Few random questions

[Brogy]

Hi, I have a few different questions, so ill just post them all at once. My car is a 1994 honda accord LX, which I bought not even a week ago.

First, it needs new brake pads, and the rotors are a little warped so im getting new ones of them too. Does it pay to get a name brand rotor, or am I better off just getting whatevers cheapest? And does anyone know of the OEM pad type? I was thinking of getting ceramic, would it be a good idea to get expencive pads and cheap rotors?

Also when I look at rotors online, it says for "akebono" calipers or "nissin" calipers, does anyone know what my car has?

Second, I just replaced my radiator today, and thermostat. Everything went well, before I replaced my thermostat the temperature gauge hovered below the half way mark, and now it's at the same mark, is this normal for hondas? I got the OEM temperature, 172 degrees.

Also, theres a noticable whirring/winding noise coming from the engine when it's at 3000rpm and above, any idea what it is? It gets louder with speed, and it's coming from the right side of the engine, by the fanbelts/master cylinders.

And in general, how reliable are these cars? When I bought it, the guy had 2 containers of brake fluid in the trunk, and a bottle of half empty antifreeze? And when I drained the radiator, the fluid looked brand new. Also the transmission has "93 honda" written on it, which makes me think they replaced the original one.

Anything I should look out for? This weekend im going to replace the valve cover gasket (it's leaking oil into the spark plug holes), and replace all the fluids. Whenever I accelerate or decelerate my front left wheel makes a sound like I just ran over a glass bottle, any clues? I didnt take the wheel off yet (doing that tommorow) but I looked under the car, and the area looked OK.

Thanks.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Ceramics tend to leave more brake residue than standard brakes, I personally don't like them too well. I'm using OEM Honda brakes on my Integra, and I like them a lot. They seem to last quite a while too. I believe your car has the Nissin calipers, that's what mine has. I have a whirring/winding noise in my car too, whenever I accelerate but it's at any RPM except idle. I think it might be my A/C compressor but I might be wrong. In my old Altima it was the alternator causing that kind of noise. Besides routine maintenance it should be really reliable

keep an eye on the ball joints and cv axle/boots. That could be your wheel bearing or perhaps your cv joint. Good luck!

 

[Squishy]

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First, it needs new brake pads, and the rotors are a little warped so im getting new ones of them too. Does it pay to get a name brand rotor, or am I better off just getting whatevers cheapest? And does anyone know of the OEM pad type? I was thinking of getting ceramic, would it be a good idea to get expencive pads and cheap rotors?

Also when I look at rotors online, it says for "akebono" calipers or "nissin" calipers, does anyone know what my car has?

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Your car likely came with semi-metallic pads. If you have fancy rims, get ceramic pads as they are low dust, and whatever dust they produce is white instead of black (ThirdeYe, where did you get the idea that ceramics dust more?). If you are still on steelies, you'll probably want carbon metallic pads as they offer slightly better grab.

Brembo makes great blank rotors, which are ideal for normal street use. Slotted rotors are more expensive but tend to 'shave' the brake pad during use, which gives you better response the next time brakes are applied. It also allows gasses between the pad and rotor to escape. Cross-drilled rotors don't really offer any improvements in my opinion, and increase the possibility of a cracked rotor if the holes aren't chamfered correctly. I would avoid the cheap rotors, as they tend to wear very fast and/or warp very easily. As to your car coming with different calipers, it likely has something to do with a rear disc option. If no one replies with a definitive answer, try Googling to see if your car came with one type of front caliper matched with drums, and another type with discs in the rear.

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Second, I just replaced my radiator today, and thermostat. Everything went well, before I replaced my thermostat the temperature gauge hovered below the half way mark, and now it's at the same mark, is this normal for hondas? I got the OEM temperature, 172 degrees.

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I have no experience with your specific car, but my Pontiac does the same thing. The temperature gauge only rises to the 1/4 mark, even though I've replaced and tested the thermostat.

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Also, theres a noticable whirring/winding noise coming from the engine when it's at 3000rpm and above, any idea what it is? It gets louder with speed, and it's coming from the right side of the engine, by the fanbelts/master cylinders.

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That sounds like a pulley bearing starting to go.

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And in general, how reliable are these cars? When I bought it, the guy had 2 containers of brake fluid in the trunk, and a bottle of half empty antifreeze? And when I drained the radiator, the fluid looked brand new. Also the transmission has "93 honda" written on it, which makes me think they replaced the original one.

