Brake question, again!
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,240
Likes: 0
From: Norman, OK
St. Jude '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09
Brake question, again!
This is an e-mail from my Dad. He picked up a new C5 from Monica a few months ago and has a problem.
Right from the showroom in late June I occasionally noticed a slight
pulling to the right or left when braking. As I put on some miles the
pulling (in either direction) sometimes became hazardous but really
infrequent. As you might expect the dealership hasn't experienced the
problem. I have heard that others with later model C-5s have resolved a
similar problem perhaps due skimpy brake components. Can you help?
TIA, Mike
Right from the showroom in late June I occasionally noticed a slight
pulling to the right or left when braking. As I put on some miles the
pulling (in either direction) sometimes became hazardous but really
infrequent. As you might expect the dealership hasn't experienced the
problem. I have heard that others with later model C-5s have resolved a
similar problem perhaps due skimpy brake components. Can you help?
TIA, Mike
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 11,945
Likes: 12
From: Vancouver
2015 C5 of Year Finalist
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10
He is probably not using the brakes hard enough. If his rotors look black it's brake pad material building up on the rotors. Have him go out on a deserted road somewhere and doing about 70 mph. Have him do some aggressive braking. Do three or four stops without completely stopping. Then drive for about 10 minutes to cool them down then do it over again. This should clean the rotors off and braking should be better. If that doesn't help bleed the brakes and see if that helps. That's all I've got maybe others will chime in with their ideas. Keep us posted. We all like to hear results of problems like this.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 23,283
Likes: 906
From: Lake Elsinore, CA
Good suggestions above. In addition, pull the wheels and push sideways back and forth on the calipers to make sure they slide easily on their slide pins to ensure they are not binding. Check the fluid level in the master cylinder and check all the lines going to the calipers to make sure they're not kinked.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,251
Likes: 4
Have you considered the crown in the road. My car does it a lot on a few roads around my home. When you brake these big tires will hang on the crown in the center of lane. I say this because you explained that it switches L to R and a hanging caliper will always be consistent. Go to a parking lot and test again. If that is the problem then go get a new wheel alignment. It can be lessened by tweeking the wheel settings.
Hi there neighbor! I'm just north of you one town.
Hi there neighbor! I'm just north of you one town.
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 3,739
Likes: 10
From: Austin, Texas
Originally Posted by drcoffee
Have you considered the crown in the road. My car does it a lot on a few roads around my home. When you brake these big tires will hang on the crown in the center of lane. I say this because you explained that it switches L to R and a hanging caliper will always be consistent.
You do state "really infrequent", which leads me to think it may be road conditions as well. These big tires, especially the EMT's, seem to want to follow road imperfections. I do feel it when I am not braking, however, so if yours only occurs during breaking then pay heed to the other advice.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,240
Likes: 0
From: Norman, OK
St. Jude '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09
Originally Posted by drcoffee
Have you considered the crown in the road. My car does it a lot on a few roads around my home. When you brake these big tires will hang on the crown in the center of lane. I say this because you explained that it switches L to R and a hanging caliper will always be consistent. Go to a parking lot and test again. If that is the problem then go get a new wheel alignment. It can be lessened by tweeking the wheel settings.
Hi there neighbor! I'm just north of you one town.
Hi there neighbor! I'm just north of you one town.
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