[stick]

This guide is for the rear disc brakes on a 90-91 CRX (or other CRX's that have been converted to rear discs). The procedures described here are just for one side of the vehicle, but you *must* do both sides. For safety reasons, never only do one side!

Tools Needed:

Lug wrench
Jack and jackstands
10mm wrench or socket/ratchet
12mm wrench or gear-wrench (faster)
14mm wrench or socket/ratchet
Pliers (preferably old beat-up ones) or other brake piston tool
Impact Driver
Caliper grease
Paper towel
Coat hanger
Safety glasses

A note about safety

I cannot stress this enough: Always wear safety glasses when working on your vehicle. Your car is replaceable. Your eyes are not.

Rear Brakes

First, break your lugs loose while the car is still on the ground.

Since you are working on the rear brakes, you will need to put blocks under the front wheels and release the parking brake. Jack up the car and be sure to use a jackstand in addition to the jack, just in case. Remove the wheel.

Remove the dust shield by undoing the two 10mm bolts that hold it on.

Remove the two 12mm caliper bolts using a wrench or a gear wrench (makes faster work of the bolts in such a tight space). Slide the caliper off and hang it from the springs using the coat hanger. The coat hanger will prevent any strain on the brake lines.

Remove the old brake pads and make note of which pads go in which spot.

Compress the caliper piston back in using your pliers or special tool. Rotate it clockwise to push it in or counter-clockwise to pull it out. I took this opportunity to put some caliper grease on the piston (underneath the rubber boot) before compressing it. The grease usually makes the piston slide into place very easily. Wipe up any excess grease with a paper towel. If you cannot get the caliper piston to rotate in either direction, you may have a seized caliper and should replace it. (or rebuild it if you know what you are doing).

Remove the caliper bracket by undoing the two 14mm bolts.

Remove the caliper slider pins from the caliper bracket and clean off any old grease. Check for excessive rust or scoring. Apply caliper grease to the slider pin liberally. Note: Be careful not to remove the slider boot from the caliper braket when pulling out the pins. If you do, you will need to re-seat the slider boot back into the bracket before reinstalling the pins.

Remove the rotor. There are often screws that hold the rotor in place. (My rear hubs were replaced and I can't use screws to hold the rotors on) These may be difficult to remove. I recommend using an impact driver. It will make the job much easier for you.

Install the new rotor and reinstall the caliper bracket. I opted to paint the areas of my rotor that are prone to rust with VHT "Cast aluminum look" caliper paint. This is an optional step. The overspray on the rotor braking surface will wear away immediately once I drive the car. (Note: try to limit the overspray on the braking surface. If you get paint on the braking surface, as I did, you need to wait for it to be 100% dry before installing the rotors. Otherwise, you will contaminate the pads with gummy paint goo).

Apply a small amount of caliper grease to the places indicated in the picture below and install the new pads.

Apply a small amount of caliper grease to the caliper retainers where they will touch the pads. Reinstall the caliper. Reinstall the dust shield.

Put the wheel back on, remove the jack stand and lower the car. Torque down your lug nuts. Pump the brakes a few times to seat the pistons to where they should be. Pull the ebrake. Remove the blocks under the front wheels. Now go test the brakes out around the neighbourhood. Enjoy!

 

[Krix]

Awesome write up stickershop. Couldnt have done it better myself.

My hint: When putting the dust shield back on just snug the bolts up. I had mine snug and went to tighten up a little more and snapped the bolt heads off. Oh and one bolt is not enough to hold it, it rattles like crazy so I took it off.

 

[stick]

Thanks! As you can tell, I modelled the write-up after your Front Brakes How-to. I knew that I was going to have to do my rear brakes soon, so I thought it would be good timing to contribute my *very first* non sticker-related writeup. :lol:

I love installing my own parts. I usually give myself the same budget as if I were going to take it to a shop and get the work done. But instead of spending the money on the labour, I go out and buy nicer parts. The new parts you see in the pics are Brembo blanks and Hawk HPS pads. Some might say it is overkill for the rear brakes, but I've noticed a significant difference, especially while braking going into corners. The weight transfer is now a lot more predictable.

 

[GSRCRXsi]

where did you get the HPS rear pads? tire rack doesnt carry them for the crx and i thought hawk didnt make them for the rear. and how much were they?

 

[stick]

Tirerack are a bunch of liars. They told me that Hawk doesn't make HPS pads for the rear of the CRX, but they do! I picked them up at a local Performance Warehouse. Part number: HB350F.496 They cost me about $47.00 CDN plus taxes.

 

[fogd00d]

(know I'm late to find this post but)

Hey, great post -- enough to give me courage to do my own brakes.

I was always told to keep the rotor surface clear of any substances ... that getting anything on them (paint, grease, oils from skin) would hamper braking performance ... but you let the surface get fully oversprayed ... you sure thats OK?

Had a friend at Honda doing other work on my car and had pulled my wheels off and was going to wire-brush and then paint my rusty hubs black ... he was pretty adamant about me taping off my disc surfaces well before proceeding. Obviously it was a pain in the ass trying to apply masking tape around a circle.

Either way, worth the effort. See other gorgeous CRXs out there, and other older cars ... big investment in wheels and tires, obvious care ... and a casual glance at the car walking by you see those awful rusted hubs.

There are no monkeys in the details.

 

[stick]

I was always told to keep the rotor surface clear of any substances ... that getting anything on them (paint, grease, oils from skin) would hamper braking performance ... but you let the surface get fully oversprayed ... you sure thats OK?

It looks worse in the pictures than the overspray actually was. But yes, you want to limit the amount of overspray. I'll probably cover the rotor surface with some cardboard when I'm spraying my next set.

If you wait for the paint to completely dry (as I did), it just wears off as dust when the brake pads hit it. However, if they are still not 100% dry, I imagine that it would gum up the pads a bit.

 

[Krix]

I masked mine one time. SCREW that! This last time I sprayed the whole thing. let it dry and hit the brakes a few times and its gone. Much, much easier.

 

[toxiclows]

Here's a 3rd opinion Paint them up all nice and purty... then once they are dry take a rag soaked with thinner or carb clean or brake clean ( which you should be using anyway while you are playing with your brakes) and just wipe down the surface where the pads will contact.... and wa-la.... all nice and good to go...

I agree with Sticker shop though... .the paint as long as it is dry is not going to hurt a thing on there.... it will be wiped off before you get out of your driveway.. by the pads.....
either way. .. . different strokes for different folks

Chris