stv555

Following on from all the brake problems on standard cars.

Mine's a MY99, I have done nearly 30k and am not particularly hard on brakes. Over the last two months I have noticed the following.
When braking hard from say 90 to 40mph, the initial bite is fine, but as the speed comes off (say 60 and falling) and the pads/discs heat up, I get an alarming droning noise from the front brakes and the pedal loses all feel - goes kind of wooden - and the constant pressure on the pedal does not seem to have any more effect on the car's speed. Pressing harder does little to improve matters.

Pointed this out to Lancasters when I went in for service on Mon. Service rep. (Phil, ) was really helpful but said that if the car had done more that 25k then it was unlikely that it could be claimed under warranty - not the dealer's rules I should point out.

Anyway they checked the brakes and indeed noticed abnormal wear on the disc, although the pads still had enough lining.

I had made a point of checking them myself a few days previous and noticed that the inboard pad had worn at an angle whilst the outboard pad was worn true. The friction material was still attached to the backing plate.

Phil said they would put in a PWA, but it was likely that this could be rejected.

My questions are these: has anyone else suffered these symptoms, the discs displayed no cracking but may have been warped or out of true ? Secondly, has anyone heard about warrnaty claims being rejected for brake defects on the grounds that the vehicle had done in excess of 25k miles. Surely, unlimited mileage means exactly that - I have seen no documentation that limits claims on certain parts.

Since the brakes have a fault that the dealer has identified I'm damned if going to cough up for standard bits, especially since opinion is clear, that the standard discs are clearly inadequate and made of some rubbish material.

Where's JD Power when you need him ?

All comments gratefully received.

Otis

I have an MY00 with 12k on the clock. I have been suffering with brake squel with the initial application of the brakes and a squel when I turn left without braking. I had a look at the brakes and noticed uneven wear on one of the pads. Put this down to a piston in need of easing, booked it into the dealer and they sorted it. Forgot to ask if my diagnosis was correct I'm afraid.

Otis.

AlexM

Stv555,

Your post is an good description of the behaviour of my 4-pots whenever I brake from moderatly high speeds. I think the problem is the standard pad compound, which I suspect is unchanged from Jap OE spec. Seeing as the Jap market models are limited to 112mph they will be biased toward better low speed bite, and rapidly overheat when braking from speed. I've also noticed the appearence of small blue patches on the disk after this has occured - these seem to disappear (or are worn off) quickly. Could this be caused by pad fade, or a lot of out-gassing?.

I'm going to try a set of either Mintex M1155 or Ferodo DS2000 pads to see if this improves the situation. I am having a problem with excessive squat under braking on my MY98 which will need to be sorted out before I can increase braking performance further (see seperate post).

I am also interested hear that the inboard pad isn't wearing down evenly - presumably it is reaching a higher temperature than the outboard pad and is wearing rapidly at the leading edge. Anyone know why this might happen?.

Rgds,

Alex

stv555

Alex

Thanks for your comment, glad I am not the only one.

The blueing of the disc is a classic sign of localised overheating probably due to pad material.

As long as it just the pad causing this then I am happy to pay for uprated items - in fact I have a set of Green Stuff waiting to be trialled - I have tried Mintex and Ferodo on other vehicles with great success - but am willing to test the EBCs out.

If it is a disc fault then this needs to be sorted out, hopefully not at my expense.

The pad wear problem is strange since the caliper is non-floating and if the disc is on a floating hub (not sure ?) then both inboard and outboard pads should show sinilar wear patterns i.e. worn at an angle.

sonu

stv555

do you use Lancaster 7Oakes?

I have a MY99 and I am experiencing lack of brake feel and sqeeling. I've done ~ 1500 miles.

Let me know how you get on, I'm taking my car in next week.

Thanks

Sonu

stv555

Sonu....Lancaster Reading


Had a call from them yesterday...apparently the warranty claim had been accepted for the discs but the would not cover the pads....litle bit unhappy but considering the discs are aroung £200 a pair I accepted.

Got a call back later saying that unfortunately IM had contacted them and since my vehicle is a UK-spec import from Holland that the claim had to be referred to European warranty department and that although my car was covered by the manufacturers warranty 12mons/unlimited mileage that "wearing" parts were not covered under the Dutch warranty scheme.

I argued that the manufacturers 1st year warranty was global and as such should not be governed by territory issues. What happens after the first year is another matter. In the UK, my understanding is that the extra 2 years warranty is organised by IM in the UK - surely then they are claiming for any warranty claims during the first year from OE warranty. There are loads of UK sourced cars which have had brake claims.

The whole thing smells of a smoke screen, the fact that I can now go and get some decent anchors on the car is beside the point, the principle, in my opinion, is very wrong.

I shall not remain quiet,I think I will start another thread for discussion.