2016-2018 Honda Civic Rear Brake Pad and Rotor Replacement - PART 1 

To be fair he does quickly mention it at 13:49. :) But thank you for mentioning it in your comment as well, I'll be replacing the pads and rotors on my 2018 Civic this weekend and I'll make sure to be extra careful!

Hi bro, I am planning to replace the rotors on my 17 civic and glad to see your suggestions. Please confirm that only the rear rotors replacement required to reset the EPB actuator, right? Do the front wheel rotors replacement would also need the Honda scan tool for any purpose? Because my local dealers are expensive, for safety reason I may let them do my rear rotors, and I will find a repair shop to do the front which can save me some money, if the front rotors are not connecting to any sensitive equipments like EPB or something😢

@@brachydios3685 Nope, only the rear rotors! Thank goodness for that. I'm gonna be doing my replacement next week for the first time so hopefully it goes well.

@@Duskpup thanks! Good luck to you bro!

You aren't kidding. they do wear out faster! I couldn't believe how wore down mine were. there was no sounds or anything to warn me that the pads needed changed!? for it's a 2016. but a crap load of brake dust build up i finally noticed.. and if you had to stop suddenly it was getting a little rougher.. but still smooth for the most part? then noticed scratches in the rear rotors! I just replaced them both and pads. she's good now. the fronts next even though she looks decent. but it's a must since i did the rear. I'm kind of a amature at working on cars and it's NOT getting easier these days. but I can manage these common dIY jobs. saved myself about $800 or more!?

Till your electronic e brake takes a shit🤣

Yep mine did

Same.. my front rotors almost look new, same with pads. But the rear is ☠️☠️

@@proz71ful19 Me too!

Same on my 2016 civic

My 18 is the same way, 104K miles and the front is probably 3/4 gone and the rears are horrible. My brakes last longer as my car has a manual transmission.

How did you use a battery to retract the mechanism?

@@blewis9270 Apology in advance for my poor English as it is not my first language. Tools needed: 9 Volt Battery (use Duracell as the other dies halfway through the procedure), 2 non-flexible wire (strip all ends), a 6 inches C or G Clamp, a piece of scrap wood. Removed the electric parking brake actuator from the brake disk then unplug the electric plug/connector that feeds power to the electric parking brake actuator. You will see 2 short pins exposed inside. Then Mark the position of the Piston as you will need to compare it position later to determine if it is retracting or moving forward. Connect the end of the 2 wires to the 9V battery. Make sure you note the polarity (+ or -) of each wire. While still connected to the 9V battery, connect or touch each wire to a respective pin (need a little bit of patience here lol). You will start to hear the actuator working. At this point PLEASE DO NO GO TOO FAR as you will need to find if the piston is either retracting or pushing forward; use the mark that you put earlier to determine that. If the piston is not retracting and is pushing forward instead, change the position/ polarity of the wires at the pin. Changing the polarity will reverse the mechanisms for the actuator and it will cause the piston to retract (you may not see it moving but the mechanism has retracted). Put a piece of wood scrap on the “face’ of the piston then use the Clamp to apply pressure and you should see the piston moving into the housing/ retracting. You do not need to go all the way in; just enough to fit in your new brake pads. Hope this helps! Thank you. Avinash.

Longer breaker bar if possible. Leverage is very important, so I use a 3 foot pipe and slide it over the wrench. Good luck!!

Thank you for responding. Just want to say I followed your advise with success! First time brake job, this video helps tremendously! You rock!

Here is the "Rust Belt" in Pennsylvania often times rotors need changed with each brake pad change due to the rotors rusting. Older rotors on older cars were made from a better metal, hence why my 1986 Bronco still has the original front rotors with 175,000 miles. The newer rotors are made of cheaper metal and are more prone to rusting, especially the rotors on the rear of vehicles that aren't always vented rotors.

I don't think my girlfriend's 2016 had this. Sorry!

David Ruiz did you end up damaging your parking brake?

Did you have to replace your caliper?

That sounds to me like a bad caliper. If the piston didn't fully retract, something in the caliper has gone bad.

