Id been having problems with my brakes for a while now. I took it in for the b1 service and they machined the rotors "best they could". Almost 1 month later doing approximately 55mph and about 100ft clearance the person in front of me slammed on the brakes to avoid a 3 car accident in front of them. When I went to hit the brakes they just jumped and stuttered. Next thing i knew i had nose dived into the work van in front of me. Air bags did not deploy and it was 7000 to fix not including the other 2 vehicles

 

WOW that's not too bad for 55mph wreck. All that and no air bags

Did you tell the insurance Co that the brakes are an issue that Honda failed to fix? I'd bet they would be all over that deal.

 

If your doing a lot of highway driving and nailing the brakes a lot, they will overheat and warp the rotors. Could that be the initial issue? I use aftermarket cross-drilled rotors because I am highway driving mostly.

The other that you are describing is the ABS brakes kicking in (stuttered description) which can really cause you NOT to brake so fast. I hate Honda's ABS. More expensive cars having a better system and won't interfere with quick braking like Honda does.

I had a '94 Civic EX that I pulled the fuse for the ABS on. Owning the car for only a week, I experienced how scary that can be, and took the car back to the dealer telling them I wanted it removed. They said they couldn't. Called Honda, blah, blah, blah. Ordered a service manual and found out that nothing would happen if I pulled the fuse. Once a year for a few days I would put the fuse back in to purge the system and then pull it out again. Sold the car in mint condition with 174,000 miles on it. Car looked like it had about 40k on it.

Sorry about your car's boo boo.

 

Id been having problems with my brakes for a while now. I took it in for the b1 service and they machined the rotors "best they could". Almost 1 month later doing approximately 55mph and about 100ft clearance the person in front of me slammed on the brakes to avoid a 3 car accident in front of them. When I went to hit the brakes they just jumped and stuttered. Next thing i knew i had nose dived into the work van in front of me. Air bags did not deploy and it was 7000 to fix not including the other 2 vehicles [/quote]

What did the mechanics tell you about the brake pad condition? Truing the rotors is not a 'best you can' job. If indeed your brakes were stuttering it sounds like bad rotors or disintegrating pads.
Now you need to look at your pads yourself. If you don't know how to 'open' the calipers get someone to help you who does. The single most important maintenance you can do is on your brakes. I thy were acting 'funny' or not stoppingsmoothly and quickly always get them tended immediately.
Inspect the rotors for warpage and sufficient thickness. Inspect the pads for smoothness and at least 1/8" thickness - the pad not including the metal backplate. Inspect the pad also for contamination. Are they Honda pads or some aftermarket ones.
Last but not least you'll need to have your entire brake system checked from master culinder to caliper pistons. Honda should do this if your are still in warranty period - and of course you haven't used good parts.
Good luck. And tough luck; it's a hard way to learn.

 

I'm impressed a 90 km/h crash did so little superficial damage (that said, I know there must have been significant damage under the hood)! Hope you're okay

Are Fit brakes more prone to failure (pad wear or rotor warping) from regular use than other cars? And for M/T models, what will this do for the debate over engine brake vs. normal braking? The argument is that it's cheaper to replace worn brake pads than the transmission, but $7000 in damages suggests otherwise right now.

I have the same model ('08 Fit LX in Ontario), so I'm interested in hearing more...

 

Well, insurance was notified after the accident on the brakes. Honda was also notified at the dealership that did the B1 service. They claimed no fault. The collision repair place took the car to honda after the body work was completed. Honda says that there is no problems with the brakes (with abs and brake light on the dash). When we got the vehicle back they were like brand new. Things seem very fishy to me.

In regards to the abs kicking in...It wasnt an abs issue as I've driven vehicles with abs. This was more of rotor warpage (the mechanic said if there is any problems he believes the master brake pump is going). The brakes were jumping as in the brake rotors were ~ instead of =.

As with the question of after market brake pads. Nope. None were ever installed. The car was bought in november. It has 20k km on it now.

 

WHAT? Why is no one freaking about the airbags?!?

I am freaking out about the airbags!

Everyone should be freaking out!!

I am assuming that you are ok, cause you are posting about it, and I am glad that you are safe.

