Braking problem.

[opulent]

right I'm having a problem with my brakes.

when driving and braking from say around 60 mpg my steering wheel and brake peddle vibrate. can feel it when going slower but isn't as noticeable. it doesn't happen when accelerating hard.

when i bought the car in December i had new front discs and pads fitted. it was fine for a few months then the vibrating start and got progressively worse.

thinking it the last thing it would be is the discs and pads i started trouble shooting on possible things....

- taken the callipers off and check to make sure the pistons move freely as should yep all looked fine

- my rear discs and pads was low so thought i would replace them with genuine parts. nope didnt fix it

- front control arm bush looked quite worn, so replace all the front control arm bushes with energy suspension bushs with no effect to the problem


with all of them seeming okay i thought its got to be a discs.. so i replaced the discs with genuine honda. this fixed the problem. maybe warped discs? but i don't get why or how because I've not done any track days or anything with major braking..

well so i thought it fixed the problem, its happening again! but started a lot quicker then last time!

im stumped. any thoughts on my problem. i don't want to really buy another set of discs!

 

[martinj46]

Are you one of those people who brake to a stop at traffic lights, then sit with your foot on the brakes? Brake discs expand and contract as they heat up and cool down, so sitting with the brake pedal pressed (hot pads pushed against the disc) the disc won't cool to it's original size where the pads are. I've heard of several people warping discs because of this.

 

[opulent]

i wouldn't say i am one of them people, try to put my hand brake when at lights

 

[maxvr6]

Sounds like pad pickup, what pads are you using? Tried breaking hard a few times to clear it?

 

[opulent]

They are mintex pads. I'll try that tomorrow when I go to work.

What causes pad pickup?

 

[maxvr6]

Well the whole disc warping thing is a bit of debate, as I understand it your bakes work by transferring pad material to the disc, its then the friction between pad and pad material on the disc that stops the car. Therefore its just braking that causes it or rather an excess of uneven pad material on the disc, hence it happening on track days a lot. However in my experience it can be caused by using an uprated pad and/or braking too lightly, in my case I have Tarox F2000 discs (slotted) with DS2500 pads, if I don't brake hard for a long time I get the warping effect from the discs.

What I actually did was spray the discs down with brake cleaner, then go out and stomp on my brakes a lot, problem solved and oh my the brakes are actually quite good once up to temp lol Also I have a work colleague with an old golf diesel who was experiencing the same problem so I sprayed his discs down with brake cleaner and told him to go and brake hard several times on his way home, problem solved. But he drives like a total granny so it came back again before long haha

 

[opulent]

Oh right I see! My drive to work just consists of 30 mph roads and just the one short B road so maybe that then!!

Thanks for your advise, I'll report back my findings haha

 

[Rom]

You can reface your pads as an easy test.

Rough sandpaper, 40 or 80 grit. Hard flat surface, rub pad over paper. Just to deglaze it, and give a fresh even surface.

Next, you need to be looking at disc and hub run out. If either of these are out, they can cause your symptoms.

Reasonably common, is people not cleaning the hub face when fitting discs. So a build up of corrosion around the bore can stop the disc sitting flush.

To do a run out, you need a DTI gauge. So probably going to be a garage job.

Disc warpage, generally comes from overheating. Long hard braking, ala motor ways and circuits. Though its not the only cause.

 

[C&S Evo7]

it would be pretty hard to warp oem brembos during normal road use, they are pretty tough usually

 

[opulent]

Righto tried the slamming on the brakes a few times and no look, not really made a difference...

I had the car jacked up today. Spun my front off side wheel and on spinning it didn't spin freely, felt like it made more resistance part way through the rotation...


When I put new discs on I made sure I gave the hub a good scrub with sand paper as I thought maybe the last ones wasn't seated properly because the guy who fitted them rushed the job...

 

[maxvr6]

Joe did you try cleaning the discs with some brake cleaner first? If not just dowse them in the stuff and try again, its only about £5 a can.