2014+ Acura MDX Brake Rotors & Pads

Step by step installation of brake pads and rotors front and rear on a 2014 Acura MDX SH-AWD.

[@yoshidasoft]

Thanks for this great video! It helped me a lot to change the brakes on my wife's 2015 Acura RDX. The original brakes were terrible after only 28k miles. I was able to do all by myself for less than $200 including beer. 😊

[@dennisholmes3029]

One of the better DIY videos I've seen. Well done! And the jokes help... My wife's 2014 MDX had the same brake vibrations at 12k miles, and Acura reluctantly repaired them for free. Now at 52K miles, same problem again. I'm actually thankful they lasted that long the 2nd time. Your video gives me confidence to handle this the right way this time. I'm going to run new brake fluid into the system since it's time to do that anyway and won't add too much to the cost.

[@JonathanDiaz-vm5mb]

😂😂well if you changed them only 1 time at 12k and waited until 52k to change again it would of made sense to have them change a lonnnnng time ago especially before 52k

[@rk3374]

Had the same issue, but at about 35k miles. Acura did not cover this under warranty and turned the rotors. Thanks for the video.. this is very helpful!

[@AutoDIY]

Thanks for watching and taking the time to post. It bums me out that so many of us have this issue, but Acura has decided to blame the drivers... Seems pretty clear that this is a parts failure.

[@hardlymovingpro]

Since they're floating calipers, you should pull out and lubricate the caliper pins; otherwise, you will not get uneven brake wear and in a worst case situation, the caliper will get locked in place causing steering wheel vibration during braking. Also, its a good idea to replace the abutment clips that holds the ears of the brake pads in the caliper bracket. When the clips weaken and you transition from forward to reverse gear, you'll hear the pad ears shift and thunk as soon as you apply the brakes. The thunking and will occur again transitioning from reverse to forward when you apply the brakes.

[@denvernn]

Thank you for this regarding abutment clips. That is the exact noise I am hearing as you described. Thunk from brakes only when shifting from drive to reverse in parking lot type maneuvers.

[@hardlymovingpro]

@@denvernn You bet! Live and learn.

[@mikeylodeon.7326]

Acura did the same thing to me. They didn't want to replace the pads even though I have a free pads replacement voucher. Their after sales service sucks big time! They took the pads replacement voucher and resurfaced the rotors instead. That was a year ago and now the vibrations are just ridiculously annoying. Tomorrow I will replace the rotors and brake pads thanks to your video!

[@AutoDIY]

Such a frustrating customer experience, I totally understand what you mean about the vibrations being ridiculously annoying, sadly this is one that Acura forced us to solve ourselves. Glad the video helped you, thank you for watching and taking the time to post your feedback.

[@BarakHaynes]

Same make, model, and year vehicle with same problem and same refusal from the Acura dealer to address the problem during the warranty period. I used your video as a guide to install an EBC brake kit. With your help the install was easy-pleasy. Thanks.

[@AutoDIY]

Thanks for watching, I am glad you found it easy-pleasy, but I am sorry you had to deal with the same problem. Seems like this one is prevalent. Our Acura service guy went as far as to blame my wife riding the brakes, I had to explain to to him that my wife could out drive the sheet out of his chauvinist arse. Glad the vibrations are gone now, I hope you are enjoying your Acura again.

[@BarakHaynes]

I am giggling. The Salt Lake Acura dealer also blamed my wife. There must be a corporate memo, "Admit nothing, deny everything and make counter accusations."

[@AutoDIY]

Amazing, and disappointing...

[@mikemediocre]

Same issue on my wife’s 2017 MDX. Dealer told us the same thing. When I mentioned my 4Runner with 200k and Highlander with 115k never needed rotors he looks at me and says, “This is a Honda product, not a Toyota”. LOL. So I’ll be doing the same job on a 57k vehicle with less than 40k miles! Thanks for the video

[@AutoDIY]

That dude sounds tired of toeing the corporate line. Not sure how Acura feels good about putting inferior brakes on the MDX. Maybe they are comfortable because they are sitting on pillows full of fluffy cash?

[@mariodias1939]

Love ur comments during the video..putting back the springs good idea..cheers brother..

[@AutoDIY]

Thanks 👍

[@WilliamvonArx]

Love the video! Awesome info and can tell you’re a regular dude with a family. Nothin like an honest video. You get 100%

[@AutoDIY]

Thanks for watching and posting your kind feedback, you caught me I am just a regular dude trying to do my part for people like you. High 5 and happy holidays.

[@binujp]

Had the same issue, replaced it with the same ebc set you had in your video. Thank you for the great step by step instruction video, it made the installation easy and stress free. For one of my rotors the screw (@ 7:40 in the video) that holds it was stuck so had to drill it out. So for anyone facing such an issue get a good drill bit that can drill metal, and drill away the screw head. The head strips of easily.

[@AutoDIY]

Thanks for taking the time to post feedback about your experience. I hope your new pads and rotors are so smooth you forget all about that factory junk you had to drill out. Nice work!

