Well today i put on my Hawk pads and Powerslot rotors and when i went to test them out. backin out of the driveway i hit the brakes and they grind, like u can hear it inside the car with the windows closed and the radio muted. No matter what speed and how hard i press the brakes they grind. Will this go away or is there something i did wrong?? other thing is that the brake pedal is still a little sloppy. i can compress it a good 2-3 1/2 inchs before it becomes stiff whats up with that??


1998 Sunfire, 2.2L auto

I've heard performance brakes may squeal. I had some squealing when I had slotted rotors, z rated pads, stainless lines, and high performance fluid, on my Z24. Oddly enough I had the same exact problem you mentioned. After the install my braking did not feel much better than it did with the worn out stock pads and rotors. I would also like to know why that is. Hopefully someone that has some solid answers will post.

I'd pull the wheels back off and double ckeck the basics...

Did you use enough brake cleaner? A small amount of grease will glaze the rotor.

Pull the shoes off and check for odd wear. If only one of the two has wear marks, you may need to look at your mounting bolts. The caliper has to move a little to stay centered on the rotor, and if the mounting bolts are rusty, it won't move right and you're only using one shoe to stop the car. Also, a glazed shoe will look differently.

Double check that the calipers are tight.

I'm not familiar with the parts you have listed, but I've used other hi perf brake parts that needed to be "seated", which is just taking the car somewhere safe and doing a few slow stops, a few hard stops, a few hard stops at a faster speed, then a few slow stops. This is supposed to heat them up and mate the two surfaces together. Check their website to see if you're supposed to do this. And make sure you have run-off room, in case you get brake fade and can't stop.








John Wilken
2002 Cavalier
2.2 Vin code 4
Auto

i figured it was something that had to do with "seated". because it just seems like the pads are to hard to stop the car right and their just grindin along the rotor


1998 Sunfire, 2.2L auto

Okay first things first. Did you make sure to put that special grease on the caliper bolts. Reason I ask that for is not because they grind, but because if the caliper cant move freely, one side of the brakes may apply harder to the rotor than the other side ( to clarify I'm talking about one side of the car, and the two pads) so one pad may wear out faster, and more importany one pad may not be contacting the rotor how it should. Which could explain your low pedal feel.

As for the grinding, geez you use some aftermarket blah blah this and that and they dont work right no surprise there.




- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new

i used brake caliper lube stuff from advance auto and i put anti noise stuff on the back of the pads. I tried settin the pads after i did the job. I did 3 stops from 15 - 20 mph then 2 stops from like 30 -45 then 3 more from 10 - 20 mph. still the same thing


1998 Sunfire, 2.2L auto

You didn't say whether the pedal was mushy before the brake job. Was it?

Another thing to do to improve pedal feel, and this is only if you have rear drum brakes.

Drum brakes have an auto adjuster that only works when going in reverse and pressing the brakes kind of hard. Go back to where ever you did the seating for the front brakes and start the car going backwards, faster than you'd back out of your driveway. Press the brake pedal kind of hard, but not enough to squeal the tires. Do this 2 or 3 times. That will rule out that your rear drums aren't out of adjustment. Not that working on front brakes would cause this, just to rule out other problems.

How old is your brake fluid? Brake fluid is hygroscopic, which means that it absorbs water from the air. Water will compress easier than brake fluid, which will make the pedal feel spongy.

As far as the grinding, if you've done everything I posted, I have no other suggestions other than to clean off the no squeal off the rotors and pads and try reseating.

Last resort... (gasp) stock replacements.*




*sorry for even suggesting using stock parts, but they do occasionally work.


John Wilken
2002 Cavalier
2.2 Vin code 4
Auto

yes before i did the brake job the pedal felt the same way. I've only had the car for manybe 3 -4 months and since i've had it the pedal has gotten softer and softer. I also have stainless lines i got with my pads and rotors (the lines were free) so when i put them on should i replace my fluid?? How do i go about doin that?


1998 Sunfire, 2.2L auto

heres another thing i just thought of. When i took the mounting bolt out and greased them up and shiz when i went to tightin them back up they didn't screw in flush with the surroundin metal. i didn't take notice to this before i took them out but are they suppost to be flush with the surroundin metal? i say they stick out 1 cm or so


1998 Sunfire, 2.2L auto

well today they didn't grind at all and the pedal seems a bit stiffer so i guess its alright just need to be seating better i guess


1998 Sunfire, 2.2L auto

well today they didn't grind at all and the pedal seems a bit stiffer so i guess its alright just need to be seating better i guess



i got my brakes done (new discs,turned rotors, all new pads) by my usuall mechanic and he said it you will hear the drums "grind"untill they are broken in.
its a common issue.
and if there new discs and pads in the front i wouldnt go "testing" them because there going to heat up and warp due to the fact there are new.
be easy on them for awhile until they can adapt to cooling off and heating up

Ryan Shissler wrote:yes before i did the brake job the pedal felt the same way. I've only had the car for manybe 3 -4 months and since i've had it the pedal has gotten softer and softer. I also have stainless lines i got with my pads and rotors (the lines were free) so when i put them on should i replace my fluid?? How do i go about doin that?

yes you will need to replace the fluid. when you bleed the brakes make sure that you see clean new fluid coming out. that is when you know you have got that line clean and have fresh fluid in there.


see ya!