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Can struts cause brake problems in Accord???

I have a 2001 Accord that at about 40,000 miles had one of the front brake calipers lock up and destroy the disk. Both front calipers and disks were replaced. At the time my mechanic told me my front struts were bad and may be putting excessive pressure on the brakes and caused them to fail. He recommended replacing the struts. I asked him how he diagnosed bad struts, there was no fluid leak. He said they felt kind of soft. I had trouble understanding why bad struts cause brakes problems so I did not replace them.

5,000 miles later the front brakes start pulsating. The same mechanic resurfaces them. Another 5,000 miles the pulsation is back and the mechanic still insists that my struts are causing this.

Is he right? If so why would bad struts cause brake problems.

If he's wrong, any other ideas why these disks keep pulsating after such a short time?

Thanks.

-Steve

Reply to
Steve Kaye
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Reply to
phil w

While weak struts might allow a bit more nose dive and weight shift, I really don't think this is significant to your brake failure.

When calipers lock up, it is usually the internal seals binding or corrosion which causes it. Rotors (the discs themselves) do not need to be machined if they are not warped nor heavily scored.

Some rotors should not be 'turned' at all. They are already about as thin as they can tolerate.

On struts, you normally replace the cartridge which serves as the shock absorber...not the spring. You CAN replace the whole thing, but it isn't normally done.

If your rear brakes are not pulling their part of the load, it CAN cause excess heating on the front rotors, warping, etc.

I don't really get a good feeling about this mechanic.

Reply to
Larry Smith

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