The good old Brake Problem - a new prospective!
 

Hello everybody!

First, as a new forum member (and SVX owner) I’d like to say “thanks” for all the useful tips found around here! I think this place is essential for anybody that has an SVX or wants one! :D Anyway…

I’m having the same old brake problem -> You press the brakes and the front-end starts to shake/rattle and you can feel pulsing in the pedal. I know… I changed my rotors and my pads for a brand new pair (paid $50/each for the rotors at G.I. Joe’s as opposed to $98 in Shucks Auto) and guess what -> NO DIFFERENCE! Just like before I’m still having the annoying pulse. I can really feel it going above 40-45MPH. The car stops fine
But it feels like the braking increases and then decreases with the pulsing, so it feels like
It’s missing?! Very weird! I’ve seen this before on my dad’s old Pontiac too but I figured it was an old piece of crap can anyways… Can’t do that to my Suby though ;)

What should I do? I don’t want to drop it off by the dealer because those a-holes charge $90/h!

PLEASE HELP!!!!:(
Thanks!
Nick

P.S. I also had the “going-over-a-bump” rattle and I fixed one of them by tightening one bolt on the caliper -> the other one though is still noisy. The easy way to find out if that’s
Indeed the problem is to reach through the rim and grab the outside part of the brake caliper: if it’s got some slack, then that’s the problem! You can also kick the tire and this will produce the same noise as if going over a bump.

The caliphers may be frozen-up. How easily do the pistons push into the calipher? I use a screw driver thru the slot in the top of the calipher to retract the pistons.

The pin on the bracket for the calipher may be worn or loose.

Your wheels bearings may have a lot of play.

Your brake pads might be really thin or not of a good quality.

Thanks svx_commuter.

My brake pads should be alright. I got the best stuff from the OK parts store :D

The pistons were really hard to retract. I had to use a C-Clamp to push them back but I thought that was normal... the car stops effortlessly but it's this pulse that's driving me nuts.

I think you could be right about this pin. The calipers are held together by one pin and one bolt. The bolt I think is creating the slack. I've tightened it pretty hard and I'm scared to tighten it more. I'll take the wheel off and look around this weekend and let you know. Thanks!

Nick

Also check the surfaces where the calipers contact the hub. If any rust accumulates there and prevents the caliper to match to the hub perfectly, you will get the feeling of a warped caliper, but it might just be misaligned due to the foreign matter.

Matt

Tanks Matt,


I'll try that this weekend when I jack the car and take the wheels off. I'll look very closely this time and clean all the surfaces. Hopefully I'll get it fixed.


Nick

Check the torque on your wheel nut. If they are overtightened or not tightened in the correct order this can cause this problem, and may be the most common cause of this problem.

shims
 

do you have the metal shims for the brake pads? Some aftermarket brake pads do not include the shims. If the guy who owned it before you replaced the brake pads without reusing the shims, you probably wouldn't know that they need to be used. Without them, the brake pads may move around under braking.

Matt

I don't remember if I saw shims or not... acutally, I think I didn't see any. Shims are those thin metal plates that fit on the back of the pads, right? I'll look tonight and see.

Nick

You should have thin pieces of metal that clip on to the back of the brake pads. In addition there should be metal clips that hold the brake pads in place. I have a Subaru OEM front brake kit that I haven't had to use yet, so I can take some pics if you need to see what they look like.

Matt

Assuming you still have the shake in the steering wheel then keep looking. If you just have a pulse in the pedal, don't for get the rear discs can warp too.

Hi guys!

I took my front-right wheel off today and I looked at the brakes - the pads did come with the shims and the other metal pieces are all in place as well. I think I found the problem though...

You know how the caliper has two parts: one tightens down to the wheel mount and has the two pistons on it; the other part slides in and out with the outer brake pad... the sliding is done over two pins (about 1/4-inch thick). The bottom pin (that comes closer to the ground) is actually a bolt that you take off so the outer caliper pivots around the other pin... well, when I took the system apart I noticed a slack in both pins. Even when tightened down to almost breaking, the outer caliper doesn’t fit tightly onto the
Pad… I can rattle it around with my hand… I think that’s producing the noise but how the heck to I fix this slack??? Should I replace/rebuild the calipers or should I find the pins?? The bolt shouldn’t be way too bad to find but the other pin is pretty weird… It bolts down as well but it’s a pretty unique part, I think… It’s got 4 groves on it and the threads are on it’s back?! I hope I’m making this clear enough so it makes sence…. ;) I guess I should take some photos and quit blabbing crap…. :)

Thanks,
Nick

Oh... and about the rear disks... I did a simple test: pulling the hand brake lightly should only engage the rear disks, right? I did that while coasting and no shake! Just slowed me down...

PLEASE NOTE:the PARKING brake...
 

...in the rear is a brake shoe/drum. The lever does not effect the rear caliper hydraulic system.;)

I've got disks in the back.... not drums. Does pulling the handbrake not cause the pads to squeeze onto the disk? Didn't know that :) Then how does it work? Hmm...

The rears are disk/drum combos. The brake disk contains a small drum inside the hub. There are brake shoes inside that hub that are connected to the parking brake.

Two completely separate systems.

See this image for a better understanding:

http://www.subaruparts.com/diag/?mod...category=263-A


Doug