@@fixitfrank412 by retract you mean going inside or coming out? Because it did come out completely it just didn't insert the way the other side did

@@TheVoidMMA Pushing Back in not going all the way back in.

Same here. I stripped the screw on my first diy trial until I eventually made it well the second time.

It’s not stupid actually. They do it to keep the rotors from falling off during the manufacturing process.

Just wanted to put this out there you can’t/shouldn’t use a normal screw. The tool he used is an impact screw driver. The impact from the hammer applies inward pressure but the actual bit retracts into the shaft and hits a curve wall applying torque simultaneously.

I've never heard of that and I've done brakes on a few different vehicles with these brakes. I assume disconnecting the battery would work.

yes set the computer on service mode for rear brake

Yeah, just like 99.9% of all vehicles on the road. Depends on if you have rear drum brakes or rear rotors and pads though.

David Durant you damaged the motor to your parking brake.

What can you do if you damagebthe motor to the parking brake?

It must be different on the newer models. On the 2016 I DID NOT have to put it into a "Service Mode" and the ebrake and everything still functions fine afterwards, with no error messages.

Unplug the wire harness from the Electronic Parking Brake housing, be careful with the clip so you don't break it. You remove the Electronic Parking Brake housing/motor it is held on by two Allen screws 5 MM I believe, once you have removed the housing from the back of the housing you just turn the EPB shaft clockwise until it stops, you can do this by hand with your fingers, once you have done that put the housing/motor back on the rear of the caliber you might have to turn the EPB shaft a small amount to line up the splines with the housing to get it to slide back over them. Put the two screws back on and just tighten them lightly they do not need a lot of torque. Just a good bump once they are fully in is all you need. Now you can press in the caliber piston but when you do that crack the bleeder screw so the fluid will not be forced back through the ABS valve, that can lead to damaging the ABS valve and or a soft brake pedal and it can activate the ABS service light. Once you have the piston pushed back in and do not force it once it bottoms out you can replace the pads and put the caliber back on. Once you have the caliper and new brake pad on you want to pump the pedal without the engine running until the pedal is hard again. Now you will need to operate the Electronic Parking brake, you will hear it run for a few seconds before it stops, now you want to release the parking brake and reactivate it two or three times and that will calibrate it and you are good to go. When you have the tires back on and still up in the air activate the parking brake to make sure it is working. This is really an easy job, it just has the extra step of dealing with the electronic parking brake.

You dont need to

Pretty sure clockwise

1986 Monte Carlo, I bought it off the original owner and have had it for 15 years. I'll have to do more videos on that sometime! Good eye!

Nope. Just make sure the handbrake in the car is off, the piston will then retract in with no issues.

Can a regular C-clamp work to release the piston?

@@travyn08 it can, yes. Make sure to use inward force as you turn. But buying a caliper retract block is only around $6-10 bucks and its not worth the hassle to fight your rear caliper piston and possibly damage the metal.

@@travyn08 Unfortunately not. This is the type you must twist in while applying pressure.

Thanks Frank. I put new gear on the other day. Worked great!

Best of luck. IT seems like some of the new ones you cannot do how I did this 2016 without a service mode. Might wanna take the electronic Ebrake off and reinstall after you are done.

@@fixitfrank412 I know. It seems impossible without a $1000 dollar scan tool. I think of your pull the sensor out it will damage the electrical components.

@@Djevan41598 The biggest thing to remember is to not force anything. When I did it, i was able to get them to retract easily without forcing anything. 15-20k miles later and still no issues. Best of luck if you attempt them yourself!

@@Djevan41598 These are some good instructions someone posted 1 month ago: ru-vid.com?stzid=Ugz5tOYy6eaSBJ3Lv5x4AaABAg&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.paulstravelpictures.com%2F2016-2019-Honda-Civic-Rear-Brake-Pads-Replacement-Guide%2F&event=comments&redir_token=NrPJxiFAgmD0RCGe9ougfs9K6v18MTU4NjM1NTE0OEAxNTg2MjY4NzQ4

@@fixitfrank412 I saw what you did in part 3. You had positioned the caliper where the piston part of the motor goes on first.