 

DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING....

if you KNOW you've had the best job done to your car, ANY CHECKING/MODIFICATION FROM A NON CERTIFIED TECHNICIAN will bring up a red flag with your insurance. The insurance can go after the mechanics due to the mechanical difficulty you had. Let them know of the failure you experienced, and make sure you take your 'evidence' (meaning your receipts).

Don't for the love of christ mess with your vehicle, like remove the brakes, especially if insurance CAN cover the cost of everything, especially a lemon like you seem to be having.

 

55mph and 100ft?
I don't think even a new Fit can stop that fast.
I know my old Turbo Colt could hammer 60-0 in 112ft. And that was a record for a small car!
Anyway, doing what I do (police forensic reconstruction) I know that if your brakes are suspect the investigation will reveal just that.
But I have seen hundereds of cases where our police mechanics find the brakes in working order.
So I have heard this story many many times.........

good luck

 

The airbags didn't deploy because it looks like the hood took the main impact.
He hit a work van. The Fit bumper is low in comparison to the van. The airbags like most/or all cars is tied to the bumper, correct? The bumper assembly was pushed down from the impact some.

 

Just to clarify, there was 100ft between me and the vehicle in front. The brakes did engage, however, they jumped from working to non working (not abs). It was alot of space. Not as in the car was stopped dead in front of me and i only had a 100ft to stop. Heck a bbk couldn't even stop in that short of time. All in all i had in excess of over 200ft to brake.

The damage you see is due to the car attempting to brake and nose diving into the rear bumper of the truck.

 

When ABS quits working the car will lock the rears with enough pedal.
And the car will still stop nearly as short, but not with the same amount of steering if the driver is inexperienced.
That said, the ABS malfunction will be recorded regardless. If it occurred.
You still have plenty of brakes if ABS quits. Just like conventional brakes.

 

Unfortunatly, the airbag sensors are just right behind the fog light area. If the car does a nose dive and the sensors miss the object, then the airbags probably won't go off. You should address this problem to Honda.

 

wow man that sucks.
atleast you're okay.

so many fit wrecks happening lately!

 

The sensors are deceleration devices set at about .5 g if memory serves and if the stopping is quick enough they will activate the bags. Because your nose was pushed down rather than halted there likely wasn't enogh deceleration rate to activate. If you were stopped and he backed into you there probably wasn't.

 

sucks that every thing is banged up and your brakes seemed to stop working mid brake. did u happen to use the e brake after the failure? would assume that would help.

 

I think the problem is exactly what is likely written on your citation: "Following Too Closely." The bags didn't deploy because it wasn't a violent enough collision. Anti-Lock brakes allow "threshold braking" which WILL stop faster than just locking-up all the wheels-plus you can steer around the hazard, but not when you FOLLOW TOO CLOSELY.

 

Glad youre ok.... Id deff not let Honda blow this off as its a big issue.

A friend of mine was having issues with her brakes on her Scion tC. The pedal would get soft sometimes. She took it in, had the brakes checked, they found nothing and told her everything was ok.

She went on a road trip suspecting everything was ok as per Toyota's word. She was on the highway, 60-65mph, traffic was coming to a stop ahead...... She hit her brakes to find a soft pedal fall to the floor. Yes she wrecked the car and yes shes ok. She needed some surgery.

Shes only 20 years old. Lets just say for the amount of money she sued Toyota for, shes set for life. She still works due to needing something to do during the day.
She doesnt show off the money or buy useless things, hell she bought a Civic Ex as a replacement car. *shrugs*

 

P.S. Our ABS sucks. Ive had it kick on due to rough roads, I wasnt even going fast (45mph) but I had the hardest problem stopping my car. I ended up getting sideways a bit and stopped in the center of the intersection.

 

"Best practice" is to leave two seconds between you and the car in front of you. At 55 mph, that's 160 ft (50m at 90 km/h).

In the real world, this means people are cutting in front of you all the time if you do this. So while farley was closer than he "should" have been, from his description he wasn't tailgating either, and was perfectly average as far as vehicle spacing is concerned. Whether the law and insurance says he was may be a different matter.