Situation: 07 Honda Civic, front disc brakes, rear drums. Front brakes were replaced in the past year but I don't recall when. I also don't recall the rotors being replaced.

In the past couple months the brakes have developed an extremely annoying grinding/screeching noise that seems to come and go. The more I use the brakes, the louder and more "grindy" they sound (and feel) but if I go for a good stretch on the highway and don't use them, the noise seems to go away?

I took it back to the mechanic I use who did the brakes and he insists everything looks fine with them but acknowledged they do make noise when heating up after use. He told me the brakes are still strong and good and he could try using different pads, but couldn't guarantee it would make the noise go away.

What is going on here? The old brakes never did this! It's really driving me crazy.

More than likely its just the pads are loud. Try changing out to Advance Auto gold pads or something like that.

Grinding in my experience has always meant the pads were gone and metal was rubbing the rotor.

The fact that it comes and goes is weird. That with you mechanic saying everything looked good. Something could get stuck on the pad. Unlikely and I don't see that coming and going.

Why is Honda still using drums on a '07? I know the front do most of the work but come on.

I would suggest pulling the wheels and looking at them but seems your mechanic already did that.

I'm guessing it's the pads. I've always replaced my pads, especially the front, with good high-quality ones. I've always had a thing for being able to stop well and no fading after multiple stops. I do my own brakes so spending a little extra on the pads doesn't hurt much.

My wife ended up with some squeaky/loud pads like that. If you trust the mechanic, you're probably good to go. Maybe research the exact pads you've got and see if others have the same issue.

Did he check the rears?

I'm wondering if it could be a bad wheel bearing? This could explain why the grinding is intermittent- sometimes the wheel is aligned properly, so the brake works normally, but starts grinding when the alignment goes out. Would explain why in highway driving everything settles down, as the bearing temporarily settles into a "groove". Just a possibility.

Also possibly a pinched line or caliper hose. Pressure builds up on the wheel side of the pinch keeping caliper partially engaged, but pressure bleeds back off when brakes aren't being used, and the drag goes away.

Beware though, a pinched hose can visibly look good to the naked eye as it's the inner liner that stays collapsed. It usually happens when someone uses a clamp to pinch the hose in hopes of not having to bleed air out of the system when replacing a caliper.

I do this for a living and have seen where a lesser quality brake pad will make more noise than a good quality pad. It seems to be most common when the pads used are inexpensive like when someone gets an $89.99 brake job.

I had a Mazda that would sound like metal on metal intermittently on EVER FRIGGING pad out there EXCEPT factory/dealer pads. Once I installed the factory replacement pad it was fine. We even tried the top of the line ceramic pad from Napa, which are normally great.

One thing you can try, if your mechanic hasn't yet is to grease the BACK of the pads anywhere they contact the caliper. So on the inboard pad you would have a circle where the pad touches the caliper piston, where the pad contact the caliper bracket on the outboard pad, make sure the metal clips the pads slide into and the caliper bracket bolts are lubed also and some Hondas use "U" shaped springs that spread the pads apart after you left of the brakes are in place if applicable.

Email me if none of that makes sense.

It's probably the pad material. Some are just noisy, even though the work was done in good faith. Sometimes the same brand of pads will work fine in one kind of car but not another.

quote:

One thing you can try, if your mechanic hasn't yet is to grease the BACK of the pads anywhere they contact the caliper.

And it is important that where they move in the caliper bracket be lubed. "But that will attract dirt!" people will say. I sometimes have to put the caliper bracket in a vise and beat the pads out with a hammer, but at least they didn't attract dirt. Rust is the problem here.

Metal on metal grinding? Usually (in my experience) that's been a bad pad, or a little rock or chunk of debris/wire between the heat shield and the rotor.

What Rotndad says, for Hondas I only use factory pads and I owned 5 of them. All my other vehicles I use top of the line NAPA.

On my sons Honda Civic about 18 months ago I put new rotors and pads. Six months later I was driving his car and thought a bearing was going. The next weekend he came home I pulled the tires. I had to replace a rear pad and rotor as the pad was not disengaging properly. Noise went away.

Thanks everyone!

So it sounds like my mechanic checked everything out on his work and said they were fine. He even made the comment that they are really strong brakes and would "put you through the windshield" if you hit them hard enough.

I guess my options are to:

1. live with it, which is going to be hard, it's VERY annoying and I have an hour commute each way to work and home every day

2. Get brake pads changed to OEM Honda pads.

Can I get him to put Honda brake pads on? or am I stuck having to go through a dealership?

OEM or quality pads, rotors replaced with quality rotors or lightly resurfaced.
He probably just used a cheap brand of brake pad.

Civics of that time frame had some front brake issues and IIRC there was actually a class action lawsuit filed in CA over it. I have a 2010 and I have not had to touch my rear drums but the dam thing eats pads every 25K. I just did pads last week and next brake job will probably need to include rotors and calipers

Funny, recommending Honda OEM pads now.

Back in my day when I had my '00 Civic, Honda was infamous for paper thin rotors that warped if you looked at them funny, and for OEM pads that lasted forever but didn't have any grip. Possibly why they lasted forever.

So what everybody knew was, if you actually wanted to *stop* you went to aftermarket rotors and pads. The solid but cheap, value oriented aftermarket gear was *cheaper* than OEM parts, as well.

Guess that is no longer quite the case.

I've had consistent success with my Honda OEM pads and rotors.

This is a pretty easy swap if you ant to try yourself.

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
Did he check the rears?

Yes, he said rears were still good and made some adjustments but that seems to have no bearing on the "grindy" sound the fronts make after I use them in traffic.

Anyone can buy Honda OEM pads from Honda. Just walk up to the parts counter at any Honda/Acura dealer and ask for them. I'm sure you can find them online also.

GF has a 2001 Pontiac Gran AM and had the $89 front brake pad and rotor cut at Brake Master recently.

Brakes now squeak/screech and BM said it's the rear brake drums that are glazed.

I said it's the cheap brake pads and just drive the car.

If OP can't find anything wrong, IMO just drive the Honda and next time go with Honda parts.