Anything I should look out for? This weekend im going to replace the valve cover gasket (it's leaking oil into the spark plug holes), and replace all the fluids. Whenever I accelerate or decelerate my front left wheel makes a sound like I just ran over a glass bottle, any clues? I didnt take the wheel off yet (doing that tommorow) but I looked under the car, and the area looked OK.

Thanks.

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I've always avoided Hondas and other imports because ricers scare me

but any car should be fairly reliable if you keep up the maintenance. Manufacturers tend to overestimate the performance of transmission fluids, so I usually do two or three fluid changes in each recommended service interval.

The broken glass noise is a new one to me. Could the noise also be described as a click or clunk? Bearings usually show up as a grinding noise, although some creative failure modes generate odd noises. Clunking is usually a suspension component like a strut, ball joint, or sway bar end links. Clicking could be your CV joints going bad. Lift up the car, take off the wheel, and start pulling/shaking things to see if you can reproduce the noise. Check your CV boots as well to see if there are any tears.

 

[ThirdeYe]

I was told that about the Ceramics by a local brake/muffler/shocks shop that my sister just had her brakes done at, they put ceramics on it because they didn't have any standard brakes left, and they told us that they would generate more brake dust -shrugs-

 

[Squishy]

Odd. Maybe they were referring to that specific brand of ceramic pads producing more dust than usual, or the shop guy was a little confused. Carbon metallic pads are the ones that dust heavily. I usually recommend ceramic brakes to anyone not running on steelies, unless they just don't care about the car's appearance or do a lot of towing.

 

[ThirdeYe]

I have steelies on my car, but she has ZO6 corvette wheels on her firebird formula, and I guess I haven't really noticed that much dust on her wheels but I noticed that the pads aren't touching the rotor completely on the back left, it's rusty for 75% of the rotor.

 

[Merkava_4]

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Ceramics tend to leave more brake residue than standard brakes,

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I thought it was the other way around.

I've got semi-metalics on there now and they're spewing out brake dust every day.

The brown-reddish dust from #@$%!.

 

[The Critic]

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Ceramics tend to leave more brake residue than standard brakes

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Within every type of brake pad, there will be pads formulated for different applications. The application that the pads were formulated for will determine the brake dust, noise, stopping performance, rotor life, and pad life characteristics of that particular pad. As a result, it is unfair to generalize that all ceramic pads are low dust, long life, or all semi-metallic pads being noisy and dusty. In fact, I can think of two pads right now that go against the traditional stereotype of ceramic pads (quiet, dust free) or semi-metallic pads (noisy, dusty).

To answer the original question, it is never a mistake to spend a bit more when it comes to brakes for better quality parts. Generally, more expensive parts are of a higher quality and you are more likely to be satisfied with their performance and life, if you choose carefully that is.

The Brembo OEM fitment rotors run about $50/each for most cars, sometimes less, and tend to be a very high quality rotor. In a pinch, AutoZone’s Duralast rotors seem to be of a decent quality as well.

For pads, it’s hard to beat Akebono ProACTs. They are one of the few ceramic pads that do not compromise braking performance (in fact, they often deliver better braking performance) while exhibiting 0 noise, low rotor wear, long life, and low dust. They are priced quite reasonably as well, around $50/axle for many cars. Try www.rockauto.com and check on FatWallet for the 5% discount code.

 

[mechtech2]

Get new cheap rotors. Clean them before assembly! Also the mating surface on the hub - do a good job and use a little anti seize there.
The whine could be the belt, or a pulley, oor an accessory, like an alternator.

 

[Anduril]

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And in general, how reliable are these cars? When I bought it, the guy had 2 containers of brake fluid in the trunk, and a bottle of half empty antifreeze? And when I drained the radiator, the fluid looked brand new. Also the transmission has "93 honda" written on it, which makes me think they replaced the original one.

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Funny you should mention this, as I always carry a spare jug of oil, tools, flashlight, jump-starter, can of seafoam, bottle of ARX, a few lengths of wire, and some crimp connectors in a big toolbox in my trunk. I'm sure there's more back there, but that's all I can remember off the top of my head. I've only had to use any of that stuff once, and that was to replace a melted ground wire on my gf's car (got too close to a coolant hose), but the fact that I carry all that stuff back there might make you think that my car is about to fall apart from under me.