1993 Honda Accord My car continues to eat front brake rotor

JLSEAGULL42

MEMBER
1993 HONDA ACCORD
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
210,000 MILES

Hello, my Accord has been eating front brake rotors repeatedly. The front struts, front calipers, front and rear pads, and CV joints have all been replaced at normal maintenance intervals. There is no caliper drag, and I don't brake heavily. After new rotors are installed by my mechanic, about 5000 miles later the steering wheel will vibrate on braking at highway speeds and when I take it in I'm told the rotors are warped. I replace the rotors and the problem goes away for another 5000 miles. Usually I just put up with it but I'm tired of this and I know I'm probably wearing front end parts prematurely.

I'm due for new tires soon, but wanted to check this out first. The tires have been rotated.

There is no vibration on acceleration, turning, or going straight. Only when braking.

What else could be the problem?

Would high quality rotors and pads solve this? If so, what would you recommend?

2 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi jlseagull42,

Thank you for the donation.

The quality of the rotors used is suspect and if OEM rotors are used, they would be less likely to cause the peoblem. However since the rotors are new, I would suggest refacing them to eliminate the problem.

Some rotors tends to warp when new and after refacing them they would be good for a longer period of time.

SPONSORED LINKS

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Monday, January 18th, 2010 AT 2:31 PM

JLSEAGULL42

MEMBER
1 POST

Thanks for your reply.

Resurfacing has worked for about 100 miles, then they vibrate again.

Because the rotors are of the "trapped" design that go behind the hub. I've heard that the bolts holding the rotor to the hub must be torqued exactly right as a result.

I was thinking that the quality might be suspect as well. The rotors I was (repeatedly) putting on were not OEM. I was just worried there might be something else that I'm missing that might cause premature warping other than the rotors themselves.

Now that it looks like it's definitely the rotor quality and not something that will ruin any rotor I put on there regardless, would it be better at this point to spring for "premium" rotors (are they any better / will they last longer for daily driving?) Or just get genuine OEM rotors? I'd rather spend the money now to get something that I don't have to replace for a proper service interval of 50K miles or so.

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Monday, January 18th, 2010 AT 2:57 PM