Need some help with brakes
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From: In a house by the bay
Need some help with brakes
Ok,
I'm trying to help a friend of mine out with a braking problem. However, the real problem is the fact that I don't know much about diagnosing this stuff. So I'll give you more info than you need and maybe you guys can throw some thoughts my way.
Car is a 97 Z28, he just replaced the rotors and pads on the front about 5 months ago (Performance Friction carbon metallic and AutoZone rotors). He's got a bit of vibration going under light brake pressure, not to mention a very distinct "zzzt" sound coming from the passenger side. Not to mention, he has quite a bit of abnormal wear going on at the outsides of both front tires.
One other thing about this "zzt" sound... it's not constant. Sometimes you don't even hear it until you hit a dip or something..... other times it goes until you make a hard stop, then goes away.
So, I jack the car up and give each side the spin test. It's pretty obvious that both rotors are getting some drag so I pull the tires and it looks like the piston-side pad is making contact with the rotor..... doesn't spin easy either. I thought "warped rotor" but the friction is the same all the way around.... just spinning the rotor very slowly.... doesn't seem to get easier anywhere through the rotation.
So, I bled the brakes just to go through the simple stuff... furthest from the master up to the front. Then topped it off. Still the same. I read somewhere that this might be the signs of a master cylinder going out. So I check around the master and it looks like there's been a little bit of leakage... nothing major but it's definitely been leaking.
I'm kind of out of options as far as what to look for at this point and don't want to tell him "Replace the master cylinder" without really exploring all the options here. Any thoughts you guys might have on what is going on here????
One thing's for sure... driving around with dragging rotors isn't gonna do him any favors.
Thanx in advance!
-Mindgame
I'm trying to help a friend of mine out with a braking problem. However, the real problem is the fact that I don't know much about diagnosing this stuff. So I'll give you more info than you need and maybe you guys can throw some thoughts my way.
Car is a 97 Z28, he just replaced the rotors and pads on the front about 5 months ago (Performance Friction carbon metallic and AutoZone rotors). He's got a bit of vibration going under light brake pressure, not to mention a very distinct "zzzt" sound coming from the passenger side. Not to mention, he has quite a bit of abnormal wear going on at the outsides of both front tires.
One other thing about this "zzt" sound... it's not constant. Sometimes you don't even hear it until you hit a dip or something..... other times it goes until you make a hard stop, then goes away.
So, I jack the car up and give each side the spin test. It's pretty obvious that both rotors are getting some drag so I pull the tires and it looks like the piston-side pad is making contact with the rotor..... doesn't spin easy either. I thought "warped rotor" but the friction is the same all the way around.... just spinning the rotor very slowly.... doesn't seem to get easier anywhere through the rotation.
So, I bled the brakes just to go through the simple stuff... furthest from the master up to the front. Then topped it off. Still the same. I read somewhere that this might be the signs of a master cylinder going out. So I check around the master and it looks like there's been a little bit of leakage... nothing major but it's definitely been leaking.
I'm kind of out of options as far as what to look for at this point and don't want to tell him "Replace the master cylinder" without really exploring all the options here. Any thoughts you guys might have on what is going on here????
One thing's for sure... driving around with dragging rotors isn't gonna do him any favors.
Thanx in advance!
-Mindgame
Last edited by Mindgame; Apr 22, 2003 at 08:38 PM.
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