GroundZer0

Alright, i just picked up a 1997 hatch CX, and everything works great in it.. but the only thing is, when i brake, the brakes seem to work okay, but they kick/ pulse up and down when i brake. Also, they make a metal screetching sound and the steering wheel/ car shakes. The guy told me the rotors need to be replaced.. im pretty sure its correct.. so can someone please confirm? ALso, anyone got any good txt's or links to how to replace the rotors on a 97 CX hatch? Should i only replace the front rotors? Thanks alot guys!

kommon_sense

if you hear metal screeching, sounds like the pads need to be replaced and that the wear indicator is digging into the rotor which means that the rotors probably need to be replaced as well. You only have rotors on the front.

If you change the rotors/pads yourself, then be sure to use a torque wrench to torque everything back down to spec when you are done.

BlackDeuceCoupe

Contrary to popular opinion, it's almost impossible to 'warp' a rotor. What usually happens is the brake pad material builds up on the surface of the discs (material transfer). The only way to get rid of it is to have your rotors burnished at a machine shop or buy new rotors. Conventional 'turning' of your rotors will be useless - the material will simply buildup again in short order...

If you notice, under braking, that the whole car shudders, then most likely the rear rotors are bad. However, if you notice that the shudder is more pronounced in the steering wheel than the rest of the car, then most likely the front rotors are causing the problem.

It's your ricebowl, bro, but if it was me I'd replace both ends, assuming you have 4W disc brakes and they're non-ABS. If you only have discs in the front, just replace them. If you have ABS, then forget all the above. The pulse is probably the result of the ABS activating improperly...

BatuKing

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BlackDeuceCoupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Contrary to popular opinion, it's almost impossible to 'warp' a rotor. What usually happens is the brake pad material builds up on the surface of the discs (material transfer). The only way to get rid of it is to have your rotors burnished at a machine shop or buy new rotors. Conventional 'turning' of your rotors will be useless - the material will simply buildup again in short order...

If you notice, under braking, that the whole car shudders, then most likely the rear rotors are bad. However, if you notice that the shudder is more pronounced in the steering wheel than the rest of the car, then most likely the front rotors are causing the problem.

It's your ricebowl, bro, but if it was me I'd replace both ends, assuming you have 4W disc brakes and they're non-ABS. If you only have discs in the front, just replace them. If you have ABS, then forget all the above. The pulse is probably the result of the ABS activating improperly... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Dude.. your smoking crack.. have you worked on cars at all??

Yes your rotors warp because it is metal and when your heat up metal it will shift you cannot transfer brake material on the rotor because it will not stick at all.. it gets rubbed off as brake dust. Turning your rotor makes the surface of the rotor flat w/o any lateral run-out which makes your pedal shutter. You will only need to replace the rotors if they are undersized / below minimum thickness.

Also with ABS your car should NOT shutter with ABS problems your pedal will make a plusation unlike anything the original poster mentioned.
Also if your having ABS problems your ABS light should light up if the computer finds a problem

Now there are other things that can make your car shutter.. If you have a bad hub that has over .0015 lateral run-out... Your best bet is to get it inspected by a professional.

BlackDeuceCoupe

Hahahaha!

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
The "Warped" Brake Disc and Other Myths of the Braking System

By Carroll Smith
Copyright © 2001 all rights reserved StopTech LLC

Myth # 1 – BRAKE JUDDER AND VIBRATION IS CAUSED BY DISCS THAT HAVE BEEN WARPED FROM EXCESSIVE HEAT.

... in more than 40 years of professional racing, including the Shelby/Ford GT 40s – one of the most intense brake development program in history - <u>I have never seen a warped brake disc</u>...

THE NATURE OF BRAKING FRICTION

...there are two very different sorts of braking friction - abrasive friction and adherent friction...

Pads that function primarily by abrasion have a high wear rate and tend to fade at high temperatures. When these pads reach their effective temperature limit, <u>they will transfer pad material onto the disc face in a random and uneven pattern</u>. It is this "pick up" on the disc face that both causes the thickness variation measured by the technicians and the roughness or vibration under the brakes reported by the drivers.

With adherent friction, <u>some of the pad material diffuses across the interface between the pad and the disc and forms a very thin, uniform layer of pad material on the surface of the disc</u>... In fact, with adherent friction between pad and disc, the bonds between pad material and the deposits on the disc are transient in nature - <u>they are continually being broken and some of them are continually reforming</u>.

...It gets worse. Cast iron is an alloy of iron and silicon in solution interspersed with particles of carbon. At elevated temperatures, inclusions of carbides begin to form in the matrix. In the case of the brake disk, any uneven deposits - standing proud of the disc surface - become hotter than the surrounding metal. Every time that the leading edge of one of the deposits rotates into contact with the pad, the local temperature increases. When this local temperature reaches around 1200 or 1300 degrees F. the cast iron under the deposit begins to transform into cementite (an iron carbide in which three atoms of iron combine with one atom of carbon). Cementite is very hard, very abrasive and is a poor heat sink. If severe use continues the system will enter a self-defeating spiral - the amount and depth of the cementite increases with increasing temperature and so does the brake roughness. Drat!

PREVENTION

The obvious question now is "is there a "cure" for discs with uneven friction material deposits?" The answer is a conditional yes. If the vibration has just started, the chances are that the temperature has never reached the point where cementite begins to form. In this case, simply fitting a set of good "semi-metallic" pads and using them hard (after bedding) may well remove the deposits and restore the system to normal operation but with upgraded pads. If only a small amount of material has been transferred i.e. if the vibration is just starting, vigorous scrubbing with garnet paper may remove the deposit. As many deposits are not visible, scrub the entire friction surfaces thoroughly. Do not use regular sand paper or emery cloth as the aluminum oxide abrasive material will permeate the cast iron surface and make the condition worse. Do not bead blast or sand blast the discs for the same reason.

The only fix for extensive uneven deposits involves dismounting the discs and having them Blanchard ground - not expensive, but inconvenient at best. A newly ground disc will require the same sort of bedding in process as a new disc. <u>The trouble with this procedure is that if the grinding does not remove all of the cementite inclusions, as the disc wears the hard cementite will stand proud of the relatively soft disc and the thermal spiral starts over again</u>. Unfortunately, the cementite is invisible to the naked eye.

Taking time to properly bed your braking system pays big dividends but, as with most sins, a repeat of the behavior that caused the trouble will bring it right back.

http://www.stoptech.com/whitep...h.htm </TD></TR></TABLE>

clm

I'm in agreement with BDC. New rotors and pads on both ends (if applicable). Bed them in correctly, too. http://www.cobaltfriction.com

GroundZer0

Alright, well i went back out and drove it around and noticed 2 things.

1. When driving around normally, it makes a noise like a metal scraping noise when the wheels are turning, the faster i go the faster the noise becomes..

2. When i push down on the brakes, they seem to work, but it makes a metal scraping noise as well.

3. Also, to add another thing, the car dosent shake as bad as i thought when braking, the pedal pulses up and down and the steering wheel shakes a little.

So im wondering, is it just my rotors? Any ideas?

clm

Brake pads and rotors need replaced. Get some OE spec rotors from AutoZone, NAPA, whatever and some Axxis Ultimates from Cobalt with ATE fluid.

Blue-Civic-Hybrid

iTrader: (1)

I agree with BDC, he always seems to be right...

GroundZer0

Werd, alright, well heres the question, can someone give me a link on how i replace these? I know its pretty easy, but i wanna know about having to bleed the lines and what not..

clm

I've seen a couple write-ups on H-T. You could also pickup the Haynes, too for extra help.