Powerstop Rotors & Aem Brake Pads

I JUST GOT THESE INSTALLED ON MY 90 HONDA CIVIC DX H/BK AND THEY SAID THAT THE PADS WERE FALLING APART. THERE WAS A RUBBING NOISE COMING FROM THE FRONT AND IT SEEMS TO BE A PIECE OF STEEL INSIDE ONE OF THE DRILLED HOLES IN THE ROTOR. I BOUGHT DRILLED & SLOTTED ROTORS. ALSO WHEN I WOULD BRAKE, I WOULD BRAKE, I COULD FEEL A PULSATE IN THE PEDAL. I BOUGHT THIS SET UP TO REPLACE MY OEM WRAPPED ROTORS. I DON'T DO ANY RACING AND JUST WANTED SOMETHING THAT WOULD LOOK NICE AND EFFECTIVE. DID I DO THE RIGHT THING....? HOW LONG SHOULD BY AEM PADS LAST....? ANY INPUT IS APPRECIATED...!!

Drilled and slotted rotors are really overrated and they provide no functionality these days because of modern braking systems. They used em in the olden days cause people brakes would always overheat.

The pulsating in the pedal could just be your superb braking as opposed to what your car was like stock. Does it pulsate all the time, or just under hard braking?

As far as aem pads go I dont know much about em, but a friend of mine with a 97 GSR had to replace his and ended up putting in some other brands of pads cause the aem's wore out within 2 months.

Good luck with all that.:D

And save some capital letters for the rest of us:finger:

Slotted rotors can make noise as the pad crosses the slots. You can also feel them throught the pedal very slightly but it is more audible at certain speeds and pedal pressure. It is normal.

somebody answer me this... i replaced the front rotors and pads with some OEM ones from the auto parts store because my pedal was pulsating. Everything i've read tells me this is becasue of warped rotors. well, it still does it under heavy braking. Is this normal?

Mine did that from the day I bought my car in january 2002. They dont do it anymore though cause i had to have the brakes redone.

Pepboys is great!:finger:

you all don't even want to hear my story again :mad:...I have been trying to figure out what causes my new rotors to warp after 5,000 miles of use for years. The whole damn car shakes now...shit is going to start falling off soon it shakes so hard.
91civicDXdude...you could have some issues like me, except I can't tell you what they are. I get the thing aligned occasionally, I keep my tires balanced (another thing I can't stand is shaking at high speed.)
Also, "OEM" rotors are only available from Honda. NAPA 'OEM' rotors are not OEM. Been there, done that. Try Majestic Honda on the internet for Honda OEM parts.

I just put on Powerslot rotors and AEM pads this spring and they were AWESOME for about 3 months...then all of a sudden it is like somebody went a fucked 'em all up almost overnight...they are now shaking worse than ANY of the OEM rotors I have ever had, and this is the 5th set of rotors I have put on this car. I think they would be a great economical rotor/pad combo if I didn't now feel like I wasted my money. I need to find out what is F-ed up on my car that keeps causing this. :help:

Dude, that sux. I will let you know if my pepboys shit warps and does that

Originally posted by sastanley


I just put on Powerslot rotors and AEM pads this spring and they were AWESOME for about 3 months...then all of a sudden it is like somebody went a fucked 'em all up almost overnight...they are now shaking worse than ANY of the OEM rotors I have ever had, and this is the 5th set of rotors I have put on this car. I think they would be a great economical rotor/pad combo if I didn't now feel like I wasted my money. I need to find out what is F-ed up on my car that keeps causing this. :help:

You are probably doing nothing wrong to screw up your brakes.

Sounds like you're going through the same hell I went through. I trashed 4 sets of rotors before things got right.

You need to go with the pads and rotors recommended to work TOGETHER. Also go with a company that stands by their product. Some rotors will not tolerate certain pad compounds like kevlar, ceramic, etc.

I now have green EBCs (V4) and EBC rotors. I'm OK now.

The last option is to go totally stock with OEM pads/rotors. They'll fade quicker if you like to thrash around however.

i have a set of J-Power slotted rotors up front with AEM (nissan) pads.....I havent had one problem with em.... the only thing i dont like is the rotors get a rusty color to em while washing my car......but as soon as i drive and brake it goes away.

