Ate Pads

[Gotch]

Got a weird one here, I would like to know if anyone else has had issues with Ate pads.

First off, the pads in question where fitting to a 06 Honda Civic LX.

Second....I've never had this happen. I'm completely thorough (anal? lol) about brake installs. Caliper pins are clean and lubed to OEM spec, etc. Cleanlyness is next to ...lyness...

The iner pads were completely worn out. These are the pads next to the caliper cylinder. The outers still had lots of meat. Both inners worn out the same... Proper bedding...I'm at a loss...

Up to the point of the wear indicator they performed flawlessly. Really good pads.

Anyways, just wanted to share. Anyone with the same issues?

 

[SLCraig]

I've only ever seen that happen if the slides are frozen.
Although I have heard of some pads not quite fitting right even brand new right out of the box. Did you verify that the pads on the outside weren't jamming in the caliper?

There's really only 1 or 2 things it could be..

 

[Tegger]

Outer pad is stuck, or caliper is unable to slide on the pins.

When you installed/removed the pads, did they go in/out with absolutely NO effort whatsoever? And I mean almost dropping out of their own accord.

If you had to lever them out, then they are too tight. This can happen with either 1) aftermarket pads, or 2) mount-bracket surfaces that are corroded. Did you remove the stainless shims from the caliper mount bracket and have a look at the metal underneath?

 

[GSCJR]

Sounds like the inboard pads could not handle the stress from the hydraulic system. Heavy footed? Or possibly the lining is not model specific, for example, they make a batch of lining and slap it on all makes/models. I have used their rotors before...not impressive.

 

[oldhp]

Did you squeeze the piston back in with out opening bleeder?
If so you could have lodged piece of crud into the master cylinder or ABS system that is trapping line pressure to front brakes. It wouldn't take much and it will do exactly as you describe here.
Press on brake pedal and let off, can you turn rotor with out excessive drag? If not sure, repeat and crack bleeder screw, does it turn freer now? If it does you found problem and need to flush system.
Hope This Helps!

 

[javacontour]

Originally Posted By: Tegger

When you installed/removed the pads, did they go in/out with absolutely NO effort whatsoever? And I mean almost dropping out of their own accord.



It was a Civic, not an Accord. So they would be dropping out of their own Civic

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: javacontour
It was a Civic, not an Accord. So they would be dropping out of their own Civic

I set myself up for that one, didn't I?

 

[Donald]

It most likely is something weird. Both sides are not going to have the pins freeze up.

Did you open the bleeder when you pushed the piston back in?

 

[LeakySeals]

My dad had a frozen caliper and didn't know it until he had a complete loss of braking, complete loss of fluid. Serious heat damage from the dragging caliper/pad. Had to replace the caliper, rotor, even the hub and aluminum rim! The rim cracked from the heat! According to the second mechanic the first mechanic pushed the piston back on an angle and it got stuck.

 

[Gotch]

Bleeders open...check. Pads slip right in place...check (not my first brake job lol). I even have a custom made c-clamp so that the piston goes in straight. Very strange that BOTH inner pads were worn out the same. That was my first set of Ate pads and rotors. Might be my last.

Thanks for the ideas guys. I'm pretty sure I didn't overlook anything.

 

[Vikas]

I thought you meant your car ate the pads as in it had them for lunch! If both inner did that then it seems like manufacturing defect to me.

 

[ChrisW]

What are you using on the caliper slide pins? Sil-glyde is really the only stuff I've found to NOT swell up rubber parts; I used to use CRC stuff but that stuff swells up rubber on me. The green permatex stuff didn't last for me. O=f course for metal to metal contact points I sometimes use the CRC stuff, but nowadays a lot of the pad hardware kits are available rubber coated. Did you replace the pad hardware as well as the slide pin boots and bushings if applicable? I'd check the slider pins for wear and replace along with new pad hardware and pinboots/bushings. I too have only had inner pads wear faster than outer when I had stuck pins or pins that did not slide freely. I used to reuse pad hardware, but it's so cheap at O'Reilly's and the better pad kits come with new hardware it just saves trouble and cuts down on noise. I highly doubt that the ATE pads used a different formulation for the inner pads with the wear tab; you could probably verify this by looking for the friction stamp on the inner and outboard pads. I thought that the NAPA adaptive-one pads were the only ones on the market with different frictions on inner and outboard?