I love everything about the Element except for the rear brakes. I owned an 2003 and the brakes went at around 30,000 then at 52,000. Now i own a 2007 with 21,000 and the rear brakes are gone. The fronts are fine. I really think this is a design flaw. I know of a couple of other Element owners that have had the same problem with the rear brakes. If you have had a problem with your rear brakes please post and the mileage when they were gone. I am serious thinking of trying to possibly get a class action suit started if I can get enough ppl with the same results. Lets just say that I am a little pissed off!!!!
I just bought a new set of brakes, and took them to my mechanic to put on after ai felt a slight a tugging when braking.
When he took my old brakes off he said they were still very good, I had a slight mar in one of my rotors. My E is fixing to hit 80,000. He went ahead and put on the new brakes, so don't really know how long the old ones would have lasted.
I think your rear brakes are doing too much of the stopping maybe because of a proportioning valve issue. Normally rear brakes will last through a couple replacements of the front brakes.
I'm at 45,000 miles now, and I haven't replaced either set of brakes yet. At my last oil change and inspection, they said I still had plenty of life in both. That's a bummer about your brakes. It sounds like something isn't set up right, as front brakes usually have a shorter life than the back ones do. :-(
I think it might just be a Honda trait, under hard driving. My Ridgeline and my ex's CRV both needed rear brakes around 30k miles. Lets see what happens with the Element, currently only at 14k so time will tell.
My 2003 E has 93,000 miles and still has the original brakes! Only tires, battery and windshield have been replaced. And this was the first year of production, very good marks for Honda on making a durable car.
I have an 04' with 38k miles. Approx. 14 months ago I had to replace the right rear only. It was almost down to the rivets. It struck me as odd because I've never had to change out rear pads. Now, just this week they're making a grinding noise again. I'm going to take a look at it tonight.
So I took a look last night, pads are fine. I'm guessing it's a rough spot or a slightly warped rotor. While I was in there I cleaned and lubed all it the ears. The sliders were fine.
My rear pads lasted around 70k, the fronts get changed out every 35k pretty much. The rear rotors will be changed out soon, I am about to cross over 110,000 miles on my E.
I just did a search in the maintenance section on 'rear brakes'. A lot of subjects came up with the same issue. Looks like most of the time the issue was resolved by lubricating the caliper rails and ears. What happens is that the rails and ears get gummed up and the caliper cannot return to a neutral position. Thus premature wear on the pads.
I talked to my local Honda dealer today about my rear brakes. I informed them of my rear brake problem and was told by them that it is an environmental problem and not a mechanical problem. Blaming it on rust etc build up. They said they have authorization to replace them for free up to 24,000 miles. ( I told him prior that I have 22k on my E). He said they are advising their customers that twice a year (once in the fall and once in the spring) the brakes should be taking apart and cleaned. It should be interesting to get their response in person to some of the questions I have such as there is no mention to this in my owners manual. Plus, you are telling me I need to have them taking apart twice a year well, is Honda going to pay for it since this is not normal for a proper braking system. It should be interesting, I will post again the results of my appt Thursday afternoon.
I just checked mine near 70000 and the front is at 60% and the rears are almost still new. It does depend on where you live, salt on the road ect but they shouldn't have to be taken apart every 6 months to get the sliders lubed. Use synthetic grease and I have had good luck with that when I did brakes.
Mine just went and sounded really bad with only one day notice.
They started barley making a sound, I only remember this 1st day, because the very next day they were grinding worst then I've ever herd any car I've owned, so I stopped everything I was doing and took it in to my shop and had it inspected.
They replaced the rear brakes and it's back to the Detroit streets.
You know, on my 04 Accord I had mine replaced at 20k. I didn't even think to try for warranty. So anything under 24k on brakes you should check into warranty?
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