LOL…YIKES Jim. You have worn out your Brake Pads and now also ruined your Rotors, Jim. Brake pads should be changed out BEFORE they go metal on metal…they have probably been warning you for a few weeks now with the squealing sounds from the Brake Pad wear indicators rubbing on the rotors prior to the pad material being turned to dust and then going Metal on Metal.
Seems you didn't pick up on the clues the pads were throwing at you. Your brake pad renewal costs have just Doubled if not Quadrupled now that you have ruined the Rotors as well. Sorry to hear this happened...but I am FAIRLY CERTAIN that the system was warning you as much as it possibly could...The first clue was the Brake Light and Low Brake Fluid....The Second was all the NOISE they were making from the Pad Wear Indicators....Now the final Clue is the HORRIBLE metal on metal sound you get when you apply the Brakes. Time to fix some brakes Jim.
@Honda Blackbird What are you talking about? There was no break light or low brake fluid light at all you are assuming things. I think you all are being alarmist about this. I know I need to change the brakes asap but the sound is very faint. Even calling it a grinding noise is a bit of a stretch.
@Hondablackbird had no idea…as the rest of us… about the specifics of your car. Your first post didn’t even tell us the make model and year. Finally on your third post you told us it’s a civic, but still no idea of the year of the car.
So without enough info from @Jimfrost, Hondablackbird had to guess weather your car had a low brake fluid indicator light, or brake warning light.
Now the noise is not as bad as you first made it out to be!!!
And somehow the squealing has vanished too!!!
So replace the pads and if the rotors are scored bad…replace them too. THat’s pretty much what everyone has been telling you all along.
@Yosemite what squealing do you speak of? I never said anything about squealing brakes in this post? I said in another post that my belts are squealing but that has nothing to do with brakes. I am just going to get the pads but gotta get me a floor jack and jack stands first though!
They don’t seem to last as long as some other brands
Not only that, but ironically enough, the pads seem to be noisey, even if you replace the disc brake hardware, shims, and machine and/or replace the rotors
Of the 2 brands you mentioned, I’d get the centric
For years and years I almost exclusively used ThermoQuiet pads. They were noise-free, didnt’ dust the wheels at all, and had a good lifespan. About 3 years ago I started having noise complaints from ThermoQuiets. I don’t know if they changed their pad composition or construction, but I’ve quit using them because of the noise.
Centric is a major player in brake parts and offers several lines of pads, from the ones I wouldn’t put on my kid’s wagon to top of the line stuff. The Posi-Quiets are great brake pads. Their quality line of rotors are as good or better than any aftermarket out there.
@asemaster riiight, I looked up the Centric 105.0764 Posi-Quiet Ceramic Brake Pad with Shims on amazon, great reviews. I think those are the one’s I’ll get for the pads, thanks for input!
Is a brake pad replacement a relatively easy job to do for someone that doesn’t regularly work on cars? I want to get experience. I have an old 80s Fiero that’s been sitting which I am thinking as using for experience.
The tool is for single piston calipers, which are the most common. I’m not sure exactly what brake setup your Fiero has, but the tool will probably work
I believe Pep Boys and O’Reilly have this in their tool aisle
I see the tool is $34… breaking the bank on my end haha. I heard a C-clamp will work, is that true? next paycheck is going towards the break pads, floor jack and jack stands. So I got to wait about two weeks. Been watching a lot of videos on this I feel convinced that I could do this job. What are some tell-tail signs of bad rotors?
A c-clamp will work fine. Telltale signs of bad rotors are excessive scoring, wear beyond the minimum acceptable thickness and pulsation/vibration when applying the brakes.
@JimFrost yes, a c clamp will work, but you press the c clamp against the inner pad, not on the piston
As for bad rotors . . .
Get on the freeway and slam on the brakes a few times, at, say, 70mph
Is the brake pedal kicking . . . in other words, is the pedal pulsating?
If it is, the front rotors are probably warped. A dial indicator would let you know exactly how much runout you had
You should also measure the thickness of the rotors. Even if they’re not warped, they might be at discard thickness, or close to it. Do you have a brake mike?
This is not scientific . . . if the rotors have a really fat lip at the outer edge, they might already be too thin. The brake mike would give you a definitive answer
Since you’re probably not going to be doing tons of brake jobs, the dial indicator and brake mike are probably overkill for you . . .
Yeah, I most likely won’t need all the specific measurements and all that junk. Just want to be able to change my own brake pads and possible rotors. It sometimes shakes when I am at a stoplight but it seems like it’s more of an engine thing that rotors.