Brake Problems

I purchased a 2001 alero from an individual in August 2003.
When I bought it I noticed the brakes-- but he said OLDS car have pulsating brakes. I took it to 2 garages and they said the same thing.
I don't get it. Is there a brake problem I should know about? The car has 34,000 miles. I only drive the car on weekends but I don't feel safe.
If there is some kind of manufacturer statement about this I would like to know. I have talked to another alero owner and he said he likes the way it rides and drives but he can't keep brakes on it.
Any help will be appreciated.

The pulsating you feel is caused by warped rotors/brake pads. The Malibu, Grand Am, and Alero are all effected by these problems. I have a 2002 and at just about 30K miles now, I am starting to feel the puslation under hard braking. I used to have a Malibu and had the same issue. Once I replaced the front pads and rotors, everything was great. The Alero has (or at least mine does) 4 wheel disk brakes so I will replace all four pads and rotors at the same time. Be sure that if you replace the pads (even if you do the front and back at seperate times) you replace the rotors at the same time. Just replacing the pads alone may fix the problem for a while, but eventually the warped rotors will warp the new pads. That's the same with just replacing the rotors. The old, warped pads will eventually warp the new rotors. If you feel somewhat comfortable with doing brakes on your car, they're pretty easy (disk brakes are anyway). With my Malibu I found a good set of pads (front ones) for only about $30. The rotors are somewhat expensive at $80 per rotor...that's 320 for the entire vehicle. Add labor on to those costs and you'll have to take out a second mortgage.

I hope this helps! Let us know what you do or where you go to get it done.

Jeremy

I just finished a brake job on my 02 Alero. I had my rotors turned instead of replacing ($15) and now it is smooth braking.

The pulsating you feel is caused by warped rotors/brake pads. The Malibu, Grand Am, and Alero are all effected by these problems. I have a 2002 and at just about 30K miles now, I am starting to feel the puslation under hard braking. I used to have a Malibu and had the same issue. Once I replaced the front pads and rotors, everything was great. The Alero has (or at least mine does) 4 wheel disk brakes so I will replace all four pads and rotors at the same time. Be sure that if you replace the pads (even if you do the front and back at seperate times) you replace the rotors at the same time. Just replacing the pads alone may fix the problem for a while, but eventually the warped rotors will warp the new pads. That's the same with just replacing the rotors. The old, warped pads will eventually warp the new rotors. If you feel somewhat comfortable with doing brakes on your car, they're pretty easy (disk brakes are anyway). With my Malibu I found a good set of pads (front ones) for only about $30. The rotors are somewhat expensive at $80 per rotor...that's 320 for the entire vehicle. Add labor on to those costs and you'll have to take out a second mortgage.

I hope this helps! Let us know what you do or where you go to get it done.

Jeremy

To dig up an old post:

My ladyfriend has a 2001 Alero, and during medium-speed stops, the entire car would shake and vibrate. Since the steering wheel would dance around too, I replaced the front rotors for her.

One the first test drive, the front's shaking quit immedieately, but I can sense that the rear rotors are warped.

I am used to working on rear drum brakes, so rear discs are new to me. Are they any more diffucult to replace than the fronts? Who has a service manual of the rear brakes I can dowload?

also, I read somewhere that different pad types keep the rotors from warping again....any suggestions what type/brand of pad to use in the future?

Thanks in advance!

-Cat

The single most important thing on these cars to prevent future brake pulsation is to torque the lug nuts to spec with a torque wrench. The rotors are held on by being clamped between the hub bearing and the tire. If the lug nuts are torqued unevenly, as the rotor goes through heating/cooling cycles, it will start to contort, which over time will lead to warpage and a pulsation. If you do the job properly, you will minimize the chance of warpage. I routinely got 70k+ out of my pads and rotors, so it's not an inherent problem , as long as you are not a hard stopper. There is no doubt that these cars are slightly under braked, but if you drive like a human, you should get decent brake life.

The single most important thing on these cars to prevent future brake pulsation is to torque the lug nuts to spec with a torque wrench. The rotors are held on by being clamped between the hub bearing and the tire. If the lug nuts are torqued unevenly, as the rotor goes through heating/cooling cycles, it will start to contort, which over time will lead to warpage and a pulsation. If you do the job properly, you will minimize the chance of warpage. I routinely got 70k+ out of my pads and rotors, so it's not an inherent problem , as long as you are not a hard stopper. There is no doubt that these cars are slightly under braked, but if you drive like a human, you should get decent brake life.

:bigthumb:

Thanks for the advice!

But how difficult are rear rotors to swap out, especially with the e-brake assembly in there?

Thanks!

i have the brake problem too.

so i had the discs and pads changed by the dealer 3 times allready within 30.000 kilometers - for the first 1000 km I braked really carefully and it worked without shaking. but then everytime i braked a bit harder about 200 kmh speed the brakes started shaking again. it has to be temperature relayed, as longer as i stand on the brake pedal, as harder the shaking is - so i cant imagine that turning the disks would help.