warped rotor?

[pantherdan]

Ive had warped rotors before with the pulsing feeling and a clacking kind of noise when applying the brakes. I have that now on the front of my Sedan, but its different because it only happens after the car has been running awhile and the brakes are hot. After first start up, there is no warped rotor feeling, as it comes to a stop with no noise or pulse in the pedal. Is this really a warped rotor or is there some different problem? Has anyone seen something like this?

[Sponsor]

[DJ Lukdogg]

It maybe a wheeling bearing giving away or tie rod and even ball joint you should check and inspect those first. If that all comes out fine i would assume it would be the rotors.

[Blurvfocus]

My money's on one of the rotors. It's warping when it gets hot.

Could be a dragging brake that's causing the rotor to get so very hot. Next time this happens, go out there and see if you can tell if one brake or both brakes are hot. Do the rotors have heat spots, etc...

One if the good things about disc drakes is that they don't fade much. So you can have a ferociously hot brake and the car wouldn't necessarily pull to either side when you go to stop. Also, it could be a hind brake dragging- ebrake too tight & not releasing fully etc, and the heat takes the drum out of round.

[pantherdan]

Thanks, I'll check when I can. Gotta work this weekend so I cant look until I'm off on Tuesday. I hate replacing rotors because you may as well do them both and the pads while you are there...and it aint cheap or fast.

Friday I pulled the front wheels and the pads looked thick (well over a quarter inch) and I didnt notice any looseness that could be a bad bearing or tie rod. I wasnt looking for that, so I may not have noticed.

[penguin]

I have seen a case or two where the rotor warping was due to the stress put on them from careless tightening of the wheel nuts. You might also consider loosening the wheels, and retightening them in the correct "star" sequence with the recommended 2 or 3 stage gradual torquing, e.g., tighten in a star pattern to half recommended torque, and then tightening again in a star pattern to final torque.

I did this once on a Taurus and the brake pulsing went away.

[pantherdan]

I pulled both wheels today (at the same time to compare sides). I have found that the drivers side outer pad has a broken retainer clip - actually looks like it popped loose and wore off against the inside of the rim. I've not seen this type of clip before, but it looks like a coat hanger that wraps around part of the caliper to hold the pad steady. Surely this is making the pad loose and allowing it to move and make a noise when braking.

I also checked the half shaft joints and tie rods and etc. That all looks good and tight.

I am going to go ahead and replace pads and rotors, since the rotors are well worn. I'll let you know how it all works out.

[pantherdan]

Looks like I had a warped rotor and a broken pad clip. After changing all the above, all is good. Thanks for any suggestions.