I have recently repaired my civic from a minor accident last week, and now when i brake the car starts to pulsate. I am wondering what this is and how it can be fixed, i have checked the fluid that is all full and i haven't done anything but body work since the accident.

also when i am at a stop and i move my steering wheel to the left and right(not even enough to turn the wheels)it makes a clicking noise. Thanks for any help on either topics.

 

maybe your brakes are damaged, because when my brakes were going they would pulse like crazy and the guy at the shop was like you are lucky you got them in here now because in a week or so they would have totally failed.

 

but i just replaced my brakes over the summer, with some brembo rotors and bosch ceramic pads. I hope they aren't broken that was like $250. anyone else?

 

my brakes used to do the same thing, when you got in your accident, did you damage any part of the suspension or brakes or wheels? A lot of the times the rotors are damaged and are thrown off alignment from your caliper changing the surface area of what the caliper used to clamp on to brake hence the rough pulsating. hope that helps ya

 

when you slamed on your brakes you could of warped them or messed your pads up you can get ttem milled for 7 dollars cheap fix to see if that works

 

the clicking noise i guess jack your car up both sides and have someone turn the wheel till you located the noise

 

i don't think that i could get mine milled, because they are drilled slotted. also i don't think they warped because i just slowed down from prolly around 5-10mph, i was only in a parking lot.

A local shop told me that nothing was out of place and they did an alignment and it still does it. any other opinions?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civiccpedx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> i don't think they warped </TD></TR></TABLE>
Did you measure them for runout and parralelism?

 

Really sounds like warped rotors. Does the steering wheel move back and forth when braking?............also might be a ball joint or something?

 

no the steering wheel doesn't move, just the whole car. like it moves back and forth.

 

swap the rotors, the're warped. Drilled rotors are designed for using on the track in near abusive manners and tossed after an event or two in favor of new ones. I made the same mistake with my first sset of upgraded rotors. Use the slotted only for the street use.

 

it sounds like rotors but it could be anything in between your foot and the brakes i.e. suspension components

a good thing to remember though is that there is no such thing as an good online mechanic

do your best to diagnose the problem yourself

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sanitary6Gen &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it sounds like rotors but it could be anything in between your foot and the brakes i.e. suspension components

a good thing to remember though is that there is no such thing as an good online mechanic

do your best to diagnose the problem yourself</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep I agree. I doubt it's a problem with your actual rotors...it sounds like a bent wheel or damaged suspension component or balljoint or tie-rod end, hell it could even be a wheel bearing. The alignment should have picked up on that but it depends on how competant the guy was that was doing it.

 

Agreed! Warped rotors or uneven pad wear.

 

also try going down the road at about 30mph and engage only the e-brake, not so hard that you skid. if the car pulses then you're almost guaranteed to have warped rear rotors................John

 

What if the steering wheel shakes when braking at freeway speeds.

 

well i don't believe that my rotors are bad, a lot of high performance cars have drilled rotors that don't change them after every use. porsche ferrari, etc all have brembo's rotors which is what i bought.

the wheel itself was never hit so it must be in the ball joint or a bearing, i will take it to the shop because i have no tools out here in jersey.

 

There are quite a few things that could cause a pulsation in the brake pedal. Believe it or not out of balance tires can actually cause it. I would measuer your rotors with a micrometer or a dial indicator just to make sure it isnt them.


As for the clicking noise, It sounds like a pittman arm problem. The pittman arm is what connects the steering gearbox to the rack and pinion or center link.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 99FBPSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What if the steering wheel shakes when braking at freeway speeds.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Is that the only time that it shakes?

 

it sure sounds like rotors to me. like JDM said, the tires can throw everything off and so can the fact that maybe the back brakes may have needed new shoes and/or pads, throwing off the balance and throwing a lot the braking to the front rotors, and warping them

 

so how much is a pittman arm, and how hard is the install? thanks for all the replies

 

Most likely warped rotors, I have the same pulsating problem on my 93 si when I brake.

 

well i also had the problem previously that is why i switched to the brembos. only then my brakes would make a thumping noise when i would slow down, now they just pulsate. nothing else. no noise no nothing just like it brakes then it doesn't brake, then i brakes then it doesn't brake, etc.

 

I say change your axles. pulsating can result from the CV joint. your accident might have damaged the CV joints. since its covered, it cant be seen by the experts who put your car together.

 

so just to be clear here (to the original poster) your front brakes never pulsed until AFTER the accident or did they do it before as well?