1997-2001 Acura Integra Brake Job Guide: Symptoms, Costs and the Right Parts

By Core Brake Parts Tech Team — Circleville, OH warehouse

Every 1997-2001 Acura Integra stops on four-wheel disc brakes: ventilated 262 mm rotors up front and solid 239 mm rotors in the rear, per Acura's own specification sheets. A full brake job means front pads and rotors (they wear first, because the car carries roughly 62 to 64 percent of its weight on the nose) and, less often, rear pads and rotors, with fresh fluid and a check of the calipers and hardware at the same time. It is one of the more approachable brake jobs on any car, with one catch at the rear: the parking brake lives inside the rear calipers.

How the Integra brake system is laid out

Acura's specification sheets for the 1997, 2000 and 2001 model years describe the same core hardware on the LS, GS and GS-R: a dual-diagonal, power-assisted, four-wheel disc system. Dual-diagonal means the hydraulics are split into two circuits that each feed one front wheel and the opposite rear wheel, so a leak in one circuit still leaves you braking on two corners.

Two trim notes matter when you order parts. First, the 1997 specification sheet lists ABS for the LS, GS and GS-R only, so a base RS from that period may not have wheel-speed sensors at all. Second, the Type R (sold for 1997-1998 and again for 2000-2001) was built with upgraded suspension and brakes, according to Acura's own Integra timeline. Type R front brake parts are not the same as the LS, GS or GS-R parts, so always shop by the exact trim, not just the year.

Look at the rear rotor thickness in the table: 9 mm is thin. There is very little material to machine off, which is why worn rear rotors on these cars are usually replaced rather than resurfaced.

Symptoms that your Integra is due for brakes

• A high-pitched squeal while driving that goes away or changes when you brake. Most replacement pads for this car carry a small metal wear tab that scrapes the rotor when the friction material is nearly gone. It is a warning, not a malfunction.
• Grinding or a metal-on-metal growl. The pad backing plate is on the rotor. Stop driving on it; this is how a pads-only job becomes a pads, rotors and possibly caliper job.
• A pulsing pedal or steering-wheel shimmy when stopping from speed. Usually uneven rotor thickness or pad deposits on the front rotors.
• The car pulls to one side under braking. Often a sticking caliper slide pin or piston, or a flexible hose that has collapsed internally.
• The brake fluid level has dropped toward MIN. Fluid level falls slowly as pads wear because the caliper pistons move outward. A sudden drop, or a wet wheel, means a leak.
• The parking brake lever pulls up much higher than it used to. On an Integra this points to the rear calipers and their self-adjusting parking brake mechanism, not to shoes or drums.

Front vs rear: what wears and in what order

With close to two-thirds of the car's weight over the front axle, and weight shifting forward further every time you brake, the front brakes do most of the work. On a typical Integra you will replace front pads more often than rear pads, and the front rotors are the ones that get grooved or develop pulsation. Rear pads on a car that sees mostly highway driving can outlast the fronts by a wide margin, but do not assume: rear pads can wear unevenly if the caliper slides are dry or the parking brake mechanism is dragging.

The rear job is the one people get stuck on. Because the parking brake is built into the rear calipers, the rear caliper piston does not simply push straight back like the front ones. It has to be turned back into the bore with a caliper piston tool while pushing, and the notch in the piston has to line up with the tab on the back of the new pad. Forcing it straight in with a C-clamp can damage the internal parking brake adjuster. If you are not comfortable with that step, the front axle alone is a good first brake job on this car.

What to replace together

Treat each axle as a set. Always replace pads on both sides of an axle together, and when you replace a rotor, do both sides of that axle so they brake evenly. For most Integras these are the combinations that make sense:

• Front pads and rotors together. On a car this old, most original-size front rotors have little service life left after one or two pad changes. New front brake rotors with a fresh set of ceramic brake pads is the job that usually solves both noise and pulsation.
• Rear pads, with rotors if they are grooved, lipped or below the minimum thickness cast into them. At 9 mm new, there is not much margin.
• New pad hardware. Abutment clips and shims are inexpensive and are the main defense against squeaks and uneven wear. A brake hardware kit is worth adding to every pad job.
• Calipers if a piston is seized, a boot is torn, or the rear parking brake adjuster no longer works. Replacement brake calipers are usually sold per side; replace in axle pairs when one has failed from age.
• Flexible brake hoses on a car this old. Rubber hoses on a car that is more than 25 years old can swell internally and hold pressure on a caliper. Check them for cracks and bulges and replace suspect ones with new brake hoses.
• Brake fluid. Use the fluid type printed on your master cylinder reservoir cap, and flush old, dark fluid while the brakes are apart.

How hard is the job, and what drives the cost

A front pad and rotor job on an LS, GS or GS-R is a good home-mechanic project: the caliper bolts, the caliper bracket bolts and the rotor, which on many Hondas of this era is held to the hub by small screws that are often seized and may need an impact driver. The rear job is harder only because of the screw-in caliper piston described above. Tighten caliper and bracket bolts and wheel nuts to the values in the factory service manual, and bleed the system with the fluid your reservoir cap specifies if you open any hydraulic line.

Price is driven by a few choices rather than one number:

• Pads only vs pads and rotors. Adding rotors significantly increases the parts on each axle, but on a car this age it is usually the right call.
• One axle vs both. Most Integras need fronts far more often than rears.
• Labor. A shop spends more time on the rear because of the parking brake calipers; doing it yourself removes labor entirely.
• Extras found during the job. A seized caliper, a rusted hose or bleeder, or seized rotor screws add parts and time.
• Trim. Type R parts are specific to that car.

NHTSA's recall database, checked for this article, lists no brake-system recalls for the 1997-2001 Integra, so brake work on these cars is normal wear maintenance, not a known defect. You can browse all of our brake pads and brake parts to match your exact trim.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the 1997-2001 Acura Integra have rear drum brakes?

No. Acura's specification sheets list four-wheel disc brakes for this generation, with solid rear rotors and a disc-type parking brake mechanically actuated at the rear wheels.

Are Integra Type R brake parts the same as GS-R parts?

No. Acura lists upgraded brakes as part of the Type R package, and its front brake parts are specific to it. Shop by trim, not just by year.

Why won't the rear caliper piston push back in?

Because the Integra rear caliper contains the parking brake mechanism. The piston must be turned back into its bore with a caliper piston tool, then aligned with the tab on the new pad.

Can I resurface my Integra rotors instead of replacing them?

Only if they stay above the minimum thickness cast into the rotor after machining. The rear rotors start at just 9 mm, so there is rarely enough material to cut, and worn front rotors on cars this old are often better replaced than machined.

Does my Integra have ABS?

Acura lists ABS on the LS, GS and GS-R. A base RS from the early years of this generation may not have it. Check for wheel-speed sensors at the hubs before ordering parts that differ by ABS equipment.

Sources

1. 1997 Acura Integra Specifications (Honda News) - four-wheel discs, rotor sizes, ABS on LS/GS/GS-R only, weight distribution
2. 1998 Acura Integra Chassis (Acura News) - ventilated front and solid rear rotors on all models, ABS on LS/GS/GS-R
3. 2000 Acura Integra Specifications (Honda News) - dual-diagonal system, rotor diameter and thickness, rear disc parking brake, 3-channel ABS
4. 2001 Acura Integra Specifications (Acura News) - same brake hardware and weight distribution for the final year
5. Acura Integra Timeline and Milestones (Honda News) - Type R model years and upgraded brakes
6. NHTSA recall data, Acura Integra - no brake-system recalls listed for 1997-2001