Brake Issue on my 08 Accord after accident?

Question

Back in April I got into a minor accident in which the other vehicle was exiting a private drive and hit me as I was going down the middle lane during rush hour. My car sustained the most damage to the rear passenger side affecting my door, tire area and bumper. My tire was completely crushed and bent every which way so it had to be towed away. Well it took a month to get repaired at the Honda body shop and when I finally got it back the TPMS sensor was on so I immediately took it back and it went away. Everything was fine thereafter until a few weeks ago I started hearing a heavy grinding noise every time I pushed the brakes to come to a stop. It is significantly loudest in the morning and at lunchtime it is still there but not as bad and come time to go home after work it’s almost out of earshot doing it occasionally!!! I have gone back to Honda twice already in which they took apart the brake to check but told me that they could not find anything wrong with it at all! When I picked it up I was told that from what they could hear the noise is normal wear and tear so there would be nothing that they could do about it. I just know this is not “normal” and I will continue to be persistent with Honda as I am very frustrated and so my reason for writing all of this is because I wanted to see if anyone out there has experienced anything like this or could point me in the right direction as to what it could possibly be? Thanks!

Answer 1

There are some 'normal' conditions that can occur that cause your problem now and not back when you had the accident.  It is quite probable that the noise from the brakes and the accident are unrelated.

I don't know where you live but in the Summer time the humidity is greater than in the Spring or Winter.  Temperatures are higher as well.  If you're in a coastal area or an area with fog that has a multiplying effect on humidity.

Humidity does two things that can cause the grinding noise that you hear.  The first is that it will cause the brake rotors to rust overnight.  The brake rotors are the metal discs that the brake pads press against.  I know it sounds odd, but if you look through the wheels of any new car parked on your dealer's lot  you'll see that the brake discs are rusted.  What happens when you apply your brakes the first few times in the morning is that the brake pads that press against the disc scrub the rust off.  As the rust breaks up you hear the grinding noise.  when the rust is gone, so is the noise which could explain why you don't hear the noise later in the day.  Keep in mind that the rust gets on the brake pads when they scrub off the discs so the noise may not go away entirely.

the second thing that happens with humidity is that it causes the brake dust to form hard concrete-like balls on the brake rotors and brake pads.  I don't know how many miles you have on the car or how many miles you have driven since April but a normal byproduct of driving and braking is that the friction material on the brake pads wears down.  when the brake pads wear they give off a "brake dust".  That brake dust is the gray residue you see on chrome or alloy wheels.  When the humidity is higher it wets the dust and forms almost a 'concrete' type mix.  Similar to the rust, when you brake first time in the morning the brake pads press the concrete against the rotors and it grinds it back into dust.  The grinding noise in that case is again 'normal' and goes away after the dust is redistributed or blown away.

Abnormal wear related to our accident would typically show up as tire wear.  If the suspension were damaged to a point where the brakes were affected the brake caliper that holds the brake pads wouldn't fit properly; the result could be a car that pulls in one direction or another or a continualy noise that resulted in pads wearing unevenly (one pad wearing more than the other or one side wearing more than the other).  Those conditions are so obvious that any competent technician could recognize a 'problem' immediately.

When in doubt, take it back to the body shop that did the work if it is one that is not a part of the dealership or pay someone else to check the brakes.  You may also consider leaving the car overnight at the dealership so that you can duplicate the noise for a technician in the morning.  I can assure you that when it comes to brakes only a fool would try to tell you there isn't a problem when there is because of the tremendous liability involved.  

Hope that helps

Answer 2

Are you fairly sure the noise is coming from the same wheel? The other side could have been affected as well. It sounds like you're going to have to take it to another dealer to get it diagnosed. Hopefully they'll be more helpful. Funny noises are certainly not normal in a Honda. It does just sound like something in the brake is misaligned, or maybe for some reason, they cut the rotor incorrectly. It's obviously hard to diagnose over the internet. If they acknowledge that they hear it, that's a start I'm betting they don't actually have a body shop and took it to their affiliate. If you paid them, then they're responsible. You're just going to have to keep arguing to keep it on the front burner. Try and have someone sit in the back seat and listen carefully to isolate which wheel it's coming from. That will help your case. If it's normal, why would only one side do it?