2001 Accord- 170K on brake pads! And a tip

[ledslinger]

My wife's Accord (we bought new) now has 200K on it. The first set of front pads I changed at 25-30K. The Honda replacement set I just changed (not down to the indicator) lasted 170K, with a woman driving!

She has listened to how I have taught her to drive and heeded the lessons. People who accelerate and brake quickly drive her nuts. She has made her clutch last 200K, also enduring two kids learning to drive a stick.

Kinda strange the original set lasted 30K and OEM replacement lasted 170K. Any ideas on that?

I learned something about working on discs I didn't know: clean between the boot and the piston (brakekleen on a cloth or paper towel) before retracting the piston.

 

[finalyzd]

Wow got your moneys worth. Original brake fluid?

 

[JHZR2]

Not hard to do if you are gentle and respect physics. Congrats on you and your wife knowing how to drive properly... It is a rarity indeed!

 

[daves87rs]

Wow!

 

[Steve S]

I hate auto transmissions!!

 

[ledslinger]

Brake fluid changed regularly, the car gets way above average maintence. I'm a mechanic.

 

[crazyoildude]

I assume you mean the rear brakes...

 

[ledslinger]

Fronts. The rears are original and don't need changing at 200K.

 

[JimPghPA]

No one could come close to that here in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. You are always going up a hill, or down a hill, or stopping and starting for a light, or slowing down for a turn or traffic. Tires also do not last long on these hills.

 

[SIXSPEED]

Originally Posted By: ledslinger

I learned something about working on discs I didn't know: clean between the boot and the piston (brakekleen on a cloth or paper towel) before retracting the piston.
Do you mean clean the boot it self or only where the boot meets the piston? Thx!

 

[HTSS_TR]

If you think the front OEM pads lasted 25-30K miles is not good, you will be very mad with my wife driving style, her brand new 2000 MB E430 original front OEM pads lasted 10k miles, rear pads lasted 18k miles and all 4 tires had to be changed at 14k miles. Brake pads and tires for E430 aren't cheap either.

 

[XCELERATIONRULES]

Drive it like you stole it!
Shesh.

 

[ledslinger]

SIXSPEED- Clean between the boot and the piston, that way when the piston is pushed back in the boot is riding on a clean piston and not on dirt.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
No one could come close to that here in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. You are always going up a hill, or down a hill, or stopping and starting for a light, or slowing down for a turn or traffic. Tires also do not last long on these hills.


OP- Very impressive, and a very good driver! No one living in Long Island would have brakes go that long. A daily commute for the 9:00-5:00'er driving into any of the 5 boroughs would wear those brakes out in probably 30,000-40,000 miles, or less. The rears would last longer though. It is not uncommon for a 20 mile ride to take an hour or more of stop and go during rush hour. This is day in and day out.

 

[cchase]

Oddly enough with 60k on our Accord the rear pads have already had to be replaced and the fronts still look new.

 

[kb01]

Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
No one could come close to that here in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. You are always going up a hill, or down a hill, or stopping and starting for a light, or slowing down for a turn or traffic. Tires also do not last long on these hills.


Completely agree -- I lived in Pittsburgh (Oakland, Squirrel Hill and Edgewood) for 10 years. I went through brakes and tires like crazy when I lived there. Between the road salt, pot holes, hills, and aggressive driving, it's definitely a rough city for cars.

 

[antonmnster]

While I certainly respect someone taking care of their car, I personally go for quality of stopping over quantity of miles.

We had a Volvo 850 and later an Audi A6 where someone put in some cheap pads. They probably would have lasted forever, but they had no bite! We almost broke the seat in the Volvo trying to see if we could get some ABS action on dry pavement. We couldn't!

On both those cars, we decided to do total brake jobs despite the fact that all the pads looked new. I'd really rather pay a few bucks and know that I have reliable performance when I need it!

This isn't to say that the Accord's brakes are the same... just a semi-off-topic point...

 

[mechtech2]

That is a very long time for pad life!
Condition must be very good for this to occur.

 

[flanso]

Originally Posted By: cchase
Oddly enough with 60k on our Accord the rear pads have already had to be replaced and the fronts still look new.

cchase, look at this link:
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/...nda-brake-suit/

 

[crazyoildude]

mercedes are not the most reliable car any more by any means my neighbor has a 2009 and it stalled out on the N.J. Long Island Expressway and had to be towed (bad fuel pump)
Now he says the transmission is shifting strangly guess he should have asked me or at least got a copy of consumer reports to see all the black marks