Rotors have a discard spec and sometimes even a machine to spec, If the rotors are to thin then they need to be replaced for best braking… And it doesn’t make a difference what wheel drive your vehicle is, you replace what needs replacing, front and or rear!!!
Not trying to be mean or anything, but I stand by my last post, you need your dad or mechanic friend to either make the decision for you or help you with it… If you go to a shop that is even a tad bit dishonest they will see you coming a mile away and will be like sharks that can smell blood… You will wind up spending way more then needed…
As an add-on, if the rotors are scored they need to be replaced. I used to do my brakes and I always used mid-grade rotors. The cheapest ones are more likely to have problems like warping and that could be a problem for you as you drive and certainly when you sell the car.
Or have any uneven wear of any type that would keep the new pads from quickly bedding in. I seem to remember that Honda/Acura discs don’t take well to machining. If it’s my car I’m replacing the discs.
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I remember that the Altima’s (maybe Maxima’s too) (don’t know about the new new ones) the rear rotors chattered bad trying to cut (machine) them, but the fronts you could get 2 or 3 cuts out of them…
Just to clarify for the OP, the rotors have to measure a specified minimum thickness (in mm) to continue to use them. Mechanics have special measuring tools for this job, and can measure the rotor’s thickness very accurately. As the brakes are used the rotors wear & get thinner. If they get worn too thin they can no longer dissipate heat well, and will tend to warp.
For example your mechanic will research the brake rotor specifications for your car, and might find (say) that the front rotor when new (unused ) is spec’d at 23 mm with a 21 mm service limit. That means if it measures less than 21mm thick, it must be replaced. There may be spec’s for run-out and parallelism too. Usually the specs are different front vs rear. Most aftermarket repair manuals (Chiltons/Haynes/etc) contain these specifications in the brake section.
Because I do my own brakes, I do not have the equipment to turn rotors down while they are on the car. By the time you take them off and pay someone, I just usually pay a little more and just replace them instead. I always think about warping and then if you get half way through the life of pads end up having to replace them all again. I’m not counting every Penney though like in years past.
Your car is front wheel drive , but that’s not important as your car has brakes on four wheels, like every car made in the past 100 years or so.
Your would need brake pads and rotors. Given the mileage, it’s likely your front brakes have been changed at least once and are probably ready to be changed again. The front brakes tend to wear quicker than the rears. The rear brakes have probably been changed once, but it’s possible (though very unlikely), that they are the originals, in which case they would certainly be ready for replacement. Chances good that all four need replacement though.
Turning (machining rotors) is less common these days than it was 30 years ago, and most of the time you’re going to want to change out both the rotor and the pad.
If you don’t know exactly what you’re doing (and no offense intended, but based off the how your question is phrased, you likely don’t know how to do the work yourself), then you’re going to want to let a trusted mechanic do the work for you.
I have always been around a brake lathe or had access to one so that was never the issue, my issue was I almost always did my brakes at home and I would buy new rotors and save the old ones for next pad change and plan on swapping out the machined rotors, but after a few years I would move them around or forget which rotors (didn’t feel like pulling the wheels to check) went to what cause I have a lot of old rotors for various reasons and wind up buying new rotors again… It is a vicious cycle…
The 2004 Honda Accord LX has front disc/rear drum brakes. The rear dum brakes can easily last 200k miles, I’ve even seen them go to 300k with little wear. My 07 Silverado with 289k miles on it still has the original drum shoes and they still have plenty of meat on them.
I had a 97 Honda Accord LX with the same combo and the rear shoes at 210k (just before someone turn right in front of the car with no warning) showed almost no wear.
So in your case, you most likely only need the front pads replaced. This will probably be the second pad replacement, but it could still be the first. Generally the Honda pads at that era would last about 100k miles.
If they have been replaced once, then chances are you should replace the rotors as well. I would not be surprised if a good mechanic looked at these and recommended new pads, rotors, calipers and brake lines and a flush of the brake lines. Depending on the suppliers, that is well over $400 in parts alone, could go double that at a dealer. Add labor and you could see a bill for up to $1100. You might want to include the rear brake hose as well as it is also 20 years old and won’t cost that much more.
But first have the pads checked for thickness before making any decision. Most inspection stations won’t pass you if your brakes were truly worn to the minimum now, depends on the state you are located in.
Is there anything an old rotor can be repurposed into doing? A pretty good paperweight if you lived in a hurricane area … lol … maybe a rotor laid up on a hill would make a pretty good practice target for hunters preparing for hunting season … any other ideas for re-purposing an old, unwanted rotor?
If you want to make a grinder stand or something they can work for that, or weighing down a tarp after shingles have blown off. Or put on a pipe for exercise. Otherwise just take to the recycler.
Sometimes I need something solid, stays in place, and vertical, but just for a short time, don’t want to bother with bracing, digging holes. If I could find a pipe w/diameter that exactly fits the hole in the rotor … hmmm , might work … one problem though , some old rotors may not lie flat on the ground due to protrusions at the hub.
Another idea, drive your car on top of an old rotor if you need to raise it just a little to access something underneath and don’t want to bother w/the floor jack.
Well since you asked, I use them for anything from really thick shims, to transmission builds (I’m to OCD to drill a big hole in my table), to using them when pressing something strange, to fabricating stuff, to painting a part on them… I have one that is very heavy that I used when beating the axle bearings and retainers for my hot rod, spread the load so not to damage my floor…
And I painted my backing plates on a couple of rotors and then painted this bracket I made to relocate the rear brake hose on the car for the rear end I built…
Doing a bearing on a Honda Accord without a press at home, You can see the stubby screw driver on the rotor supporting the spindle (thick shim)… lol
And yes it worked, didn’t even bend the backing plate, so no noise after repair was done…
You’re right. I was under the assumption that that they had discs all around. Apparently only the EX 4 cylinder and V6 models got 4 wheel discs. I would not recommend a first timer try to tackle drum brakes.
