Sorry, this is a rather LONG post....My 95 240 shakes a lot more than I'd like it to, and it's not my driving style. It shakes when you put your foot on the gas abruptly (while it does have good "throttle" response...it shouldn't shake this much), and it shakes when you take your foot off the gas...for example, first or second, I just blip the throttle and the thing shakes pretty bad. Please don't respond and say that its normal, because no car I've ever driven shakes that much just from stepping on the gas/letting off of the gas. In addition, the car shakes even when its idling....a noticeable amount...I've heard this is the knock sensor? The last time I was under my car,I shook the transmission/engine to see how solid it felt, and it felt decently solid. At first I thought that this shaking was from my clutch needing to be replaced, ie, whenever I up or down shift, the car shakes a good amount, sort of like I'm thinking an older car would that needs to be heel-and toed when downshifting...a 1995 car shouldn't need heel and toe just to make a smooth down****. For example, if the car's in 3rd and I shift to 4th, I let out the clutch pretty slowly so as not to be abrupt, and the car still shakes a good amount. My shifter too, the actual shift knob vibrates A LOT during riding, and other people I know with MT's don't have the same problem at all. Do I have worn motor mounts? What about the TC rod bushings?
Now, onto braking. Past 45 mph, if you put a good amount of pressure on the brakes, the car shakes horribly and the wheel vibrates almost out of control, and the brake pedal pulsates too...it does the same thing if you put it neutral and come to a stop...the car feels fidgety and the brakes feel like they work in "installments" Definitely DOES not feel like a 2750 pound car with 4 wheel disk brakes...A friends heavier honda accord has brakes twice as good, and even minivans I've driven feel like they have better braking characteristics! Now come on, I thought this was a sports car! The fidgety feel of the brakes I think is coming from either warped rotors, as they haven't been replaced in 91 k miles,(they don't feel grooved, however,) or bad brake pads, or both...please don't tell me its actually the caliper doing this? Now, onto questions you guys (and gals!) can answer. If I replaced the front rotors with better, new, cross drilled rotors like what they sell at heavythrottle or pdm, and along with it I replaced the pads, would the brakes feel any better? Would this alleviate the shaking under braking pressure? What pads and rotors do you suggest for someone who likes to "drive his car spirited" and will be most likely auto x-ing in the near future? I've heard HAWK HPS are good, but I need pads and rotors that will be good for every day short trips, like going to school and back, so I need pads/rotors that don't need to be heated up to an insane heat to stop quickly. The pads also shouldn't emit a lot of brake dust and should be durable and good in wet conditions.What rotors does everyone suggest? Should I replace the front and rear, or just the front? Are replacing rotors/pads something somone like I could do with barely no brake experience but with the use of a service manual?If not, how much would a shop charge to replace rotors/pads on the front? It doesn't seem like it's THAT hard to do...Please bestow upon me infinite wisdom, I want to get rid of this crappy braking and shaking!:help
Shaking problems, braking woes, and advice for pads/rotors, OH MY!
Let me be a little more clear...I think I was a little exaggerated in the shaking problem. It doesn't shake ALL the time....Pretty much, it shakes when it idles....It shakes pretty bad when I jab the gas in 1st or 2nd......it shakes when I take my foot off the gas in 2nd or first...the other gears are fine when I press the gas down quickly or take my foot off the gas, and they only shake when I shift up or shift down (mildly, not seriously). If I don't have worn motor mounts,then what is causing it to shake when I don't use the brakes? When upshifting,, downshifting , etc, even though I am very careful with the clutch release and gas delivery? If it is worn motor mounts, how much we looking at to replace them?Lost to a K car...how are your brakes right now? What have you upgraded? How does the car stop compared to stock? How long are we talking before the Kevlar pads heat up? I don't want to have to be pumping the brake when I just start it up and take it out to make it stop....Otherwise, whats another good pad that stops much better than stock but doesn't always have to be hot?How much did you pay for the Brembo's/where? Do you think the rotors PDM or Heavythrottle sells are any good? How do I tell whether the front, rear, or both sets of brakes are hosed? What exactly do you mean by "hosed"Should I bleed the brakes if I change the pads? Dealing with the hydraulics of the brakes is what scares me...I don't trust my life in my limited mechanical skills...
Thanks...
Thanks...
Damnit,I just had a whole reply typed and it got erased!Okay....I'll try to be short and concise...The shaking in neutral is more like a surging....the car is calm and not shaking for about a second, and then it will shudder, then become calm, and repeat, etc...any idea what could be causing idle problems? I do have the timing advanced a bit, and headers/cat back exhaust/CAI...When I'm shifting tho, its a completely different shake with a different magnitude...it is quick and full on...doesn't last long and then is fine, like I said, its like the car has to be rev matched to make it not shake...Think you could be a bit more specific in describing the brakes? I don't want to sink $200 into the brakes if it doesn't help at all...What do the brakes feel like? Are they grabby? Do they modulate well? do they build up from little stopping power to greatest stopping power almost exponentially as the brake pedal goes down? Are they smooth, and linear like, and not fidgety?Do you have the brembo rotors/pads front and rear, or just front.?I know you said it doesn't take long for them to heat up, but I'm wondering about the specifics? How many normal stops do you have to do (say from 40 mph) before they are warmed up? one? two? Or can you just stop abruptly while you're going once and they should be fine? How much (how many stops/applied brake pressure) before they are up to optimum stopping temperature? And then from therre on, do they perform at their maximum? What's the wear like on the pads/rotors? Any break-in periods? Sorry for all the q's! I was referring to pumping up the brakes to get them hot, wondering if YOU had to do that to get your brakes performing best...not mine !Any idea what the stock thickness is for calipers/marginal thickness/time-to-replace rotors thickness? No, as of now I don'thave anyone to look over my shoulder who's done it before...I have a lot of friends that have done stuff like this with their dirtbike discbrakes...dont know if they are that much similar, how ever. I think I'll be okay if I have the FSM.Thanks in advanceMarcPS...what other mods do you have done to your car?!?
I like your posting style, Lost-to-K.