took off a wheel and posted pics you'd get a better idea.

To answer your question, it's not a particularly bad job. IMO it's worth figuring out this skill because the parts for those brakes are a small fraction of the $540. That is all labor you could do yourself and save hundreds of dollars.