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Rotors and brakes advice needed....


plisken
09-30-2004, 08:16 AM
I have an '01 DTS with repetitive rotor issues. About 15k miles ago I replaced the front rotors and pads. However, I did not take it to my caddy dealership and I didn't use the OEM parts. I used Brembo as I figured that the OEM parts had a defect seeing that I had previously machined my rotors 3 times. This lasted for about 7K miles and the "pulsating" came back. I took it to my caddy dealership and they "machined" the front and the rear rotors. Well, here we are about 8k miles later and the pulsating came back. This time it was only really noticeable when I hit the brakes at high speeds. Lower speeds were barely affected. I took it to an auto shop down the street and the mechanic stated that the front and rear rotors were in "bad" shape and asked If I had ever had them replaced. I then thought to myself, "What in the world is eating away at these things"? I told him that I had replaced the front rotors and pads about 15k miles ago and that this was the 2nd time in to have them machined since replacement. He kind of looked at me and said, "Well, I see this happen to Ford's all the time." I had a 2000 BMW 528 and put 54K miles on the vehicle without having to replace or machine the rotors. I seem to be only getting about 7K of mileage out of them and the issue returns. BTW, I put about 15-18K miles per year on my DTS. Please, any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

MagicRat
09-30-2004, 11:18 AM
Rotors only warp when they become unevenly heated and cooled, especially when new.
So, what's overheating your rotors?
Unless you are towing a huge trailer through the mountains, I suspect your calipers might be dragging, that is, not full releasing when you take your foot off the brake.

ragarf
01-20-2005, 12:56 AM
I am having a similar problem on my 97 Deville. I have to have my front brakes turned or roters replaced every few K miles. How can I check to see if the calipers are not properly releasing, as is suggested as being the source of the brake rotor overheating problem. Thanks Bob.

klt
01-27-2005, 01:05 PM
[I'm not a mechanic but have been doing my own brakes for years. To check for front brakes dragging I would park on a level spot, put in Park and engage emergency brake, jack up and use jack stands, and chock wheels. In other words, get the wheel with the problem brake off the ground but very secure so that it doesn't fall and do damage to you or the car. You will want to spin the tire and check for drag. You will have to put the transmission in Neutral to do this. You might also want someone to depress the brake pedal and then release while you repeatedly check for drag. I had this same problem in a '89 Deville warping the rotor and it was a sticking caliper. I had already replaced the rotor, pads, and made sure the caliper moved freely on the mounting bolts. I got after market rotor and rebuilt caliper from Pep Boys and it has been trouble free 2 years+. I have also heard of the flexable brake hose that connects to the caliper causing this. I had replaced mine earlier due to cracking. I also had my son depress the brakes while I bled the lines until I ran new fluid through to the caliper. REMEMBER TO PUT THE CAR BACK IN PARK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. ONLY HAVE IT IN NEUTRAL LONG ENOUGH TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM.

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