Honda Civic driving and breaking issues

C

chris20051

Registered User
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Hi All,

Im having a spot of bother with my Honda Civic Family Saloon Year 00 1.4 Petrol car, I have been to my car mechanic 4 times and he says all is ok but im not happy so here it goes.

1st major problem when driving on motorway speeds, if I press the break my steering wheel shakes the more I keep my foot on the break the more the steering wheel shakes while the car is slowing down this is very annoying, my mechanic replaced the front discs and pads 3 months ago the issue disappared but came back months later, could it really be the discs and pads again?

2nd minor problem the car seems to go more left when driving I had the alignment checked etc but everything is fine.

so my question did anyone have a simlar issue like mine, any suggestions, im all for going to another mechanic but I don't want to be putting more money after bad when the problem cannot be resolved, P.S my Mechanic had my car several times and checked everything and could not find any problems he said the car is perfect when he drove the car himself he found no problems I asked about the wheel bearning and he said it was fine.

Thanks for your suggestions.
 
If your getting vibration during braking "only" at speed then its likely that your disks have warped once again. I presume your mechanic actually checked them before they were replaced rather than just having a guess!!.

If they are warped again then there is another problem causing the warping. So either you drive around like Michael Schumacher just out of retirement braking hard and often or the caliper is sticking causing the disk to heat up excessively causing it to overheat and warp.

I think the best option is to get the disk acculturately checked with a dial gauge to ensure that the disk is actually warped! If it is then the problem needs to be found before replacing with new disks. If Its not the disks then I would be looking at the Steering rack inner and outer track rod ends. Wheel bearing will generally give a vibration over a certain speed and may not occur when braking.
 
Issue solved this is been currently Investigated however is looks like my mechanic fitted the wrong size pads so while breaking the pads were moving and caused breaking issues and disc damage, now I have the correct pads and new disks and all is fine, now i just have an issue with the car going to the left sometimes mainly at speed, got the tracking checked and all is ok here, so maybe because the car is 11 years old it may pull to the left slightly, could be the tyres either, however all seems fine now, im taking it easy on breaks and hopefully the problem doesn't occur, im a very careful driver in my Honda civic family saloon
 
Hi Joey,

So the problem is back!!! I cannot believe it, so lets say the caliper is sticking should at least one rim be hotter than the rest? ive done this test and all rims are not any hotter than each other, in fact all the wheel rims stay cool, I have also jacked but the car and checked the wheel for loosness(wheel bearing) all seems fine there, any other suggestions or checks I can do before I have to bring it back to the garage? (Cash flow is getting tight)

How can I check the Steering rack inner and outer track rod ends myself? is there any test I can carry out, what should I be looking for?

Thanks
Chris
 
I would check that the new discs are sitting absolutely flush against the hub. You need to really clean this area before putting on new discs. The real test as others have said is to put a dial test indicator on it. It would be very unusual for them to warp after such a short time unless major cheap quality.

To test for any play, jack up car and rock wheels side to side and top to bottom and see if any unnecessary knocking or play.
 
Hi,
Instead of bringing it back to the mechanics each time, have you tried a place like "fast fit"? Think that they do free checks on things like this & explain the situation to them... they should be able to help you out...
 
Personally I would stay away from places like these - they are predominantly tyre and exhaust guys. Often they do not have trained mechanics so best to go to the specialists.
 
Hi,

Same issue appears again, I have the car 10 months now and discs and pads has been changed three times, each time I get approx 2000 miles then the problem vibration during braking "only" comes back, now im stating to look at the break callipers and break lines, the fluid level is fine, I got the fluid changed a couple of months ago, should I replace the break callipers at this stage or get them rebuilt?, how do I check the break lines for leaks(but the fluid level is fine so im thinking there is no leaks), as this is getting very expensive I would like to try and DIY if possible, can anyone with experience in this area please let me know what u think?

Note: My car always pulls slightly to left and the break discs on front get hot very quickly, one disc is not hotter than the other, they are both the same, I break very little as im on the motorway everyday with very little traffic

Thanks
Chris
 
Chris,

Generally the root cause to vibration thing is pads wearing to fast/sticking caliper etc. It certainly sounds like you've been hitting your head against a wall on this. I do notice no-one has mentioned getting your wheels balance checked.

This fixed a problem on an old punto I have, problem statement was slightly different(had vibrations when breaking and when climbing from 100 kmh to 120 kmh) but its worth a check. You said you can jackup the car, do this and spin the wheels fast with your hand. If it looks to have an un-even waver a tiny bit this could be causing the uneven friction on your pads causing them to wear and have this problem.

It might be easier to go in and ask a mechanic to do the balance checks anyways, they are cheap and shouldnt cost you more than 30-40 euro. Will also improve your fuel consumption!
 
thanks for the reply taxedparent car is in the garage now awaiting good or bad news, c the problem is once I change the pads and discs the car runs perfect for 2000miles which is my case is about 3.5 weeks of motorway driving, there must be something up with the calipers maybe they are not releasing correctly and the pads are touching the discs plus the car is pulling to the left but not very much, im hoping on a cheap fix otherwise could be very expensive, over the next few days I’ll have an answer if the new garage can help, I’ll report back either way...
 
Garage said cheap break pads are no good on Honda's as they wear done unevenly, they need to install better ones made for Honda's on Saturday and balanace, track and swap wheels around as car was pulling slightly to left when driving, could the cheap break pads be the root cause of my expensive!!! im shocked, but time till tell......calaipers are fine nothing wrong with them.....
 
Had a honda civic for many many years - no issue with the brake pads... got them in fast fit when they needed to be replaced - so I assume a generic brand was used.... never heard of that issue... but I ain't an expert... Hope the issue gets sorted for you anyway...
 
Hi,

Quick update so far so good car fixed, better quality break pads fixed the problem, i cannot believe the pads were the issue the whole time, mechanic told me because of the cheap pads been used they were over heating and wrapping the discs the pads were wearing down quickly causing the "vibration under breaking" now I have better break pads installed and the material on the new pads does not heat up the discs like before, yipee!!! I can now enjoy driving my Honda

Thanks all for your help
Chris
 
MFK said:
Personally I would stay away from places like these - they are predominantly tyre and exhaust guys. Often they do not have trained mechanics so best to go to the specialists.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. Actually I'd stay away from them for exhausts and tyres too. I've been to a few of these kind of places and have had 1/ a wheelnut sheared off and the hubcap put back on (not a word said on collection of the car) and 2/ Exhaust mounting bracked broken off in a bid to welly-fit the wrong exhaust to my car.
 
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