Alright guys, I really hope someone can enlighten me a bit more

I'm new to the forum but basically I have a 1999 Honda Civic LX which has about 285,000 miles on it. I've taken great care of the engine so I plan on it running for at least another 100,000 miles (plus I don't have money for a new car anyway)

Now, about 4 months ago I noticed there was a mild amount of noise and some brake pedal pulsation when braking from about 60-20 mph. It is certainly coming from the front right side so I might assume it's my front right rotor..

The thing is, there is no shaking or feeling from that in the steering wheel, which many people claim to have when they have a warped rotor, just pulsation in the brake pedal when braking at higher speeds.

Before I go out and spend $80 on new rotors which I will probably install myself, I just wanted to find out if anyone had any other ideas on what it might be. I took it to one mechanic and he said it doesn't seem like they're warped but frankly I believe you'd need a tool to measure that.

I've also sanded down the rotors with 80 grit paper because they had a mirror-like finish so I figured the burn marks on them could have been doing that... it seemed to help until I braked from a 60 mph speed and noticed the pedal pulsation was still there.

I already have installed new brake pads to see if that could have been the culprit (as the old ones were more than halfway gone and about 4 years old) but that made no difference so I took them off and put the old ones back on at least until I get new rotors (if needed)

Any information would be greatly appreciated, I will check back frequently, hopefully there will be some ideas after I get home from work later on tonight.

Thanks to everyone,
Daniel Kablack

 

Replace both front rotors. You can buy new ones for $24-$27 each at an auto parts store. Also buy a $10 impact driver set to remove the two rotor screws. If they are completely rusted, you may need to drill them out. No need to replace them with new screws because they are unnecessary.

 

yeah i would replace both rotors too. mine just got warped a couple months ago, had the same symptoms you described, pulsating when braking at higher speeds. after i had them replaced everything is working fine.

 

Yup, you need a dial indicator that's reading accurately if you want to check for run-out (how warped it is); it's not something you can usually tell by looking at it (though, as a dealer tech, I have seen some rotors warped to the point where you could tell by looking). With warped rotors, there's usually a vibration in the steering wheel, but not always.

If the rotors are still thick enough, you could have a machine shop turn them (which usually doesn't cost much), but like RonJ implied, rotors for a civic are pretty cheap. Personally, I don't bother with an impact driver and just drill the screws out; they're there to hold the rotor in place during assembly. Once the wheels are on, the lug nuts hold the rotor in place.

 

Listen to Ron J. I put rotors on my 93 Civic that were Chinese and were 10/ea. I frankly couldn't understand how they could put them in a box and get them here for that amount of money. Anyway, the impact driver is key or you will strip out the phillips screws that hold the rotors onto the hub. Also, when you get the new ones on, be sure to use a torque wrench to install your wheels in a cross pattern. I put mine at 85 ft/lb. and have never had a rotor warp doing so. My rotors were warped from previous owners and installations.

Ed in Dallas

 

Thanks for the response everyone

It seems like I will have to replace the rotors.. unfortunately they're almost $40 a piece here in southwestern PA... (advance auto parts) any idea where I could get them cheaper?

1999 Honda Civic LX

 

Call around to other auto parts stores. The prices I quoted were from AutoZone and O'Reilly.

 

Thanks RonJ

I checked in with AutoZone they have the same spec rotor but for only $24.99 looks like I'll just replace them later this week... along with my spark plug wires.. it seems they might be an issue.. I'm having trouble accelerating sometimes it seems like the engine is getting bogged down, mostly on humid or rainy days.

Anyone know how long a distributor cap and rotor lasts? I've had this one just under 80,000 miles.

 

At least clean the contact points on the cap and rotor, but you should really replace both.