lack of use = warped rotors?

I have some difficulty imagining the mechanism for this, unless they were just gobbed with rust pustules rather than mere superficial rust of the kind you always have some of on drums and rotors.

My nickel bet is that the rotors were going bad before the accident. And it is obviously quite common for the driver to give the brakes a massive stomping (perhaps not massive enough!) immediately before many kinds of accidents; this is followed more or less by definition by a sudden stationary cooldown.

How perceptive about cars is the family member, and how often do you personally drive this car? A lot of people, for various reasons including ignorance about things mechanical or obliviousness to the ways a car tells you its condition, not to mention the cost and hassle of getting repairs, seem to drive around with warped rotors for quite some time. (Not to mention the Sisyphus-in-the-Augean-stables aspect of trying to keep good brake rotors in some models, though I don't know if the Acuras are among those. )

Cheers,

--Joe

rusty rotors do this frequently, the area covered by the pad rusts differently than the rest of the disc and causes a thump...

Brian

The car sat for 7 months without being moved. The rust on the rotors is definitely more than what you get when you don't use the car for a week or so.

Yup, that did happen. I didn't drive the car after the accident, so I don't know if they were warped at that point.

Kinda clueless, unfortunately.

Once a month, or so. But not after the accident.

I'll try to get some answers out of the regular driver. Maybe they can remember some details. I already have new rotors to go in. It's just a matter of making the time to put them in.

-------------- Alex

Answered your own question. RUST will cause a LOT of problems with brakes

I did notice that the rotors were quite rusty.

TIA

Actually, if they can tolerate it for a while, after 2000 miles the brakes will be back to normal. The rust will cause a bit of brake grabbing at first, besides the pulsing. But as long as it's not deeply pitted the brakes will eventually smooth out.

Ted

Thanks for the tip. I may actually end up doing this. Last night I thought I would swap out the rotors. I pulled off the wheel and started to take things apart. That's when I noticed that you can't just pull the rotor off one the caliper is off. For reasons that I can't fathom Honda designed the system in such a way that you need to get the hub off to swap out the rotors. Every other car I have worked on, about a dozen, don't require this stupidity. The rotor fits right over the hub and slips right off. The brake pads need to be replaced, so I will do that tonight and wait till it gets warmer to actually switch the rotors.

--------------- Alex

it's not just loosely held onto the hub by a little machine screw? weird. I knew there was a reason I preferred VWs.

nate

I wish. There are 4 substantial screws that hold the rotor to the hub. Unfortunately the rotor is behind the hub, so you need to take things apart to get the rotor out.

-------------- Alex

If its like a 95 Accord you need a slide hammer to take it off

If not ball joint ,upper and lower and tie rod , careful with the abs sensor and get the disk pressed off

Sorry for not adding that in Japan they do not have the same road treatment and conditions as we do

They pretty much never have to replace rotors ever over there unless its grinding .

We also have an 1988 Accord in the family and it doesn't use the same stupid design. It uses the more common simple one. It's as if the newer car went backwards.

-------------- Alex

I found a web site that has excellent instructions and pictures on how to do the job. This is for a Honda Accord, but it is exactly the same procedure for the Acura TL 2.5

I haven't tried it yet, I want to see if I can find a place that will rent or loan me a hub puller before I take things apart. I also need to get a 36mm socket.

------------ Alex

that's still a dumb design.

I have a heavier-duty version of that puller that you're looking for; if you have trouble finding one, post back, I can tell you where to get the one I have, but it's not cheap. It's used for removing rear hubs from cars with tapered axles and comes with a "striker" so you can tighten it with a 3 lb. hammer.

Actually come to think of it I have one without the striker as well. I'll have to see if it would work on a 4-lug hub or only a 5-lug.

The 36mm socket should be pretty common as I believe older VWs used the same size hub nuts.

nate

Agreed! Earlier and later Hondas don't use this stupid design.

In my web search, I have seen pictures of these pullers. Someone else sent me a different set of instructions that require the use of a puller. You have to detach the ball joint and tie rod from the hub. They pull the SV joint from the hub. YOu then remove the 4 screw and replace them with

4 longer screws. You then use a pneumatic hammer to vibrate and know the hub/disc/bearing assembly off of the knuckle. I'm going to try the puller method first since you don't need to dissassemble so many parts. I'll find out this weekend.

Yup, very common. Shouldn't be too expensive either, under $10. Turns out Mini filters also use a 36mm socket.

-------------- Alex

Dont bother wasting your time with the 4 bolts on the outside of the outer cv shaft , doesnt work.

Slide hammer or take the knuckle off and have it pressed off.