Allan - When I worked in Granville Square downtown I used to take Boundary Road home every day which was at least a 12% grade. I could fry my new rotors on that alone.
Also, I don't know for certain but I imagine hitting a puddle at the bottom of the hill after heating up those rotors might contribute to warp-age as well.
Yes that Allison transmission is pretty amazing is sure helps holding speed with a heavy load on. Next time you take the ferry use the new Hwy 17 South Perimeter Road. It's fast, but don't just drive by stop in!

 

Here's how I check callipers;
It takes two to do the job, you need someone to operate the brake pedal while you are looking at the calliper.
Remove the brake pads.
If the calliper has more than one piston clamp all except one, and repeat the following for all pistons.
Have the pedal pushed down, don't worry, the piston wont pop out with just one or two pushes.
The piston should move out smoothly, if it seems to hang up and jerk out it need further attention.
When the pedal is released the piston should retract a VERY small amount, but perceptibly. This is the elastic property of the sealing ring.
If it does both the above on all pistons the calliper is fine.
If it doesn't it's overhaul time, an easy job on most older cars.
A word of warning; if the parking brake is built into the calliper as on a lot of European models it takes some skill and often special tools for the job. Unless you are confident in your abilities and have the necessary tools for these callipers either get it done by an experienced mechanic or replace it. Unfortunately they can also be rather expensive. Fortunately this won't apply to any but possibly some final years Oldsmobiles.




Make sure the pads are fitted properly, a snug fit in the calliper but able to move sideways as they wear. They were assembled with a touch of copper based grease where they are mounted weren't they?.


If the calliper runs with sliding mounts check they are freely moving as well and aren't twisted or bent, or running out of true.

Spin the hub, the disc should run true inside the calliper (no side to side movement), and the hub should spin freely and quietly.


It won't hurt to spin the wheels before you remove them to check your tires are also running true, it's far from unknown for old tires to be less than round, especially if the driver likes to drive the car to its limits.


Roger.

 

Roger, all good info. Found out most of that when I changed out the pads on a friends Volvo 740 a few years back.

I think the 'copper based grease' you're referring to is anti squeal paste/goop put onto the back of the pads? Either that or the caliper slides. I use white lithium grease for the slide pins - works well. Most new pads come with new anti-rattle clips.

My calipers aren't the problem - they're functioning exactly the way they're supposed to. Typical single piston style GM.

 

The stuff I use is sold as both anti squeal and anti seize (freezing?) compound.
I also put a touch of it on drum brake backplates where the shoes touch and use it on the threads of self adjusters if they are a screw type. It has uses other than for braking systems, anywhere moving parts meet high temperatures, and steel screws in aluminium threads for example.


Roger.

 

I didn't check out anywhere else , I was kind of surprised when I had to order the ones I did . I was hoping they had them on the shelf , or at least a few more options . The car is getting pretty dangerous to drive at this point . I know I'm bad for waiting till the last minute to do some of this stuff , but I've been quite busy lately . My plan was to get this fixed when the rotors are in at the parts store on 4/23 that I already had to pay for a head of time . This means I'll have to do the mad schuffle before work to get it done in time . This don't leave a whole lot of time to inspect the calipers properly though .

 

That's what I forgot . The rotors I'm picking up have a Limited Lifetime Warranty lol . This means when they warp the auto parts store can keep giving me new ones .

 

I couldn't find my receipt from last year for the cheap rotors I bought . I'm sure it's here somewhere .

 

Thanks Roger , this info will come in handy tomorrow .

 

Really Bryan? You should ask them what Limited Lifetime means before you make that kind of statement. In my experience, most manufacturers will provide this 'free replacement' warranty only for the amount of time they manufacture the EXACT SAME product as what you originally bought, AND if they think there has been no abuse of the product to cause its failure.

 

Exactly , that's why I laughed when I seen Lifetime Limited Warranty . Your only gonna be able to get a replacement once is what that probably means . I was trying to be a smart **** is all . I was standing there with my nephew trying to decide what to do and I need rotors so I bit . I will know better next time if I have to do this crap again and plan ahead .

