Rear Brake Pad Replacement

JBH

JBH

New Member
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Plan on doing my first brake job on the rear side of my 2012 Civic. Have removed the tires and inspected the caliper assembly, rotors, etc. The mechanisms and assembly look relatively standard - caliper, caliper bracket, bolts, boots, bleeder, emergency break cable, etc...

Wondering if any pitfalls or challenges I should be aware of prior to getting started? Plan to get one of those $10 cubical fittings that attach to the end of an extension for turning the piston back into the caliper.

Can't find rear brake technical procedures on the web, so thought I'd check with the experts in this forum on whether any special considerations.
 
If you've done brake work you should be fine. They are nice and simple.
I did get speed bleeders for this car for the first time and I will be putting them on every car from here on out. If you do your work by yourself like me they made things so much easier.
I've never used the extension for the piston. I have a big c clamp that I've always used on all my cars.
 
Thanks, Twitch. Have never done brake work before, but have been researching the procedures and preparing. Appreciate the feedback.
 
If you haven't don't this before, a few things.

Make sure you have a breaker bar with you. Some of those bolts can be tight after 3+ years. You shouldn't need a ton of force, it's just a tight area and you'll save your hands.

I like to use a bungee cord to hold up the caliper after I've removed it. This keeps the pressure off of the brake line.

The most difficult part will typically be compressing that piston. If you have issues remember you can always open the bleeder. Just be careful not to let air in by doing this. If you don't have them already get a hose you can use on the bleeder. You'll want to bleed the brakes anyways to make sure you don't have air bubbles. Most of the loss on pedal feel occurs because the fluid isn't properly pressurized.

Out of curiosity, did someone else do the fronts or have you not done the fronts yet? These typically go long before the back.
 
^^^
Out of curiosity, did someone else do the fronts or have you not done the fronts yet? These typically go long before the back.
 
Twitch said:
If you haven't don't this before, a few things.

Make sure you have a breaker bar with you. Some of those bolts can be tight after 3+ years. You shouldn't need a ton of force, it's just a tight area and you'll save your hands.

I like to use a bungee cord to hold up the caliper after I've removed it. This keeps the pressure off of the brake line.

The most difficult part will typically be compressing that piston. If you have issues remember you can always open the bleeder. Just be careful not to let air in by doing this. If you don't have them already get a hose you can use on the bleeder. You'll want to bleed the brakes anyways to make sure you don't have air bubbles. Most of the loss on pedal feel occurs because the fluid isn't properly pressurized.

Out of curiosity, did someone else do the fronts or have you not done the fronts yet? These typically go long before the back.
Click to expand...

Just finished our West Coast (9600+ miles) run to visit family and friends and a dozen or so National Parks.
Took the Si in for oil change and at 42,000 miles service tech said rear pads are almost done, with only light scratching on rotors. He said the fronts are barely worn.
(We're very light brakers and in hilly areas utilize downshifting to slow the car.)
Heard a few comments that 4 wheel disk brake Civics tend to wear out the rears first - as little as 12,000 miles. Something to do with how brake bias is set.
 
Thanks, Twitch and tacthecat. Have not heard the front wear indicators yet, but driver's side rear is squealing. Just about 70,000 miles and these rear pads will be first set of new - front or rear. I'm sure the fronts won't be far behind. Really appreciate the tips.
 
Huh that's interesting. My brakes went together around 60,000 miles. I do a lot if aggressive city driving so I thought 60 was pretty good.
 
This is on a older honda accord. I dont know if Honda changed their rear brake set up/
 
Fantastic, sircoffee. Huge fan of ETCG. Great resource to drop in the thread. I wrote to him and asked if pinching the brake hose with protective vise grips was really necessary - see vid at 12:00 to 12:30 - when opening the bleeder to return the piston, and one of his tech's said not to pinch the line.

The reason he gives for pinching the line is to stop fluid from moving back into the master cylinder. I would think that with the bleeder open the first opportunity the fluid will have to retreat would be out of the bleeder... Perhaps pinching the line adds local pressure to the system and encourages the fluid into the bleeder?

didn't get much of an explanation at the ETCG forum.
 
I've seen all lot of ETCG's videos. He pretty much hates moving old brake fluid upstream. I'm not a professional mechanic, but I think you are correct about the brake line pinch to prevent dirty fluid going up and to the bleeder.

But if you go the the dealer to change brake pads I'm willing to bet that the techs won't bother to bleed the brakes and just allow the fluid to move upstream.
 
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Awesome - thanks sircoffee. Great insight. Definitely reassuring to have knowledgable folks to help guide me. Just bought the pads - got front and rear. Hope to tackle this Saturday.
 
Just make sure you pump the pedal until its hard when the job is done or else you won't have any fluid pressure to push the pads against the rotor...i.e you won't be able to stop..
 
No problem, wouldn't want you to be rolling and hurting your car, or more importantly yourself! :thumbsup:
 
Want to thank you all for the help. Completed the job this morning with complete success. Used ETCG's method for pinching the brake hose and cracking the bleeder while turning the caliper piston back in. Was worried I would somehow let air into the system, but not so - pedal is firm and responds like a charm. Thanks again!!
 
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Is it really necessary to replace the calipers and rotors? I currently have 37k miles and I started looking for youtube video's on Brake replacement. I feel really comfortable about replacing them however Some bleed the fluid when they compress the caliper. That had me worried because I have to find a product that i can plug the bleeder to and not get air in the brake.

However now, i am wondering, do I need to replace the rotors and pads? What symptom should I be looking for to need to replace that because I felt like I was just going to replace pads.
 
Matsweeper said:
Is it really necessary to replace the calipers and rotors? I currently have 37k miles and I started looking for youtube video's on Brake replacement. I feel really comfortable about replacing them however Some bleed the fluid when they compress the caliper. That had me worried because I have to find a product that i can plug the bleeder to and not get air in the brake.

However now, i am wondering, do I need to replace the rotors and pads? What symptom should I be looking for to need to replace that because I felt like I was just going to replace pads.
Click to expand...
You just need to replace the pads. Even if you have a bad vibration in your rotors, a shop can usually turn them at least once to be reused. Rotors need replaced if they're no longer able to be turned/too thin/cracked etc
 
Got it! thanks. When the brake pads need to be changed, I will change them at home. Anyway 4 months from now I have to get a brake fluid drain and fill. (3 year). I'm happy that I don't need to bleed the brake when changing pads. After my wife got me a craftsman tool set, I've been looking forward to doing maintenance on my car. Oil change/CVT drain and fill/intake and cabin air filter. Love it!
 
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