Ok maybe I'm being over sensitive but after 13K miles my Fit seems to have a more noticeable brake petal oscillation under hard braking.

I think I'm used to it's ABS (had it on 2 previous Honda vehicles) and it seems more warped rotor like - but maybe the EBD function is adding to this feeling? Plus it doesn't seem to be as pronounced all the time - more so after heavy prolonged hiway usage. Many 80mph+ slow downs.

Some of the over sea’s forums have threads on Fit/Jazz models occasionally have early warping rotors...
Guess it might be dealer time...

 

Generally the feeling of warped rotors is something along the lines of uneven brake power in normal braking. Try to just drive normally and give a constant input to the brake pedal, if it responds with shuddery or "uneven" stopping power, the brake rotors may be warped.

 

I've had warped rotors before and this "sometimes" feels like it and sometimes not - still I wonder if the EBD might be masking somewhat...

 

does your steering wheel shake when you step on your brakes?

 

No it feels ore like the entire front end - but not constant - kinda like the brakes aren't grabbing at one point in the rotor rotation...
But strange in the way when it does or doesn't do it...

 

I have also noticed myself having to hit the pedal alittle harder to stop.. it seems to not be so pronounced like you mentioned earlier as it was in the past.. I definatly think it would probably be just weak pads.. I have no virbraton just not as pronounced in braking power as before.

 

try bleeding the brakes, you might have some air in your lines that makes it feel spongy

 

I tend to warp rotors--I drive hilly roads a lot. I notice that I've warped them if I'm going highway speed and lightly use the brakes. It does a shimmy that usually goes away when you apply the brakes harder.

I just warped my Element rotors a couple of weeks ago, and machining them or replacing makes the problem go away.

--Kevin
Sonoma County, CA

 

If you think there is something wrong with your brakes you can take them in to the dealership and ask them to check the rotors and pads.

Sometimes it is nothing that you are doing yourself but problems can happen and sometimes even though brakes are a wear item the dealership will help to fix it.

Under normal use even with steep hills you should not warp rotors and prematurely wear down your brake pads.

Bleeding the brakes can help if there is air in the brake line or contaminants but the FIT is pretty new.

Performance driving especially on the track is very hard on brakes and warping and brake pad wear is common. Careful for any track session that last much longer than 15 to 20 minutes and be easy on your brakes during the cool down lap.

 

I deliver lunch for my sister's resturant sometimes and all the stop and go driving has warped my rotors. Does anyone know of aftermarket drilled rotors that will work with the stock calipers?

 

Rotors don't warp. The vibration you're feeling is likely a buildup of pad material on the rotors. "Turning" or machining the rotors will often correct the problem because it removes the built up pad material from the rotors. You may want to consider different pads if the problem happens often.

Read this for more information: http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp...rakedisk.shtml

 

No need to make things more complicated than what it is. You need a brake job, plain and simple. Honda won't warranty it pass 12 month/12,000 miles but you can probably talk them into it since you are so close. Good luck, case closed

 

Darn, all those years of operating a brake lathe in my early career were for naught. I wish I could go back and regain that part of my life. My caliper opens and closes by itself now when I check rotors at home and send them off, thanks for solving this decades old mystery for me.

Claymore, you and I cannot argue this, as Stoptech must be right, they are on the internet and have a product to sell.

 

I know a few brake engineers that I work with a bunch of year ago and they all said that brake rotors do not warp. The pulsating pedal is from uneven thickness of the rotor due to uneven wear. All it takes is a few thousandth of an inch is thickness variation to cause this problem. These engineers did a lot of warranty return ****ysis of parts returned from car dealers. Most of the time the problem arises due to improper brake-in on new brakes. Hard stops heats up the rotors then the driver continues to hold the pads hard against the rotors and the excessive heat changes the structure of the iron in the rotors causing hard spots or something like that. The hard spots my go deep into the rotor so turning the rotor maybe a short-term fix if the turning of the rotor doesn’t go deep enough.

The problem of using a dial indicator to measure rotor run out, thickness changes may look like a warped rotor. One needs to measure thickness as well as run out at the same time to get the full picture of the condition of the rotor.

There is a lot of good info on the web about proper brake-in of new brake.

 

I think you (and possibly Claymore) are missing the point. A lot of the misconception about "warped rotors" happens because turning the rotors with a lathe corrects the problem. It's just not correcting it for the reason most people think.

Again, the problem isn't that the rotors are truly warped. The problem is that the pads or rotors aren't wearing evenly. Of course turning the rotors corrects the problem because it mills off material and makes the rotors uniformly flat again.

It's not as if Stoptech says "buy Stoptech pads because you won't have this problem." They're simply a brake manufacturer with a lot of experience providing information on the topic.

I agree. Turning the rotors will likely fix the problem. If I took that car to a shop, I'd probably say, "it feels like the rotors are warped" also. I just thought it might be interesting to think about other causes for something, but apparently not.

Something else the OP could check is lug nut torque... I have seen cases where unevenly torqued lug nuts cause when braking. Usually the torque spec for alloy wheels is 80 ft-lbs. If possible, check the torque with a torque wrench or ask the dealer to do it if you take the car in.

 

In an open and lenghty parking lot; drive in reverse and frequently do hard panic stops. Then see if during regular driving and and braking, the problem goes away. I know, I know, I know it is useless and wishful thinking...but what the hell.

You still may be dealership bound though and I think you must know what you feel as rotor warpage .

 

Not wearing evenly? How do the pads "dig" in and leave other areas high? Why does every manual for drum or disc specs have a spec for run out?

Meanwhile, at Oak Ridge....

http://html.ornl.gov/rsuc/rotor.htm

 

Huh... I still like my Stoptech article, but that's interesting.

Part of my reason for saying that rotors don't actually warp is that I'd never seen anything claiming they have internal stress. It always seemed to me that in order for warping to occur, you'd need internal stress in the rotor that deforms it when it's heat cycled. Didn't seem likely to me with a cast and machined part like a brake rotor. This looks like evidence that internal stress can occur in rotors and it can cause problems.

Thanks for the link... now I'm not sure what I think.

 

I had that problem. Buy some hgh performance brake pads and you will have no problems. See with a few hard 80mph slow downs, youre over heating the brakes. Better pads handle the heatbetter....
just my experience with the fit.

 

Something like that, yes. Until the Ford article, I'd never seen anything authoritative claiming rotors actually warp. I'd only seen things saying they do not. Now I've seen both. Which is correct? Maybe both? Maybe neither? I'm not sure. Are you? If so, why?