Pulsating brakes/rotor warpage

[Hal Whelply]

Took my '04 Forester XT-PP in for an oil change yesterday, and asked for a
check of my brake discs due to some braking pulsation. Turns out all four
needed "resurfacing." (Warranty took care of it.) They checked to see if
brake line pressure was correct, and that the ABS is functioning OK. (I've
never had it go on, to my knowledge.) Everything checked out according to
specs.

Bottom line, I think they concluded I'm just hard on brakes. This is NOT how
I'd characterize my driving. I don't race to stop lights. I don't tailgate
and stomp on brakes frequently to avoid a rear-ender. I don't "ride" the
brakes. And so on. I do drive a lot of stop-and-go in town. But, regardless
of cause, this problem came up only about 3,000 miles ago (now at 21,500).
If I'm so hard on brakes, why did I have about 14 months with no problems?

I'm puzzled and frustrated. Anyone else have a similar problem? Thoughts?
Advice?

Thanks.

HW

 

[Mike G]

HW,

I've had this problem on both of my cars since new, 1991 Legacy and 2002
WRX. I, like you, am not hard on the brakes according to your definition.
As a caveat, I do live in the mountains and even using the gears I need the
brakes part of the time. My solution to save money is to do the job myself,
it's not hard and costs about $50 to turn the rotors since the pads don't
need to be replaced everytime. I know brakes were a weak point on the car
back in 1991, they've gotten better but I don't think any of the bakes
Subaru makes will hold up to the heat generated by the weight of the cars
for very long except maybe the 22B or other aftermarket varieties.

Mike

 

[kl]

About the only complaint I have about my Subaru is the brakes. I also
needed brakes turned (just the back) at about 30,000 miles. Now (about
38,000) a pulsing is getting noticeable again. I've never been real
happy with the brakes - they're a bit noisy (especially in the morning)
and they just don't seem to have "oomph". I'm not really a car
customizer, but I'm considering after market performance
rotors/calipers/pads. Anyone have any experience with this? Any
suggestions?

kl
2002 Outback VDC Sedan

 

[Juan Vado]

I'm puzzled and frustrated. Anyone else have a similar problem? Thoughts?
Advice?

http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/warped_rotors_myth.htm

 

[Rat]

Took my '04 Forester XT-PP in for an oil change yesterday, and asked for a
check of my brake discs due to some braking pulsation. Turns out all four
needed "resurfacing." (Warranty took care of it.) They checked to see if
brake line pressure was correct, and that the ABS is functioning OK. (I've
never had it go on, to my knowledge.) Everything checked out according to
specs.

It is critical with subaru brakes that you torque the lug nuts evenly
with a good torque wrench. Uneven torque will cause the warping feeling
you describe. No amount of resurfacing or replacement will cure it if
the lug nuts are gunned on or torqued unevenly.

 

[JaySee]

Took my '04 Forester XT-PP in for an oil change yesterday, and asked for a
check of my brake discs due to some braking pulsation. Turns out all four
needed "resurfacing." (Warranty took care of it.) They checked to see if
brake line pressure was correct, and that the ABS is functioning OK. (I've
never had it go on, to my knowledge.) Everything checked out according to
specs.

Bottom line, I think they concluded I'm just hard on brakes. This is NOT how
I'd characterize my driving. I don't race to stop lights. I don't tailgate
and stomp on brakes frequently to avoid a rear-ender. I don't "ride" the
brakes. And so on. I do drive a lot of stop-and-go in town. But, regardless
of cause, this problem came up only about 3,000 miles ago (now at 21,500).
If I'm so hard on brakes, why did I have about 14 months with no problems?

I'm puzzled and frustrated. Anyone else have a similar problem? Thoughts?
Advice?

Thanks.

HW

I had the same problem on my 02 WRX at about 20,000. Rotors were
resurfaced under warranty and I had 90% of my pads left still.
Obviously I don't break hard or too often. The rotors are weak. This
disappointed me quite a bit. My car is supposed to be a sporty car.
It's supposed to be designed to take hard braking. The fact that they
warped under light normal usage pisses me off. The dealer said it
shouldn't happen again after being resurfaced once, but I won't hold
my breath.