 

I picked up the rotors and some premium brake pads . The guy behind the counter talked me into it . I will try and fix the car tomorrow before work . I will list details on the parts I picked up and maybe take a few pictures . We had to take the Crapalier back to the garage I had it repaired at because of a loud clunk sound , missing lug nut (They didn't tighten the lugs on one rim) and I wanted a estimate on another problem the car has . Now we are down a car again , so I really need to get my butt up out of bed and get this done .

 

Well there is not much to report . The caliper pistons went back in about the same on both sides , so neither caliper is bad . This took around 2hrs of me taking my time and having a temporary problem of lining up the caliper bolts with the holes to bolt it back on . Other then that it all worked out like it should , and now the car comes to a nice and smooth stop . Thank God for that ! I was getting tired of my car shaking every time I had to stop . The old pads ended up to be about 2/3 the way gone , so that wasn't a complete waste . Here are some pictures of the new pads , my handy tool for centering the c-clamp on the piston picture , and the old rotors , pads ....

 

Aye carumba! Not good to let the caliper hang on the end of the brake hose like that. Hope that tool you used to press back the piston was wide enough to cover it all. Usually most guys will put the old brake pad in the clamp and use that. Hope all works out for the best

 

Yeah the caliper was sitting on a wood block until I got frustrated with the repair . The tool did reach all the way across so I could get the c-clamp right in the middle . Well , so far so good .

 

As mentioned above, would make sure rear brake shoes are adjusted correctly, there suppose to do about 40% of the braking, should be a very minimal contact between drum and shoes. Will take some of the braking load off the disk brakes.

 

I must of missed that part above , I will do that . I put new drums on the back last year , but I can't remember if I replaced the shoes or not . I had to manually adjust them enough so I could get the new drums on , and then fine tuned it so I could just hear them making contact when I spun it . ( I hate brake shoe replacement . ) I did the back up and jam on the brakes trick also , but if the adjuster is frozen in place it may NOT have moved . I didn't think of that at the time when I did the repair .

 

Although I hate brake shoe replacement , I have one of those brake shoe spring removal tools that will make your life a heck of a lot easier when doing the job .... It would just take me around a hour to find mine .

 

I fought the exact same brake rotor warping problem for a couple years, I was replacing the rotor every six months! Replaced everything, but the last thing was the hoses. No problems since.

 

Well if THESE rotors warp in 6 months again , I am going to look into that for sure . I seen that mentioned earlier in this thread and I thank you for reminding me .

 

With the way you let the caliper hang on the hose its only a matter of time before you will have a problem. IMO you should replace both sides for safety. 20 per side is cheap safety.

 

Yeah that was dumb wasn't it . I could of at least put the caliper on the wood block for the picture . It turns out there's still something going on with my brakes , and it could very well be the brake lines . The car comes to a smooth stop , but I can still feel a ever so slight wobble , like there's a bent rim or something . If it IS a line , what do I replace ? Both rubber hose sections with the banjo fittings on the end ? I hope I don't have to go further then that . I would also have to bleed the brakes obviously if this is the case .

Eh?

 

I also found this information ....

 

There are new studs and different lug nuts on the front driver side then the rest of the car . It makes me wonder if that side of the car hit a curb or some other kind of impact . This goes with what I found above .

 

It forgot to mention that a damaged hub assy or spindle usually will lead to failed wheel bearings.

 

Going to my moms to check the brakes on my Buick today . There is something going on for sure . The anti-lock brakes sometimes engage when coming to stop on dry concrete because of this problem . I will report back on what I find . I'm going to lift the whole front end up off the ground this time and spin the wheels . I'm pretty sure one of the hubs are bent up or something .

 

ok , I'm having a hard time finding the housing that the bearing sits in on this car ..... Anyone here know what they call that part ? I don't think this is a bearing problem . I have plenty of exp. with that , and never had a bearing not make noise when it's going bad , and warp your rotors for that matter . I tried to look up front hub assembly , but all they show me are the bearing assemblies ... anyhow I will be leaving here in the next hour to go inspect .

