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Hi Eric,
Firstly Thanks Man for all the Awesome video’s you post, it’s like taking online classes on car repair’s. I really really appreciate your time & Effort !
I have a 2006 Honda Civic Coupe EX (Auto Tran) model car, & since the start of this crazy winter in Boston MA, I have had this problem of my driver side rear wheel getting locked/Frozen up after releasing the E-Brake. The driver side rear wheel is locked & feels like it’s dragging on one side initially for a minute or 2 then it moves fine, the most uncomfortable part is that the problem seems to be intermittent. After analyzing the problem a bit I realized that I’m having this Problem only on days when it gets really cold say like when it’s below 30F. On days when Temp is good, it works fine, I release the E brake & the car runs smoothly. I had a local mechanic look into it, but he was too busy closing his workshop on a Friday evening & didn’t even properly checked my problem & confirmed it’s a caliper Issue, which I doubt, I have a genuine reason to doubt his opinion too.
My Question is if it was to be really a caliper Issue the problem should be there forever, whenever I’m applying the Ebrake & releasing it but In my case it’s occurring only on the days when it’s getting really cold & that’s when the cable release seems to be frozen on the rear driver side caliper. Once I drive down the hill like 0-30 feet from my apartment the wheels seem to rotate fine & all the brakes (Front & Back) work fine too without any issue.
Is it advisable to apply some WD-40 to the caliper knob where the Ebrake cable is attached & check if that releases it properly as a solution or would you strongly recommend to have my caliper replaced with new one, currently I have 60K miles on my car & would like to know how often should a caliper be replaced.
Since most of the Braking is done by the front wheel caliper’s in my civic how much of a significant impact the Rear caliper’s have on the overall braking system of the car ?
Please advise, I’m trying to save some bucks here & at the same time trying to opt for the safest option.
Thanks,
Naicy
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Replies
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That mechanic sounds like he didn’t really do a good job checking your car. If you’re not sure what’s wrong with the car go to someone else for another opinion. Also, do you engage your e-brake every time you park your car? Is the brake fluid clean? Are there any grooves in the rotors? I would check a few other things before buying a new caliper. 60,000 miles is a little early for a caliper to go. It may be something more simple.
Having said that, the ’06 Civics have a record of very strange brake problems. In fact, there was a class action lawsuit filed due to uneven wear on the pads as well as premature wear on the pads. Have the brakes ever been serviced over the 60,000 mile life of the car? The article says people were changing pads at 10k and 15k. I know your car’s issue may be unrelated to these problems, but you never know. The link is below. Good luck.
I sent the wrong link. I added some that might help you below. I also added a link to the 8th gen civic website that discusses the same issue. Again, good luck.
Links on brake lawsuit:
http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/02/honda_civic_brakes_lawsuit.php
http://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Civic/2006/brakes/brakes_wear_out_prematurely.shtmlLink on rear brakes locking:
http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/mechanical-problems-technical-chat/274511-honda-civic-rear-brake-jammed.htmlHonestly you’re probably going to need a caliper. This video may help with the diagnosis and replacement. BTW, it’s probably not a bad idea to service the caliper to make sure that the proper lubricants are in the proper places and the caliper pins move freely.
One more thing I almost forgot was a sticking brake cable. This happens from time to time on Hondas. The diagnosis is pretty simple. Disconnect the cable from the caliper and see if the lever goes back further to rest. If it does then it could be a cable OR the pivot under the ‘hump’ in the floor where the 2 cables connect. I see this often. You can often fix it with some penetrating oil and working it back and forth. Thing is you need to drop the exhaust and the shield above it to get to the cable connection.
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