[@BensonOfD]

Hahaha, just had to do the same thing with the screw on one side. On the other side is was close to as stuck, but I managed to screw it out by hooking a clamp onto the screw driver and then hammering it in, managed to get the thing unstuck without stripping it somehow

[@jodibulmer8417]

Thank you for this great video instruction!!! 2014 here, same issue. Hoping our replacement solves it!!!

[@AutoDIY]

This was the best decision we made with the MDX, it is so much better to drive. I hope you have a similarly great experience. I do still wish Acura would recognize the issue and spare us having to do this ourselves but I digress.

[@blacksunshine489]

Same issue with my wife’s 2014 MDX, replacing the rotors and pads today. Thank you for the excellent video tutorial. Well done.

[@AutoDIY]

I am sorry you are experiencing the same issue, but glad that you found this video and that it helped you. Thank you for watching and taking the time to post your kind feedback.

[@jambroze]

I have to give you a huge thumbs up to your video. I just used it to change all 4 rotors/pads on my wife's 2014 MDX and everything went great. Except for a couple of stubborn 19mm bolts of course.

[@AutoDIY]

Thanks for watching and posting your feedback, I am sorry to hear those 19mm punks gave you a hard time. Glad you found this useful.

[@yourgarage]

Great video. I love my 2015 MDX. But have the exact same issue @ 25,000 miles. I have never seen this kind of brake problem on a car with such low miles. So after a 200 mile drive yesterday, I decided I could not take it anymore and bought new rotors last night.

[@AutoDIY]

Sorry you had the same experience with your 15, good news is that it is fixable, I have forgotten all about those crappy brakes the new set up is smooth as silk and made us fall back into love with MDX. Still think Acura should be addressing this though...

[@mkrp4]

Back in 1987 when second generation Camry hit the road, the rotor thickness was changed ( from 22 to 24 mm) after 6 month of the production due to bad vibration. I've went trough few rotor sets , but the right way was to strip all set-up from 88 year model Camry at the junk yard and make an upgrade. My 79 Supra had solid (non vented) front rotors and I never had pedal/front end vibration even with bad quality pads

[@Th3BoyDad]

Thanks for this video!! Very helpful, and I thought our car was acting crazy... sounds like not.

[@burlneal6101]

Great video, my friend. I did the same brake job on my wife's 2014 MDX yesterday and your video was a great refresher course as well as pointing out a couple of potential gotchas. I used Centric Premium rotors and Centric Ceramic matched pads from AutoAnything.com. Results were great. Total time from grabbing tools to test/break-in run and cleanup was about six hours. But I'm 69 and had knee surgery a week ago, so you younger, fitter guys should be able to do it in about 30 minutes. The only real hangup was those pesky Honda rotor screws. But luckily I have a hammer impact tool with a #4 phillips. Whang it a few times with a hammer and out they come. I also tightened the lug nuts with three different torque passes: 50, 70 and 92 ft/lbs. Much less chance of warping rotors that way.

[@AutoDIY]

You are awesome, great tip on the multiple torque passes, I am going to use that one the rest of my life. I hope your knee is recovering well. Thank you for taking the time to watch and post your feedback.

[@wizmanballin8498]

lol! You're hilarious bro! Thanks for this upload. I've been looking for an upload for changing brakes on my '15 TLX and NO ONE seems to want to talk about this car, but you! So thanks...just bought new brake pads and rotors for mine so this really helps.

[@wizmanballin8498]

Oh. but my story is the dealer keeps telling me they don't know why my braking makes my car shake at times. They did the alignment, wheel rotation...narrowed it down to warped rotors (which they claim is normal...yeah, right), so I'm going all after market moving forward. I did that for a former car I had and was happy with the switch from Acura's OEM to an aftermarket OEM. Hope this works as well. Just got them today. The EBC's were sold out so I went with a premium cross-drilled rotor set for front and back.

[@AutoDIY]

Thanks for watching and taking the time to post. I am sure you will solve your annoying Acura brake problems by changing to your improved rotors and pads. We haven't experienced a hint of problems since we made this swap. I no longer hesitate to brake out of fear of what will happen when I do, I actually don't even think about the brakes anymore. What I have done is hesitate to upgrade to the new model of the MDX... strange the way they are ignoring their customer's repeat concerns... Wish I could help you with your install, but I am sure you've got it.

[@dalesacuratlx6517]

🇨🇦 Great video!! I’m going to be doing my brakes on my 2016 TLX, other than the rear electric parking brake I guess it’s pretty much the same? I have 125,000 kms ( 65,000 miles) with the original pads and rotors, I guess because it’s not as heavy as the MDX the brakes last longer.....watching you from north of Toronto 🇨🇦

[@1ptman1]

Great video/info. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

[@AutoDIY]

Thanks for watching and taking the time to post your kind feedback.

[@DivineCheezit]

Did this car have an electronic e-brake? I am looking to replace the brakes on my 2015 TLX but from what I have read, the electronic e-brake can complicate this somehow. Also, great video, thanks for sharing.

[@mariomlotkowskirealtor5261]

Great video,thank you, you inspired me to change all brakes by myself, how's your EBC brakes working? any issues with them? Warping rotors etc ?

