It's been a while since I've last posted something but here I go.

I drive a 93 civic hatch DX. My brake rotors are warped. They don't make the pedal pulsate too much but I do here a kind of a grinding noise when I'm coming to a stop. Every time I change the rotors the noise goes away but comes back after about three weeks of driving. I don't brake hard while driving. I have been buying the valuecraft brake rotors from Autozone. Also I think it's always the front right that gets warped the most. Any suggestions would help. Thanks

 

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-su...nd-other-myths

 

are your caliper slides sticking?

 

Excellent StopTech article.

OP: Do you ALWAYS use a torque wrench on your lug nuts and torque them evenly and to spec when putting the wheels back on? Also did you install new pads along with your new or resurfaced brake rotors? Did you bed the pads in properly after installing new pads and rotors?

I do all of these things, EVERY time I do a brake job and have never had a problem with AutoZone rotors and pads (Duralast though, not Valucraft) in nearly 12 years owning my car and 240K+ miles of driving.

 

What do u mean by bed the pads in. Did u mean break? And no I don't normally use a torque wrench on my lug nuts. Bump

 

I had problems with brake rotors back in the day before I used a torque wrench on my wheels. You need a torque wrench if you ever remove wheels yourself.

You also need to properly bed in the pads after installing fresh pads and rotors. Immediately after a brake job I will drive around and make several hard braking maneuvers in succession of like 30 down to 5, 4 or 5 times. Then I'll do 50 or 60 down to 5 mph a few times. Don't come to a complete stop if possible. After doing this you should then either drive around normally for awhile or park for awhile without using the parking brake, so that everything can cool down without the pads contacting the rotors.

 

also need to look into sources of play in the steering.

warped brakes are a symptom in my opinion. changing rotors isnt solving the problem.

 

This is very true. There is a cause/effect that creates the condition, one must determine what the cause is and why it is happening.

I've come across several badly bedded in brakes. Simply there is often not enough heat generated, or not enough time allowed to let the rotors to cool down before stopping. This will cause an incomplete or uneven transfer of pad material to the rotor. This will cause a pulsing in the pedal or jerking of the steering wheel when braking. Indicating a non linear friction surface.

Proper bed in requires that the pads are heated enough so as;
to remove, 'burn off', any excess binding material,
to evenly transfer pad material to the rotor,
to machine the pad to rotor interface for maximum contact.

Each pad composition will require its own preferred pad bed in procedure. There should be instructions with the pads on what the needed break in technique is, or some 1-800 number to call for tech support.

Generically you can bed in most modern pads by slowing down, much like when getting off at an off ramp, from 60-10MPH. Do this about 10 times, no need to cook the brakes only maintain heat, and then drive around without stopping for 20mins or so. This can be done late at night on the freeway or mid day before lunch when the freeway is empty.

This procedure can also be used to clear up any brake shudder or judder that may have just started. However, if a hard spot has already been created then the rotors cannot be saved.

One can never over bed-in brakes, if the car is driven fairly docile it is possible to un-bed the brakes by wiping the transferred material off the rotor. To maintain material on the rotor, every so often a couple of 60-10 slow downs will keep an even layer transferred.

 

All the guys above have given great advice. Stoptech always has great info.

From the symptoms you describe it just sounds like you need to buy a quality brake pad and rotor. Small noise as you come to a slow stop is almost always just a brake pad. Buy OEM pad if you're just worried about noise. Manufactures spend a LOT of money on NVH. If you want brakes that stop harder/longer/take more heat you're going to have make some trade offs with noise/rotor wear/brake dust.

After you install good brake rotors and OEM pads and then you have the following:

* brake lightly steering wheel vibrates side to side = need to front rotors pads

* brake lightly steering wheel does not vibrate but can feel car vibrate/pulsate = need rear rotor/drums and pads

* brake medium car pulls to one side = control arm or sticking caliber