Has anyone had to replace a front brake caliper on their Clarity PI?

C

Casey Martin

Active Member
I have a 2018 Clarity PI with over 130k miles. I have changed the rotors and pads a few times but I have a new problem that has started recently. Intermittently the front left brake caliper will hang up causing a bad vibration above 40 mph. Usually a few hard slam on the brakes will get it to release. This has only happened a few times over the last month or so but it happened again this morning. This time it remained hung up for a lot longer than it had previously. I think it is time to replace the left front caliper before it locks up completely.

That leads me to the point of this post. The front calipers for the Clarity are unique to the Clarity. They are not used on any other Honda. Needless to say they aren't cheap. I work for a Honda dealer and my employee cost is still over $300. It will also take about a week to receive it. I checked on Rockauto for an aftermarket option and they are out of stock. I did click to be notified when they are available but I assume that might never happen. I couldn't find any other aftermarket options anywhere else as well. It is looking like my only option is to purchase a new Honda caliper. I know it is possible to rebuild a brake caliper but I know that is not commonly done anymore.

If you had to replace one of the front calipers on your Clarity what did you replace it with?
 
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I decided to search for a used caliper on www.car-part.com. I found one from a totalled Clarity that only had 798 miles on it. It was hit in the rear so the front calipers should be good in theory. $70 shipped to my house in RI from PA. Hopefully it works well. I will inspect the rubber flex hose as well. I don't think the brake got hot enough to damage the rubber flex hose but it is possible.
 
Isnt about heat, more that the rubber degrades and if replacing a caliper it's cheap insurance since you'll have to bleed anyway.

Good call on Carpart and hello to a fellow New Englander! Live in CT but for several years before COVID I commuted to Providence with the car.
 
I checked with the parts department. The hose is about $40 but it is on backorder. I will inspect it when I replace the caliper. If it shows any signs of degrading I will order it and swap it out when it becomes available.

I drive through Connecticut often. I go to an auto auction in East Windsor, CT a couple times a month on Wednesdays. Southern Auto Auction. I also travel up 395 from Rte 6 on the weekends often. The ride to Providence is a nightmare now with all the construction. I would avoid driving through most of RI if at all possible. I feel like almost the entire state is under construction at the moment.
 
Yup I'm familiar with Southern.
I live right off I-395 and drove to Providence from 2009 until March 2020 so I get it haha. Now I only go to the office couple times a year so my son has taken over the car. Still on the fence about selling it before values crater
 
It is hard to know for sure when the value of Honda's is going to drop. Most brands already have. Some dramatically so. Honda still can't produce enough new vehicles to get anywhere near pre covid levels. As long as new car production remains to be behind demand the values of used Honda's should hold. Of course that is just my professional opinion. If I could predict the market, any market, accurately I would be rich already!
 
It is fairly easy to rebuild brake caliper’s. Often the slide pins are corroded and can be replaced for less than $20. If the seals are dried out you can put new seals for the pistons. Dust boots that protect the slide pins are also available.




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Charged_Up said:
It is fairly easy to rebuild brake caliper’s. Often the slide pins are corroded and can be replaced for less than $20. If the seals are dried out you can put new seals for the pistons. Dust boots that protect the slide pins are also available.




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The slide pins are good. I had replaced the front rotors twice and the pads once. Each time I cleaned and lubed the slide pins.

The piston was definitely stuck. I had to persuade the caliper off with a block of wood and a hammer. The inside of the piston is corroded. One of the downsides of living in the north. After seeing that I ordered the right front caliper from the same totalled vehicle with 798 miles on it. For $70 shipped and a few minutes of my time I decided it was best to replace both of them.

