Braking Feel

[SilverBullet]

So the '05 GT just hit 6K miles and its almost time for the second service. The car has been awesome with only one problem, the brakes!

Everytime I brake i get the feeling that the pad is skipping over the disc, its almost like a pulsation. Car doesn't have ABS and came with 4-wheel disc brakes. If it wasn't a new car, I woulda sworn the discs had been warped but I have pampered these brakes and I just don't understand why this is happening.

Anybody go through anything similar on their 05? I'm gonna let the Dealer take a look at it closer to see if it might be warranty-related, but right now it sucks because I have no confidence whatsoever in the brakes of my new car....

[yamaha]

How much brakepad do you have left? Anything on the rotors themselves?

[SilverBullet]

Pads have alot of friction material still left on them but I should take them out to check the wear pattern. The discs have alot of scratches on the surface as well as a layer of gray stuff on them, but I am pretty sure this is normal.

[Kyrol]

you prolly just warped the rotors. very very very very very very very x10000 easy to do with are cars.

[SWortham]

You can warp the rotors easy enough if the wheels aren't torqued evenly.

The other common cause is uneven pad deposits. The symptoms are the same as a warped rotor, but it is a different problem. The rotor will actually have more abrasive spots which grab and build-up and will cause a pulsing or vibration. This problem can sometimes be hard to avoid.

In either case, you'll need to have the rotors turned (machined) which will typically cost $10 or $15 per rotor at a shop or perhaps free under warranty. Or if the rotors are worn too far it may be better to replace them.

The two things I can suggest for the next time around are this:
1.) Always make sure your wheels are torqued properly. Buy a torque wrench if you don't have one. And anytime you're not sure if a shop torqued the wheels properly, then retorque them yourself to be sure. They should be torqued to about 80 ft-lbs.
2.) Follow the breaking-in / bedding-in procedures for the next set of brake pads you use. It'll vary depending on the pads but essentially you'll need to do a series of stops. It'll be something like 5 firm stops from 35 mph to 5 mph (do not come to a complete stop). Then 3 stops from 55 mph to 5 mph, with time to cool in between. Doing this will form a good initial transfer layer on the rotors and help prevent uneven pad deposits down the road.

[SilverBullet]

The car was brand new and taken to the dealer for 1st service but I remember this problem from the day it left the dealer lot, so I assume the fault was in place before I bought it.

If this is the case the dealer should have to fix under warranty but I am not sure how that will work out. I am guessing that "pad deposits" is the most likely cause but I won't know for sure until the car hits the dealer's jack in a week's time.

For the past 6K miles I was thinking that this is some sort of new car thing that would go away after a while.

Thanks for the input guys!

[vsolo]

I got a '05 loaner car a few months ago when my car was in for service, It has a few thousand miles on it & it was already doing the same thing. I told them when I turned it back in... Go in & tell them, they will act like: hummmm really, no one else has that problem... They should turn the rotors, it will be fine for a while. If it comes back they will eventually replace them. they were good for 15K to 30K miles.. That was the only real problem I had in my almost 4 years of the car that was a pain, they rest of the little things that went bad were fixed in a snap