[@AutoDIY]

Thank you for watching and taking the time to post. Sorry you are dealing with this too, no brake problems at all after this upgrade, EBC rotors have been great, no warping, no pulsing, just smooth uneventful deceleration. We don't even think about the brakes anymore. We hated the MDX when the brakes would pulse, now we love it.

[@MrMcLovinMcLovin]

Thanks for the vid. Is there any sort of maintenance indicator reset I need to do in the car after I change the brakes? Does the system even track that?

[@stevenpnguyen3264]

Thank you for your time and effort!!!

[@AutoDIY]

Thank you for watching and posting the friendly comment.

[@gustavvanniekerk6267]

Great video, thanks. My wife has the same model, same year and same problem. Can you list the pad and rotor parts. I looked up EBC and there appears to be several options. Which did you use? Thanks again!

[@AutoDIY]

Thanks for watching and posting your question, sorry I neglected to include part numbers: Rear = S1KR1344 Front = S20K1314, I used their premium rotors and daily driver pads. Here are some amazon links if they help: Rear amzn.to/2tM5kMc Front amzn.to/2N5zinv Still super happy with this change, also still disappointed that Acura wont address it.

[@RoughRidersTV]

Nice video. Well done!

[@AutoDIY]

Thanks for watching and posting the nice feedback.

[@helenkumpel3449]

Have the same issue with ours. Changing them today. Did the problem come back?

[@AutoDIY]

Sorry you are dealing with this too, so far so good, no brake problems at all now. We don't even think about the brakes anymore. Funny how much I hated the MDX when the brakes would pulse, we love it now. Acura really should do the right thing and address this issue for owers who are still struggling with it.

[@LoveToGoEverywhere]

Great video, thanks for sharing. I'd love to use the same rotors and pads, but . . . ouch, the price is out of my range. BTW, lug nut torque spec for 2014 - 2016 MDX is 80 pounds not 92.

[@donnydoucette2548]

I have a 2014 MDX as well. Fortunately I don’t have brake problems yet. I want to upgrade to ECB like you did but I can’t seem to find the combination you used. Ultra max 2?? Part numbers would be great. Thanks for the video.

[@AutoDIY]

These are amazon links to the parts I used, hope they help FRONT: amzn.to/2JTWDHw REAR: amzn.to/2DA8tWW Good luck

[@edensnicolas9593]

I experience the same issue with my 2016 MDx. But unfortunately not much success with after market rotors(slotted/drilled) and new brake pads. So now when braking the steering shake aggressively.

[@AutoDIY]

So sorry to hear this, I didn't get the fancy racing brakes with the slots and drill vents. I used EBC brake rotors meant for everyday use, no slots or drilling on the brake surface. They were well balanced and this brake shutter nonsense never returned. Best upgrade ever for the MDX, the factory rotors are terrible.

[@edensnicolas9593]

@@AutoDIY thanks, I’m going to look into EBC products.

[@tuanacura7590]

Great video . Thank guy. You have link buy Brake Rotors of Acura MDX 2014

[@MrMcLovinMcLovin]

Opinion - my brakes just started squealing at 60k miles so I'm going to change them now. Do you think that's a good amount of miles to get out of my OE?

[@AutoDIY]

60K is on the high side of normal brake life these days. If you are driving an MDX I think it might be a record.

[@MrMcLovinMcLovin]

@@AutoDIY yes, a 2017 AWD Tech. I'm going to do rotors and pads. Doubt it's worth turning the rotors. Rotors will run me $200 vs. probably $80 to turn them.

[@dandavis6674]

Where did you find the torque specs for the calipers? I have a 2015 TLX and can’t find them anywhere

[@reneedaugherty1406]

did changing the rotors help?

[@ronnieoei4909]

Subaru has best brake .... My 2014 RDX AWD only last 8K before the front brake pulsating ... replaced the rotor & pad (at dealer) last another 20K before it start doing it again. Honda brake uses US parts. Subaru is still Japan.

[@minhbao7863]

Thank Youu 🙏

[@AutoDIY]

You are very welcome

[@mikel7732]

21:42 I have trouble removing my rear rotors, my hand brake and parking brakes are on. You said make sure the parking brake is off. Do you mean make sure the hand brake is off? Because if I turn off the parking brake my acura will roll forward since I jacked it up in the rear so the car is tilted downward towards the front.

[@AutoDIY]

You should always block your wheels when you jack up your vehicle, good idea to invest in some wheel chocks to prevent it from rolling, here is a link to some on amazon: amzn.to/2zn4aLV. The parking brake (or hand brake) only brakes the rear wheels. In the case of the MDX it is a drum brake inside of the rear rotor, so when it is engaged it will not let you remove the rear rotors, they are basically clamped in place by the brake. So chock your wheels, take the parking brake off and you should not have any trouble removing the rear rotors.

[@mikel7732]

Auto DIY Thank you kind sir. I have the TL, i think its similar in that my hand brake locks the rear also. I will buy those wheel chocks. Thanks!!

[@kens7420]

How is a warped rotor not covered by warranty?? Smh

[@AutoDIY]

Agreed

[@charlesly3270]

Imao I left my parking brake on for safety and couldnt take off the rear disk and was flipping out.