Bleeding the caliper on a Clarity PI is definitely unique. I had my wife pump and hold the brake pedal while I cracked the bleeder. What is odd is I only got one good pulse of fluid no matter how many times I had my wife pump and hold. I remembered when I flushed the brake fluid using a machine I had to do it once with the car and once with the car off. I then had my wife turn the car on then pump and hold. I would then get another good pulse of fluid but only once. So I had her turn the car off, pump and hold, open the bleeder once then close it, turn the car on, pump and hold open the bleeder once then close. We repeated that a few times and it is working well. I do know the brake pedal on this car is not actually applying pressure on the hydraulic brake system

I also pinched the brake hose with a pair of vice grips before I removed the original caliper to avoid losing excessive fluid.
 

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Casey Martin said:
Bleeding the caliper on a Clarity PI is definitely unique. I had my wife pump and hold the brake pedal while I cracked the bleeder. What is odd is I only got one good pulse of fluid no matter how many times I had my wife pump and hold.
Click to expand...

As you can clearly see from this Honda diagram, the master cylinder will emit a just a single pulse of brake fluid.

upload_2024-5-20_15-16-42.webp

OK, I don't know what I'm talking about, but @Casey Martin, you obviously understand a lot more about braking systems than I do. There are more braking-system diagrams in this Honda Service Express PDF file, but nothing about bleeding the brakes.
 
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I appreciate the information. That makes sense now. I don't know if the way I bleed the new caliper was correct or not but it appears to be working properly. I did visually see the piston in the caliper compress the brake pads onto the rotor when my wife was pumping the brakes. After I install the right caliper I will use the brake fluid flush machine at the dealership I work at to fully bleed them properly. I installed the caliper in my driveway not at work.
 
I remember bleeding my brakes a little differently. I had my wife press and hold the brake, I loosen the nut, fluid or/air came out, tighten the nut a bit and repeat a few times. Pressing and holding will only get you 1 quirk of fluid.
 
megreyhair said:
I remember bleeding my brakes a little differently. I had my wife press and hold the brake, I loosen the nut, fluid or/air came out, tighten the nut a bit and repeat a few times. Pressing and holding will only get you 1 quirk of fluid.
Click to expand...
Exactly! The only thing I did different was I turned the car on and off in between. I know when I read the Honda directions on how to do a brake fluid flush it said to do it twice. Once with the car off and once with the car on.
 
I installed the right side front caliper tonight. I also installed the caliper brackets with the slide pins on both sides as well.

I am lucky enough to work for a Honda dealership that allows me to work on my own car. I used our extremely expensive on car brake lathe to turn both front rotors since I definitely had vibrations in the steering wheel. I had replaced the front rotors twice already but the front pads only once. I have owned many Honda and Acura vehicles through the years and I have warped rotors on every one I have ever owned. I guess I am hard on my vehicles even knowing brake pad wear has never been an issue? It is probably caused from the moments of spirited driving that overheats and warps the rotors. Regardless I cut the front rotors and installed the used calipers and brackets on both sides. I reused the same pads that have over 70% of life left.

I had a coworker pump and hold the brake pedal once with the car on and then once with the car off about 5 times. After I was confident the piston in the calipers had compressed the pads fully I switched to the powered brake bleed tool our dealership has. After about 30 seconds on each side I had perfectly clear with no air bubbles fluid running through the clear hose of the brake bleed system.

I drove it home tonight and the brake system light was on. After getting home and running in the house to change for the Celtics game when I came back out and jumped in the car to head out to watch the game the light was off. I then realized I forgot to bleed the brakes with the car on as well as with it off. That is probably why the light was on? I will probably bleed them again tomorrow just to make sure but this time I will do it with the car off and then with the car on.

Regardless the brakes feel perfect now. I know I didn't need to replace the right front caliper since it wasn't locking up but for the price I paid for a very lightly used caliper it was worth it to me.

The moral of this thread is if you need a front caliper for you Clarity PI maybe look for a used one before paying over $300 for a new one from Honda.
 
According to the manual the slide pins are specific to position, but they will “fit” in either hole. If the pins are not in the correct position it will cause vibration when driving.
 
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