Have above car purchased from dealer as certified car and I suspect that the front brake rotors are too worn (thin) but unlike brake pad thickness, the certification process does not mention a specific minimum rotor thickness. It's hard to even find that information on any Honda parts website, though aftermarket specs and/or articles do list a minimum thickness -- but they give different measurements for 15" and 16" inch brakes. As an EXV6 with 17" tires, I assume that I have the larger 16" brakes, but I have no way of knowing that.

Since the brakes are the Achilles heel of the Accord vehicle, and the rotors do not lend themselves to ease of inspection without putting the car on a lift, I need to know if there are any verifiable specs out there for minimum rotor thickness for the front brakes on this vehicle? The rear brakes seem to me a more simple (and unfortunately much smaller) size and the minimum spec thickness for these rotors seems to be easier to find.

 

Brake Rotor/Disc

Thickness
Front (15 inch brake type)
New: 22.9-23.1 mm (0.90-0.91 inch)
Service Limit: 21.0 mm (0.83 inch)

Thickness
Front (16 inch brake type)
New: 27.9-28.1 mm (1.10-1.11 inch)
Service Limit: 26.0 mm (1.02 inch)


Instructions: Using a micrometer, measure disc thickness at eight points, approximately 45° apart and 10 mm (3/8 inch) in from the outer edge of the disc. Replace the brake disc if the smallest measurement is less than the max. refinish limit.

Use a micrometer, the outer edge of the disc will throw off the reading if you use a caliper.

 

Thanks -- have seen these measurements. How to find out which size (15 or 16 inch) I have?

 

Use a measuring tape to get the diameter? No trying to be a smart alec.

 

The way Honda has written 15 inch or 16 inch brake type for the 7th gen Accords has caused some confusion with many regarding what they meant. Some believe it meant wheel size or clearance size of the calipers.

For the 8th gen Accords, it has to do with the caliper brake type (i.e., Nissin or Akebono).

I am guessing this would similarly apply to the 7th gen Accords. My guess would be if you have the Nissin calipers, it would be the 16 inch brake type and Akebono calipers would be 15 inch brake type. The "Nissin" or "Akebono" should be cast into the caliper.

 

Didn't know how the size was measured. Thought it was something that could be discerned by the wheel size or the model type (EX vs LX) but I suppose that if the dealer tries to tell me that the 15" thickness specs are met (so what am I crying about) I can pull out a tape measure while they have the tire off and take a quick measurement and if it is a 16" rotor I can show that it is less than the acceptable service limit.

 

I don't believe the rotor diameter for your Accord is that large at all. A 16 inch rotor is huge lol.

I think the rotor diameter is around 11 inches.

 

Redbull,

Thanks for saving me the trouble of bringing my measuring tape to the shop; agree that at least as far as replacement rotors go, 282 mm (11 inches) seems to be the universal diameter of the available rotors. The difference seems to be in the thickness -- 28 mm vs 23 mm. Honda's parts website simply does not say how thick the rotors are to start with; there is just a notatation on LX 4 cyl model that a "15 inch" rotor is available. Since my rotors have slightly less than 23 mm on them now and the car has been driven 60K (these have not been replaced yet, they have been turned down so that there is a visible "lip" on the outer edge) there is no way that they started out as the 23 mm size, right?

 

Is the 15 vs 16 the tire size. If the car only has ~60K on it I find it hard to understand how the rotors would have worn down ~5mm. So with that I will say that they did start at 23mm. If you can find a place to turn them I'd got for that. If nothing else they will spec them out to be sure they clean up before reaching the min thickness. Not sure but sometimes the min thickness is stamped or cast into the rotor or drum.

 

Agree with idea that wearing down from 28 mm was remote and it may be that only the manual transmission Accords have those thicker rotors. In the end the rotors were replaced by the dealer for other wear reasons -- they did the right thing but I know that not all dealers would do that so I lucked out