I tried the search but I keep getting "this page cannot be displayed". Maybe its just my crappy computer.

Anyway, when I parked my car today at school there was this terrible groaning noise. This kept going on for a few minutes after I had shut the ignition off, and the car wasn't moving. Tonight as I was leaving, I almost hit the car in front of me because I had no brakes, but then they grabbed and made that groaning sound again. After it was safe to creep forward, I let off the pedal and the brakes stuck for a second, groaned again, and let go. This happened a couple times in the parking lot as I was trying to get a feel for how they were working and decide if I should hitch a ride or not. I made it home safely though going slow and taking advantage of Neutral at every stop. So, first I looked for any obvious fluid leaks, and then checked to see if any of my rotors were glazed. It was around 9:30pm so I'll look at everything more closely tomorrow during the day.

Any ideas on what I should look for?

I already have new brake pads and the Earls hyperfirm line kit waiting to go on the car.

 

does the pedal feel like it drops as you apply pressure to it and is pedal height and hardness what it normally is? Any leaks? Is there enough fluid in the master cylinder? Have you bled the brakes lately? Maybe a bad booster?

Weird problem...

 

holy hell.


that does not sound good.


mike, when you were driving down the road, did you notice any grinding noises from the rotors?
check the fluid levels in the master cylinder?

 

The fluid is a little bit low. Its pretty dark in color too. I haven't bled the system yet, but I'll be flushing it completely as soon as I get a chance, and replacing the lines. I have been meaning to upgrade my brakes for a while now, as I pretty much have to stand on the pedal all the time, even with a 1LE.

There wasn't any noise as I was driving, only when I pushed hard on the pedal, and then again after releasing the pedal. Yesterday when I first got to school though, it just kept groaning for a good minute after the car was parked and the ignition was off. My rotors look like they always have, not glazed or anything.

Hope this helps... I have class again here in a few minutes today. Looks like I'll be getting a ride.

I hope I don't need a new booster. I guess the first thing I'll do is flush/bleed the system, and see what that does.

 

it sounds like a brake pad is shot and digging into the rotor, gauging it. stick your hand behind the rotor and feel it, as it could be the inner pad.

 

Apparently my pads are completely gone, and my front rotors are cracked. I took it to the dealer and had them look at it just to make sure if anything else was wrong. They actually wanted $1000 to replace just the pads and front rotors. So I told them not to bother, and ordered some new Brembo rotors from www.tirerack.com to go along with the new EBC pads. I think I could rebuild the entire brake system for under $1000. What a joke. Looks like I've got my week cut out for me, might as well put those KYB struts on too.

 

If you have not done so, put the Earls S/S lines on your car, my 1LE never braked so good, also try to do a power flush with new clear brake fluid, the Valvoline synthetic stuff is excellent, I did the power flush with my Phoenix V12 brake bleeder. If you do not have access to a power brake bleeder, do it the old fashion way, it will take awhile but bleed it until all of the dirty fluid is out and you only see the clear stuff, the 1LE likes that. I just rebuilt my 1LE last month so I know what you are going thru. The Earls brake lines are about $100 but worth every penny.

 

Benny - You read my mind, LoL. I do have the Earls kit and I finally broke down and ordered the V12 Phoenix Injector, along with some of the Valvoline synthetic fluid. Should be better than new when I'm done.

Oh yeah, I should also mention the dealer dropped their price down to $900 after I told them I was coming to get my car, haha.