Hi all,

My GE8 is about 217,000kms (~134,000 miles) and has been a very reliable car so far. However, it started to develop an issue when braking. At the beginning, it was happening randomly, but now it seems to be more present. There are 2 issues that might be related. I'm no mechanic, so I wanted to ask around for what you guys think could cause this.

1. Clunking noise when braking lightly at slow speed. Please look at
   this video
   . This is not my video, but the guy has the exact same issue. At slow speed, when braking lightly, there is a clunking sound and I can feel it on the brake pedal and very lightly in the steering wheel. When hard braking at low speed, there is no sound or vibration.
   
2. When braking at high speed (exiting an highway), the brakes are uneven. There are no noises, but it feels like the vibrations of that clunking noise above. I can feel it in the steering wheel and brake pedal. The steering wheel however is very responding and I have no issues controlling it.

I believe this might be the same issue. Over the past months I've done a couple of things that did not fix the issue :

• Changed my winter tires for summer tires (including the wheels themselves)
• Did an entire brake cleanup at the garage. The mechanic said that I still have enough pads left)
• Did an alignment

Nothing fixed the issue. As I said, at the beginning it was happening randomly but now it is getting more frequent. On my GE8, I never changed anything about suspension, tie-rods, wheel bearings, etc. Could one of these components failing after that much miles ? I wouldn't be surprised honestly. I live in Quebec and roads are mediocre at best.

As I said, I am no mechanic, but I am more than happy to jack the car and investigate few things such as checking if a bearing is bad...I just need to know how to do it

Thanks for any comments and suggestions guys

Neo.

 

I'd start by replacing the rotors. They are cheap and likely the culprit. My guess is they are slightly warped.

Centric Premiums are $22.79 ea at Rock Auto. High Carbon's are $25.79 ea. Around $20 gets you a new set of pads.

If your brakes have some miles on them, ~$70 puts new rotors and pads on the front. Money well spent in my opinion.

Those are US$ prices, but it's fairly cheap regardless of country.

 

Not trying to hijack the thread, but I'm due for front pads and can't seem to find a RECENT post on what a good low-dust replacement would be. I'm in TX, and it's gettin' hot. If a good deal on rotors came along, I'd blindly do them too, but I'd wager whatever's on there now is fine. [Sqeeking ATM, not grinding.]

Are those Rock Auto Centric's the deal of choice around here? That said, who's got some current market pad recommendations?

 

I find any ceramic pad to be about the same for dust. Going up in price usually gains better stopping and/or longer life, but all ceramics are fairly low dust.

 

Any recommendations on a specific pad to go after? Older threads kept favoring the Hawk pads, but it looks like availability isn't as good these days.

 

Thanks GAFIT for your reply. Sorry for the delay; I was away for the week-end.

Are the NAPA ones any good ? My GE8 is my daily driver so I don't need any Brembo stuff on it. Basic and reliable ones should do and in my experience, NAPA isn't too bad. Do you have any experiences with NAPA pads and rotors ?

Thanks !

 

OP at that mileage I would replace pads and rotors. Too bad you are not in the USA to get cheaper parts. I had mine replaced with Honda parts $450 Cdn eh.

 

It's pretty easy to order from Rock Auto and have it shipped in Canada.


No surprise fee at your door, delivered in a couple of days.

 

Did not know. Thanks