I GOT MY CAR BACK YESTERDAY AND SO FAR IT'S BETTER THAT IT WAS. HOWEVER, IF YOU HOLD DOWN THE BRAKE PEDAL WHEN YOU STOP, IT KEEPS GOING FURTHER DOWN TO THE FLOOR. BUT IF YOU JUST BRAKE QUICKLY, THE PEDAL FEELS GOOD. MIDAS COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHY...? COULD IT BE MY MASTER CYLINDER IS GOING BAD....? ANY THOUGHTS....?

Originally posted by LEXUSLEO
I GOT MY CAR BACK YESTERDAY AND SO FAR IT'S BETTER THAT IT WAS. HOWEVER, IF YOU HOLD DOWN THE BRAKE PEDAL WHEN YOU STOP, IT KEEPS GOING FURTHER DOWN TO THE FLOOR. BUT IF YOU JUST BRAKE QUICKLY, THE PEDAL FEELS GOOD. MIDAS COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHY...? COULD IT BE MY MASTER CYLINDER IS GOING BAD....? ANY THOUGHTS....?

Its the master cylinder, my 73 MG used to do that.

Originally posted by Melt
And save some capital letters for the rest of us:finger:

could b 4 things....

1. Wheel cylinder leaking under pressure.
2. Master cylinder seal leaking.
3. Caliper piston leaking.
4. Air in one or more lines.

If u sit at a stop and the pedal slowly goes down i would first check the wheel 4 brake fluid anywhere, if no fluid then bleed the lines & if still does it then it's probably the master cylinder.

Master cylinder unless you have fluid leaking at a wheel. If it's at the wheel your losing fluid too.

Here we are at the OEM versus aftermarket counter.
I have AEM pads on both the Civic and Prelude and they are terrific. The 96 Civic HB has nearly 20K on the pads and Powerslot rotors (undrilled). There is pulsation and I bedded everything in properly. The pulsation is at speed above 50 but closer to 70. What is the cause-actually the stock rotors are finish machined on the hub to remove any problems with runout. Honda even says to resurface the rotors on the car.
My Prelude had the stock rotors warped by an idiot with an impact wrench. Went to the brake shop and they machined them and no pulsation with stock pads for ~20k miles. I just changed them out and my AEM pads were great during 2 days at Pocono.

Everyone I have talked to says stay away from any rotor except a genuine Honda or plain Brembo. With that said, you also have to be absolutely certain that they meet the runout spec for your car. This prevents most pulsation problems. As to slots-they can help a little when you are operating at sustained high speeds. Drilling is not needed and generally discouraged for race applications as they tend to crack.
Just my 2 cents.:sun:

Originally posted by jc836
Drilling is not needed and generally discouraged for race applications as they tend to crack.
Just my 2 cents.:sun:

Amen

Alot of my friends with everything from 4th gen Si's to ITR's had slotted rotors...and they all dumped them withing a year of racing and went to bremo OEM style rotors and havn't had any problems since. I'm running bremo OEM's with Axxis pads myself and i'm pretty surpised how well they are holding up. But i havn't track raced them yet so I have to see how the hold up under really tough condtions. But on street driving I LOVE this setup so far. No vibration just tottaly smooth braking outta them.

Hey guys...thanks for all the input. I really wish I could find some rotors that wouldn't warp. I bought the Powerslot (not drilled, just slotted) with AEM pads after 91zc had used them for a while and liked 'em and has yet to report problems. I wish I had his luck. :bloated:

When I take the car off the road to do the engine swap, I'll probably order some rotors again, this time maybe some "OEM" Brembos. Do pad manufacturers usually recommend which rotors their pads work well with and don't work well with?? :confused:

Originally posted by sastanley
Do pad manufacturers usually recommend which rotors their pads work well with and don't work well with?? :confused:

Some do and some don't. From what I've seen it's usually the other way around. The disk manufacturer will often recommend which pad to use.

Really? So - since you peeps like Brembo's, which pads should I use with them? Must I replace my 6 month old AEM pads if I get new rotors?? I guess they break in with the rotor they started on, so I prolly do.