Haven't taken things apart yet but I have one more symptom that puzzles me. 2000GT Automatic, braking at slower speeds seems smooth but at highway speeds, SOMETIMES I get a wild vibration in the steering wheel when braking. If I release and reapply, I can sometimes get a smooth brake. What's up with this??

Haven't taken things apart yet but I have one more symptom that puzzles me. 2000GT Automatic, braking at slower speeds seems smooth but at highway speeds, SOMETIMES I get a wild vibration in the steering wheel when braking. If I release and reapply, I can sometimes get a smooth brake. What's up with this??

 

maybe a sticking slide?

I thought it was a bad rotor and was prepared to change the rotors when replacing the brake pads but if you are right, you saved me $140. The car doesn't seem to pull to one side or another. Are there 2 plungers on each caliper and if so are you saying one of these is "sticking"? Not clear yet.

OK so how do I unstick this "slide"? Are you referring to the plungers in the caliper? If so, how do I make them not "stick"?

maybe a sticking slide?

I thought it was a bad rotor and was prepared to change the rotors when replacing the brake pads but if you are right, you saved me $140. The car doesn't seem to pull to one side or another. Are there 2 plungers on each caliper and if so are you saying one of these is "sticking"? Not clear yet.

OK so how do I unstick this "slide"? Are you referring to the plungers in the caliper? If so, how do I make them not "stick"?

 

yeah, there are 2 slides per caliper, and yeah its quite possible that its sticking. It is also probably the bottom one. Pull both slides, and clean them off, clean the slide hole with a rag, re-grease it and make sure that it slides freely. It happened to my car, and I thought it might be the rotors, but I saw that you mentioned that it only happens at faster speeds. if it was the rotor, I assume it would happen at all speeds.

So I was looking at this thread and am wondering if I have the same problem.

About a month ago, I took my brakes apart to clean the rotors and pads because i felt the steering wheel pulsating at high speeds braking.

I noticed that the bottom slide pin on both callipers were stuck. I pulled them out, cleaned out the old lub and put new calliper lub in them. I had a very difficult time getting them back in because it seems like the rubber sleeves on the pins have somewhat expanded and when I push the pin back in, the rubber sleeve would slide out. After squeezing and pushing, and also used a rubber mallet to tap the pin in, i managed to get the pin with rubber sleeve in. I made sure that the pins were sliding freely before i put the brakes back together. I also used brake cleaner to clean out the rotors and pads.

I've been told that these rotors are really thin and it's not good to turn them but since my 03 OBW has only 25k mi on and my pads still have a lot of material left, i hope that this would solve the problem.

Despite all this, my steering wheel still vibrates at high speed when I brake hard.

Other than replacing the rotors, are there any options? After reading this thread, I am suspecting that it might be the calliper pins that needs to be replaced? I've priced them at the dealership and they run about $14 each so I'm looking at $14*4 for the fronts if I replace them.

I've seen rubber slides on calliper pins on other cars but not as big and loose as what I have on my 03 OBW. BTW, brake fluid was replaced with Castrol LMA last year.

Suggestions?

I had the same symptoms of high speed braking wheel vibration for several years, and was finally fixed by replacing the front rotors. Have not had any vibration for 6+ months.

 

matt

 

P.S. I would have liked to use high quality rotors, but I just used the bargain brand at Advance Auto. They are working well so far, and they were inexpensive. I am sure they will not last as long as OEM or better parts, but if in a pinch financially, they work fine.