Did brake job...need help

[candela]

Old stuff was beat...

4 brembo rotors, PBS pads all around and all SS braided lines, speedbleeders and some nice motul fluid. Well everything went very smoothly aside from 2 wheels studs and I got everything on, tightened everything and double checked everything. All shims and everything were good to go (also check after I stopped and they were still ok) Then flushed the entire system with the good stuff and cleaned everythign very well with brake cleaner.

I saw the recommended break in for the brake pads was light-moderate decel from 30-0 a bunch of times with time on between to cool. Well after I did about 3 stops I noticed **1) the pedal was a lil mushy compared to how it was when I just got done bleeding it and hadn't went anywhere yet. I assume its just cause the pads were seated all the way and another bleeding would settle it (not a big deal). **2) its making nasty noises now. A little clunk when the car reaches a complete stop--regardless of how much teh pedal is applied-- its mostly audible and is barely felt. It makes loud brake noises (not squeeking, more like the noise when you are rolling backwards and you pull the e-brake) when the brakes are BARELY applied (otherwise its ok). **3) even though I broke it in the proper way it looks as if the rotors are a tiny bit glazed. On the front drivers side rotor it looks like a piece of the pad came off and was binded to the rotor. I could feel the repetitive slump in the pedal when the chunk would come around and hit the pad (also here it to... dunk...dunk...dunk...dunk).

Now I checked everything visibly and all is tight and well. I nicked off the little chunk on the rotor so it might be ok now in that aspect....but WTF kind of pads are supposed to chunk off like that? even when abused badly IMO they should NOT be chunking off then stickign to the rotor (i am sure it only stuck as the metals were hot) then they cooled together in between braking periods. Does anyone have any ideas about the clunking or anything, or the brake noise/howl type deal?

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated! I guess I could just drive it for a while and see if it works itself out. But these noises, dunking and howloing I NEVER had before with the stock stuff. Thanks all!

Austin :ylsuper

[Exar-Kun]

any pad damage means replace the pad. Also, after installing SS brake lines, the pedal should feel a good bit firmer than before, and if you bedded the pad properly you shouldnt be getting noise. make sure there isnt a bushing loose, that you lubricated the caliper sildes, the face/shim with some silicone crap(I forget exactly whats its called..it helps keep noise down and make the caliper piston seat against the pad better) and that all the shims are in there correctly, if they were needed(some brand have shims made into them).

-chet

[candela]

this is the crappy thing... cause I dont know if heavy throttle will give me a new pad cause of this. I emailed them so we will see. THis pisses me off. The shims were good to go, but I guess I will try using some of that stuff (i know what you mean but dont know the name either :p).

Thanks for the reply...

[p00t]

ahhh lemme see if my experience can help alittle here..

when u say PBS pads are you talking about PBR semi-metalic pads? (medium-dark grey in color?)

In sept 03 i put on pbr semi metalics, new brembo blanks, and motul rbf600 brake fluid (above dot 5.1 spec). brakes were extremely noisy in the brake in period, pedal pulsing alot, and brakes were weak. Pedal was firm but it took alittle bit of effort to do a normal stop. I did the break in proceedure correctly. The brake noise was more of a low toned roar. It took a few months for them to actually behave like they *SHOULD* have after bedding them in.

fast forward to now and my brakes are pretty good. pedal pulses ever so slightly on hard stops because there seems to be alittle bit of extra pad build up in spots on the rear that doesnt want to go away. Im pretty sure its because the ebrake being applied for long periods of time seem to make the pad material stick to the rotor. If my car is parked with the ebrake on and i let it sit for a few days i can actually disengage the p-brake and the car wont move... even on a slight hill! if i bounce around the car or push the ground hard will one leg out the car you hear the pads brake away and the car starts to roll. But its small and almost unknoticable, no big deal.

The brakes are pretty smooth now but it took a rediculously long time for them to break in and smooth out. Depends if your willing to put up with a few months of crappyness.

If your car is just daily driven I highly recommend nissan oem pads, cant beat em for normal driving. If your car does see some track time you can stick with the pbs/pbr's.

I searched online a while ago for brake issues/fixes, although its too late for this its worth mentioning i think: Some people found that when changing rotors and pads to a more aggressive set up, it helped to just put the new rotors on and let the soft compound brake pads break in the rotor. It seems that the softer pads gently and smoothly wear the rotor, as opposed to the semi-metalics which kind of gouge/scrape at the rotor (making it rough). then after 1-2k miles the semi-metalic pads would be installed and bedded in.

If im sorta on track with the problems youve been having you can contact me on AIM to ask more questions. SN = NapsterIsBroke

Good luck!

[candela]

To anyone who is interested I read up on stoptechs site and found out a lot of good info. http://www.stoptech.com/whitep...h.htm

Thing is, I followed the intructions perfectly so i cannot undestand how I would have any buildup. After reading the whole thing i conlcude I should either stomp the brake really hard a few times to try to get the mterial off (since I have semi-metallic pads) or just take off the rotors and try to scrape the material off as best i can and hope for the best....

[candela]

thread moved... still need some advice. Thanks guys! http://www.nissaninfiniticlub....01135