Hey all,
Just did the rear pads and rotors on my 2018 Odyssey. I had done my research, so wasn't too thrown off by the electronic E brake actuator... So just wanted to 1) document the process... 2) confirm with the forum I did everything right on a few areas that I found contradictory info on the interwebs (go figure)
For general overview... The electronic EBrake as well as (presumably) the collision avoidance system (?) use an electric motor to actuate the rear brakes. Unlike the cable wound rear brakes (that also integrate the parking brake into the disc brake instead of the drum/disc combo deal) you can't just use the 2 or 3 pin tool to wind back the caliper. If you do that you (the internet claims) risk damaging the EBrake motor.
If you have a high end scan tool ($250+, or the real Honda one for waayy more than that) Honda has a maintenance mode to retract the caliper. This is NOT normal OBD commands and the $30 Bluetooth job with the $10 Android app doesn't cut it. Seems auto manufacturers charge a fortune for these companies to have access to the command format for their proprietary command, and that's what you're really paying for- not anything special about the scan tool hardware (can't they price this crap into the car price!?). Someone on another forum mentioned the $60 maxi Bluetooth adapter... My finding on that is that you pay an annual subscription fee on top of that to make it do anything more than normal OBD. Couple hundred was the cheapest non subscription based option I found. (I have as personal hatred of paying subscription fees to use a piece of hardware I already paid for!).
If you don't want to do that... Honda allegedly also lists removing the actuator (the electric motor assembly) as an option. It's two small torx bolts and came off easily. Honda recommends replacing those bolts and an oring... Interwebs are skeptical of the need to do so. I did not bother.
Next is where there's contradictory info floating around. One set of instructions I found said you needed a e11 torx SOCKET to wind back the actuator. However the caliper side on my 2018 Odyssey doesn't need a socket it needs a torx wrench. And a big one.. Bigger than I had.
But I also found instruction that said first turn that until it bottoms out then wind back the piston as normal.
This is where I got confused and deviated.... Once the motor is removed, how is this possibly any different than a cable wound assembly? So I put on the 3 pin adapter and turned gently.. Wound back just fine.. Seems to work....EBrake is fine.. No weird error codes. Seems to me that the "wind back with a torx" step (be it a torx SOCKET or torx wrench) is INSTEAD of using the 3 pin adapter. Once you've removed the motor assembly (the actuator) to not damage the gearing inside that... It seems like it's just the piston on a screw thread and these options both do the same thing from opposite sides?
Anyone disagree? Did I do something dumb? Is the internet just dumb? (Haha, of course it is.. But on this particular point!)
Thanks... Hope something can confirm I did it right and hope the other info helps others.
Just did the rear pads and rotors on my 2018 Odyssey. I had done my research, so wasn't too thrown off by the electronic E brake actuator... So just wanted to 1) document the process... 2) confirm with the forum I did everything right on a few areas that I found contradictory info on the interwebs (go figure)
For general overview... The electronic EBrake as well as (presumably) the collision avoidance system (?) use an electric motor to actuate the rear brakes. Unlike the cable wound rear brakes (that also integrate the parking brake into the disc brake instead of the drum/disc combo deal) you can't just use the 2 or 3 pin tool to wind back the caliper. If you do that you (the internet claims) risk damaging the EBrake motor.
If you have a high end scan tool ($250+, or the real Honda one for waayy more than that) Honda has a maintenance mode to retract the caliper. This is NOT normal OBD commands and the $30 Bluetooth job with the $10 Android app doesn't cut it. Seems auto manufacturers charge a fortune for these companies to have access to the command format for their proprietary command, and that's what you're really paying for- not anything special about the scan tool hardware (can't they price this crap into the car price!?). Someone on another forum mentioned the $60 maxi Bluetooth adapter... My finding on that is that you pay an annual subscription fee on top of that to make it do anything more than normal OBD. Couple hundred was the cheapest non subscription based option I found. (I have as personal hatred of paying subscription fees to use a piece of hardware I already paid for!).
If you don't want to do that... Honda allegedly also lists removing the actuator (the electric motor assembly) as an option. It's two small torx bolts and came off easily. Honda recommends replacing those bolts and an oring... Interwebs are skeptical of the need to do so. I did not bother.
Next is where there's contradictory info floating around. One set of instructions I found said you needed a e11 torx SOCKET to wind back the actuator. However the caliper side on my 2018 Odyssey doesn't need a socket it needs a torx wrench. And a big one.. Bigger than I had.
But I also found instruction that said first turn that until it bottoms out then wind back the piston as normal.
This is where I got confused and deviated.... Once the motor is removed, how is this possibly any different than a cable wound assembly? So I put on the 3 pin adapter and turned gently.. Wound back just fine.. Seems to work....EBrake is fine.. No weird error codes. Seems to me that the "wind back with a torx" step (be it a torx SOCKET or torx wrench) is INSTEAD of using the 3 pin adapter. Once you've removed the motor assembly (the actuator) to not damage the gearing inside that... It seems like it's just the piston on a screw thread and these options both do the same thing from opposite sides?
Anyone disagree? Did I do something dumb? Is the internet just dumb? (Haha, of course it is.. But on this particular point!)
Thanks... Hope something can confirm I did it right and hope the other info helps others.
