Accord Euro 2003 - Brakes

[cochelindo]

I knew I had to change the rear wheel pads because I could hear the brake wear indicator, but at the same time I notice oil on the garage floor under the drivers side rear brake calyper.
I took the car to a Honda dealer and went shopping, they rang me and told me that I needed a new piston seal and rotors had to be replaced because it had brake fluid, had to be machined and would end up undersized, total for the work $1100
I told them to put the wheel back on and I would pick up the car, I received no charge.
I ordered a piston seal kit from another Honda dealer closer to where I live that took sometime to arrived from Japan, the cost $130.
After receiving the part I took the wheel off and tried to identify the source of the leak, there was no oil around the piston seal nor the rotor, all other parts had oil on then, I cleaned it all replaced the brake pads and put it all together, I did both sides, and yes I bled the lines and tighten up the bleeder screw, drove the car around the block parked it in the garage and after about half hour noticed an oil spot in the same location, took the wheel off and noticed oil around the bleeder screw, I put extra force on the spanner, and gave it a couple of blows with a hammer for good measure.
I then proceeded to return the seal kit for a refund only to be told that I wasn't entitled to a refund because it was a special order just for me, and rare at that.
So, with brake calyper leaks there's only three sources: piston seal, hose banjo fitting, and bleeder screw.

The first Honda dealer tried to take advantage of me, and the second Honda dealer is not customer focused, considering that I bought the car there and had a lot of years of service and repairs that ran into the tenths of thousands.

Well, if I add up the cost of brake pads $72 + $130 for the seal kit, I'm still $898 in front, and I have learn quite a bit about the vehicle and Honda dealer-ship after service or luck off.
By the way, the vehicle has done 352000 kms

[Jasemas]

It says at the bottom of the invoice
Special orders are not able to be refunded

[antony]

I hope your Euro has served you well over the past 352000 kilometers.
They are awesome ,classic cas...

[Richard B]

It makes sense to check the bleeder valve as that is the part that is most often touched last.

Advising that you need discs machined because of a brake fluid spill is a bit odd. Pads I can understand, but I don't think brake fluid has any effect on steel that can not be washed away with brake cleaner. Also with the price of aftermarket discs these days you are better off buying new ones rather than having them machined.

With these "special orders" you are better off getting the part numbers and ordering the parts yourself.

[Martin77]

Also with the price of aftermarket discs these days you are better off buying new ones rather than having them machined.

This week I enquired about getting brake discs machined for my brothers corolla (275 mm rotor). He said that if I bring the rotors to him, he will charge $20 each. If he does a good job I think it is worth doing to save a little money.

[Richard B]

For that price I totally agree!

I looked at it a little while ago and was totally put off by the prices I found, considering new discs for popular models start from around $45.

[Shaddow]

I'm new to this forum so I don't know how much of people's stories are tongue in cheek or not but if you need to give a spanner a couple of hits with a hammer to do something up, it needs to be repaired or replaced. While you were there did you at least check that there was no air in the brake system before tightening the bleed nipple up?