Hi all, i have noticed only at higher speeds when braking fast my car seems to shudder, this doesn't happen when going slow or i mean like city driving, i am guessing that its my front discs need machining down, what do you guys think ? Also a completely differant issue, how often should you have your injectors cleaned ?, i had it done at 60,000 when i first brought the car virtually because the Holden dealership were i brought it advised me too back then, but i am up around 160,000 now and wondering if i should get them done again, even though my car is running well. thanks Ron
ive heard cleaning injectors make noticeable improvements to idle etc even if you think the car is running fine
On the money with the discs, but is it the pedal the vibrates or the steering wheel? The wheel is your front discs, just the pedal is your rears. Although some people don't like it, put a bottle of good injector cleaner in your tank, something like Wynns, if it improves then get them done properly.
Yeah on a long trip I filled up my tank and noticed after i used say half a talk got really bad idles, power loss etc etc. Put a bottle of Wynns Injector Cleaner (bout 15 bucks from your local servo) and everything was fine. Just chuck the cleaner in then put some petrol in drive around a bit, 2 days or so it should be fine. Haha im also experiencing the shuddering...mostly in the pedal. Should really get around to getting my discs machined and rear pads changed.
You can live with the shuddering or spend $$$$ trying to fix it. Generally if felt at 100kph it will not be felt at lower speeds which is where it really matters. Different if the wheels are locking up at 100kph but remember our cars are at least 10 yrs old and you cannot expect them to behave like new.
It would be much better to fix the brakes. Its not that expensive to replace discs, after all they might save your car or life one day. Mine did the same thing(shuddering at higher speeds)so I replaced all the discs and pads for about $400(that was for slotted discs too).
Ok, thanks a lot guys, sorry i should have mentioned that it was the steering wheel thats shuddering when braking at higher speeds, as i live in the seaside/bush most of my driven is 100 klm so it happens often, i will get my disc's checked, hopefully they might be able to machine them down a bit, they haven't been machined down before. I will get a bottle of that Wynes injector cleaner. Thanks everyone for your help, its very much appreciated. Ron
i've taken an interest in this thread as i partially have this problem, i have replaced my rotors, all 4, but every now and again i have a problem with shuddering only when discs get hot.. so its not nessecearily (sp) just high or low speeds.. but seams to be only when doin a fair amount of braking.. hotspots? or something else? should machining them as above, fix this?
Discs warps when they get hot. Heat is their enemy. Try and minimize the the use of brakes for example going down hill, don't just press the brake to control speed all the way down, putting in 3rd gear helps to slow down the car and using little braking. Also when stopping the car - minimize the time your foot on the brake pedal therefore is less time to heat up the disc and your car would be stopped before it gets too hot. I did this practice and my disc lasted more than 3 years without machining. Its all about how your brakes are used and the operating conditions.
You are experiencing uneven material transfer. What happens under ideal braking conditions is that a small amount of the pad material transfers onto the disc at the right temperature. When the brakes are applied this produces the necessary friction needed to slow you down. If you come to a complete stop while the brakes are hot, a bit more of the pad material is transferred the disc creating a high point. The next time you brake this causes a vibration until it has evened out. It is better to apply the brakes in 2 or 3 short bursts when slowing down from high speed rather than stand on them until you stop.
thanks champ, makes total sense! yea i've noticed that bursts of braking 'fixes' the shuddering. along the same line of thought, would it be benifical goin a lil higher temp rated pad (not massive high rating)? its only occasional but can be quite savier (sp?) thinking goin down the track of slotted rotors a bit later when funds ease up. would this be a better solution, as im currently happy with my cars braking
Slotted rotors and performance pads do give you better braking but at the end of the day is it just for the fact of saying 'I have slotted rotors' or are you going to drive it like a race car. Manufacturers brakes are more than adequate on modern cars, it just comes down to the value. Performance brakes cost more, so you have to weigh up whether it is worth getting them and does your driving style warrant them. The question of higher temp pads, I wouldn't get them as they need to heat up before they work any better, and if they are cold they won't pull you up as well as normal type pads. High performance brake packages need to be hammered to work at their best and this also wears them quicker.
yea not goin slotted rotors for wank factor or for race car, just thought of the cooling capabilities over standard rotors may 'fix' issue instead of the higher rated pad not getting to operating temp. occasionally i love the hills with plenty of curves, and would like to work on fixing this thoughts
As long as you don't come to a complete stop after hold the brakes on for too long it should be fine. A couple of brake applications before you stop will allow the disc to cool enough so when you do stop it won't create the problem. GSRallySport has some good recommendations on brake pads, do a search of his posts.
yea have that post saved, and will be looking to him for pads, up for newies soon. cheers for ur replies, very prompt and informative. sometimes its a lil hard in stop start traffic, but i'll give it a shot, Cheers.