Good observation, that would work too. I guess I'm used to doing it the way I did when a car is on a lift and the ebrake isn't easy to reach

@@fixitfrank412 Frank no matter how it is done, it's not easy.. stupid design

I guess maybe on the newer models you don't need to. This was a 2016, and it didn't need done.

@@fixitfrank412 sorry not trying to be a dick, theres just lots of clowns that will brake there calipers if you dont clarify

I've done rear brakes on a few vehicles with EPB, and they are each different. These screwed in fine as long as the parking brake wasn't activated. On Ford's, like the Fusion, you can deactivate it yourself without a scan tool by doing a procedure with the key on and off.

The EPB must be in maintenance mode, this can be done with a proper computer or can be done manually. If this is not done you will take a chance of destroying the Caliper EPB and the VSA light will come on

Highly recommend a jack stand as well

@@honda6287 how do you put it in maintenance mode manually?

⁠@@honda6287how do you put the EPB in maintenance mode manually?

Didn't need to in my application. Seems like this varies from experience to experience.

Can someone explain this

What’s a good quote for a civic 2016 touring all four wheel brake pads and rotors service?

Flyinrocketeer to replace or resurface the rotors ?

Flyinrocketeer in my dealership what we charge is $259 for the front service and $259 for the rear service but they do help customers out with coupons and some discounts. We charge that price because we use the ProCut on car brake lathe and we save the rotors so we can actually resurface the original factory rotor for possibly 3-4 brake services which can last a while. Where as compared to replacing these rotors which can be very costly unless you buy aftermarket rotors but I truly don’t recommend that because aftermarket rotors can get a lot of heat spots and cause warpage more and I personally don’t buy aftermarket braking components not even for my Honda.

@@JELS The manual way works if you take a 5mm hex key, take off the screws holding that black, plastic housing on the caliper. Separate the housing (make sure you don't wipe off the grease) and you'll see a bit sticking out like a torque key. Use a E-11 socket and turn that spindle clockwise until it wont turn. Do not try to force it, that will damage the EPS and then you'll pay the $1000 repair. THEN you can depress the piston, once you turn the car on, since the actuator or w.e. its called has been moved to the lowest position, the car's computer will reset it (pump the breaks) and then you'll be good! Heres a good link shorturl.at/nuGT4

You'll know of your e brake gives you any issues

@@fixitfrank412 my brake works fine. Just that now my abs brake system and brake light is on on mt dash board any advice

@@mr.youknowwho4230 I bet something is screwed up since you just used a c clamp instead of twisting them back in.

@@fixitfrank412 probably

You know what is that part call on the caliper so I can look it up.

I've never removed my cap when doing brake jobs. If it overflows, it will push it out the top even if the cap is on. Done 100s of brake jobs without an issue.

@@fixitfrank412 it won't over flow just do it slow 5hat how you remove any air bubbles trapped plus you really could blow out ur pump

I didn't have any issues, but I also didn't force anything. I'd say if you try this and it doesn't fight you, you should be fine. If it feels like its fighting back, then maybe you'll need the scan tool.

That is not the case, at least not on the 2016 Civic I was working on. Maybe you have a newer .O'Dell year, or your caliper already had a pre-existing issue. I did these rear brakes when the car had about 50k on it, and it just turned 77k the other day and I've never had any issues since doing the rear brakes. 8m sorry for your situation, but it's important to never force anything, which it sounds like might have happened in your case.

Not true! I did it without putting in service mode. 20k miles later and no issues. I think maybe on the newer models there is a difference. Biggest thing to remember is to not force anything.

FixItFrank412 Just because you got away with not damaging your e-brake does not mean someone who follows this video will not run into a problem. The service mode it there for a reason, not to just look pretty....

@@joshuatenorio6855 I don't disagree. When i filmed this video, it was prior to the newer models which seem to need the service mode to prevent damage.

@@joshuatenorio6855 Where is the service mode? I have a 2016 and plan on changing the rear pads & rotors.

TheSponge you need a special scan machine to do it or look up a video on how to do it manually. If you are not experienced I would not attempt to do it manually.

Honda has 2 ways of doing it. One is scan tool, second is manually retracting it until it locks.