 

I jacked the car up and spun the wheels on the front without the brakes applied of course , and the passenger side has a spot where it sticks a bit every revolution ..... Any Ideas ? I think this narrows it down to either the bearing , or the armature / hub that houses the bearing ??? The rims don't seem to be bent either .

 

I just realized that I forgot about the slides on the calipers . I guess I didn't realize the full significance of this until I did some research on it . I never did slides before and was reading a " how to " clean and grease them website . I will have to do this next to see if this is the culprit .

 

Ok , I cleaned up the slides , greased them , and put everything back on . The tire spun freely with the brake pads backed off , but once I pumped the brakes and went for a ride , it still has an issue . The rubber on the brake lines with the banjo fittings are all cracked up . I will replace both hoses next weekend and see what that does . If that doesn't do it , then I don't know what it could be .

edit ... is there any easy way to bleed the brakes ? I usually take the car in for that .

 

Simple, take the top off the master cylinder, then undo the bleed screw on one calliper, wait until gravity has pushed the fluid down the hoses and pushed all the air through the bleed screw, That will be when bubbles stop coming out and fluid flows out smoothly.
Do this for both sides, put the top back on the M/C and check the pedal. If it has too much travel you haven't got all the air out.
If you have help get your help to push the pedal down when you open the bleed screw. you need the M/C covered or it may splash brake fluid around - nasty for skin and paintwork. Then nip the screw up and have the pedal released. Repeat until clean fluid come out the bleed screws. Check the pedal and repeat if required.


Roger.

 

Cool , I will use your " do it yourself " method when I changed the hoses out . Thanks

Also ... I will have to keep the fluid level full during this procedure or I will add more air to the lines if the MC runs out of fluid .

 

You are right of course, I figured you didn't need telling. No sarcasm or offense intended.


Roger.

 

I wanted to thank everyone for there advice on this . I replaced the problem side hose ( passenger side ) , and used Rogers advice on bleeding the air out of the brakes . I noticed a huge difference when I took it for a drive . I would of replaced the other hose before taking it for a test drive , but the parts store gave me the wrong hose on the drivers side , so I had to drive the car to the parts store in order to get the correct one ( that's never happened before ) I will do the other side next weekend .... unfortunately I think the rotor on the passenger side is slightly warped from the constant rubbing it was doing in the last month that I was driving the car , but it is still a night and day difference from before .

 

Ok , I took the other rotor back , and got a new one from the parts store . After I installed the new rotor , I replaced the brake hose on the drivers side .

To sum it up .... I replaced the rotors , cleaned/greased the slides , new quality pads , and the brake hoses , but there still seems to be something lurking when I hit the brakes . I seem to notice it more around the 40mph range for some reason . The car DOES have one bad tire on it , but it's on the back of the car . I'm not sure if that would make the front end have problems though .

I'm open for suggestions at this point ....

THINGS I DIDN'T REPLACE YET .....

There is the hub/bearing assy , the axle shaft , caliper (piston pushes in fine though) , or there's the cast iron armature that houses the caliper .

Any Ideas ?

edit .... I'm thinking the bearing or caliper maybe ? I'm kind of hoping I don't replace the problem part last ! I'm trying to save money by not having to take it to a garage , but if I replace everything then all this was in vain .

 

I have occasionally come across new pads not feeling right. Often swapping the pads from one side to the other fixes this. Worth a try, it won't take you long with all the practice you've had recently!


Roger.

 

Whats it doing when you hit the brakes at 40?

 

You get that warped rotor feeling . That shaky rumble feeling in the steering wheel/floor when you hit the brakes . It just seems a bit more noticeable at that speed for some reason .

 

I'm about ready to try just about anything .

 

You believe incorrectly. The only connection between Saturn and Honda is that GM inked a deal to use Honda V6 engines in the Saturn Vue. NOT the "platform", just the engine. Later Saturns did use Opel platforms from GM of Europe. Again, not Honda.

 

Have the rotors checked again for run-out. Check to see that the wheel is tight on the spindle. Dont rule out a bad tire. Switch the tire and rotor to the other side see if the problem follows.