Brake Problems

[scutch0]

i got a problem, i was blatting around earlier doing some heavy braking up to roundabouts (trying to keep up with my mate) when i started to get some vibration thru the brake pedal.

i was slightly concerned by this and did a test on them on a streight bit of road, it did it again but the brakes seemed to have very little effect.... and i had to put a stupid amount of pressure on them to make the car stop.

ive had a look at my discs and they are not flat across, they have different level rings all around them.

also the discs appear to have a kind of blue glaze on them in places.

i know this would mean new discs and pads, but thats not my problem... what i dont understand is how its happened.

i am well known as someone who does no brake late an hard, in fact this is probably the first time i have given my brakes a proper pasting so why all of a sudden would the brakes seem to fade away???

any ideas?

Rich.

[nrgizerbunny]

the rings are scoring, its possible that you have warped the disc - in fact highly likely.

when you brake hard, the disc heats up and cools down. metal expands when it gets hot so it basically warps. i'd say this is how you did this.

if you get grooved or drilled discs, they stay cooler because the heat transfer from the metal is very much improved, this will reduce the chance of them warping but they may crack from the holes.

[Toby]

What he said is the most likely cause mate. Tobs

[VTRick]

youve warped your discs, time for new ones.

you saying that you dont kane it alot is the problem. the brakes are not used to being as hot as they were and the force you were putting on them warped them. you need to ease discs into hard driving over a few weeks.

get some 3g disks and mintex pads, they are a very good combo. but remember to run them in!

[starletsr]

yeah i got a set of 3G disc for sale still!! It's grooved.

[scutch0]

cheers for the advice guys,

shelly, i get my loan in a week so i'll pm u when it goes thru, then we can sort out payment etc.

many thanks,

Rich.

[nrgizerbunny]

if your on a budget i would recommend Delphi Discs and Ferodo Premier pads, that'll set you back about £60 for the set.

Are 3G discs just Brembo MAXX castings that have been machined?

you saying that you dont kane it alot is the problem. the brakes are not used to being as hot as they were and the force you were putting on them warped them. you need to ease discs into hard driving over a few weeks.

Does this work? I would have thought that the disc warping was caused by excessive heat too quickly and no matter of easing the discs would have prevented this?!?

[toyotasera.co.uk]

I'd recommend some decent brake fluid at the same time. A litre of fast road spec Castrol fluid is about £ 10 and has a higher boiling point than the stuff that will be in it.

[Captain Starlet]

yer the 3G discs are Brembo casted - there full name is Brembo 3G,an its what it says around the edge of the disc etc,id reccommend them 110% ive got the Brembo 20grooves...excellent stuff

davebrush on Gtturbo.com can do ya good prices

Although i got mine from www.potn.com

[dac69er]

not too keen on delphi disks or pads. put some on my fiesta and they warped real quickly. standard ford ones are far superior.

they were cheap and i was on a budget but i got through 3 sets of disks in 2 years cos the cheaper ones warp so easily.

and it was only on a little mk4 1.26 zetec!!!!!

3g disks, pagit pads, braided lines and that Castrol brake fluid do the job.

braking aint that brilliant though but it is an old car.

[nrgizerbunny]

correct me if i'm wrong but weren't ford brakes originally made by Automotive Products? which is now delphi.

I agree with you about delphi pads, they are crap.

[DazH]

To be honest Delphi are not performance pads so will not operate like performance ones, Delphi or AP Lockheed as they were have quite a good reputation in the aftermarket. The company I work for have sold hundreds of thousands of sets over the years and warranty issues have been very rare ;) And no I'm not on commision :D

The most common problem associated with pad and disc warranties is that of poor fitting, fact

[riko666]

its !Removed!, i got some generic from eBay and the pad clips dont fit on it properly, so annoying :ffs:

[nrgizerbunny]

most pads don't come with shims anymore, just grease them and they are good to go. there are 2 areas of the car i never skimp on, tyres and brakes.

[riko666]

they dont need em? but they kinda clip into place into the caliper. its annoying cause i mean im striving to do all the work on my car, and i mean ive managed to take off the caliper (ok fine, its easy as hell, but gimme credit...) but the new pads just dont seem to fit...might try get a garage to fit em

[nrgizerbunny]

yeah you don't need them, well ebc certainly say you don't need them although if you get squealing they will send you some free. ferodo are the same too.

are you sure you bought the right pads? on the ep91 starlet,there were 3 possible different brake combos the car could have!

[Captain Starlet]

was there really 3 different kinds?

[nrgizerbunny]

238mm was definite

256mm is listed

228mm is listed

according to the ebc catalouge, the sportif (starlet non abs) should have 228mm discs. i measured the ones on ours and they were 238mm.

[riko666]

well they were listed as " paseo " pads, didnt state anything about abs though...meh, the pads look pretty much like the 'seo ones, but the little groove on the pad elbows (the two things that stick out) are too shallow for the clip to hook onto..

[dac69er]

i can 100% garuantee that the disks and pads were fitted properly. i got the delphi stuff off a mate cos he used to work for them. i just found them crap, as well as some other cheapish aftermarket make i bought.

i just found the std ford ones much better and they dont warp half as easily as the others. also there pads tend not to screech so muchtoo.