brakes question

[t2p]

The brakes .............. gottabe one of the best features of the VX ....... not too many SUV's .... (or other vehicles for that matter) ....... stop as well as the VX. And the brakes appear to last and last .......
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It may not be in the league of a high end sports car ......... but much better than the majority of the iron you share the roads with everyday ...........
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A few people have experienced trouble with the ABS systems ..... unfortunately, these issues surface with just about every car that has them installed ......... including Honda and Toyota .......
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I'm not a huge fan of the ABS systems - primarily because I don't care to be faced with a $1200 (parts) bill to fix a car with 80K on it .......
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t2p - who remembers the days when we would 'blow' brake shoe dust out of a brake drum - and it would blow back into our faces ...... brake dust that contained asbestos ........ oh well .....

[mdwyer]

t2p - who remembers the days when we would 'blow' brake shoe dust out of a brake drum - and it would blow back into our faces ...... brake dust that contained asbestos ........ oh well .....

My father passed away from mesothelioma about a year ago. We believe his asbestos exposure came from brake dust. It is a horrible disease, and I would tell you to avoid it, except that asbestos is fricken everywhere!

As for the half-brakes, I have to tell you a story about my 1981 Dodge Aries K-car. Wow. It was a total piece of crap, but it was a perfect first car for a high school kid. After a while, the brakes started failing on it. The first stab of the peddle wouldn't do anything. The second would finally take hold and you'd slow down. This was obviously a Bad Thing, so we read the old Haynes manual and followed the troubleshooting guide.

First step? Does the brake warning light work? Well, sure it does. Stupid question. Next!!

We drained, purged, adjusted, etc. Finally, we pulled off the wheels and found that half the brakes were brand new, and half had nothing left.

It turns out that half the brake system failed, and the warning light bothered the previous owner so much that he disconnected the sensor.

Moral of the story: If you find that half your brakes are worn -- especially on the diagonal (left front and right rear) check the master cylinder. When it detects a fault in the brakes, a valve will isolate half the brakes so that you still have half a system. It SHOULD turn on a warning light, too.

Should...

[VX4EJR]

Just a question for those who have either experience or had done work to disassemble front brakes, rotors and hub:

If you pull either front wheel off, you'll see the hub and behind it the rotor. There are about 6 bolts that run into the hub and either through or into the rotor. What you see of the bolts are the fixed end nuts. Question is, do these bolts run through the rotors and ultimately bolt into something else behind the rotor or do they bolt directly into the rotor itself?

I'm trying to resolve this issue of my mysterious extruded bolt and need to understand what is stripped and be prepared with parts. So, it's either the bolt is stripped which is easy to replace. Or, it is what the bolt screws into that is stripped which I am trying to figure out what that is so when everything is disassembled and repair is needed...parts are known ahead of time.

Also, just how important is it to use caliper grease when a shop replaces brake pads? Whether it is required or not? If they don't use grease, what is the downside?


Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

[VX4EJR]

^

bump diddy bump....?

[blacksambo]

For what ever it's worth. Just did the front pads today on one of our '99's. They were original with 99,891 miles (Also, did the timing belt for $200, all inclusive). Replaced them with OEM for $119.00 for the pads alone, plus $37.00 labor. The rotors were fine, as is.

[rocket man]

That sounds like a terrific price Mr Sambo!!...is that at a Dealer??... Darn...I know I'm getting close to all this...

Sheepishly, I must admit, other than synthetic motor oil and filter changes, at regular 3-4K intervals....I haven't spent much on maintenance....errrrr actually ZILCH @140,000+ real miles

NO..I do not burn or leak oil between changes....Pack the bearings??? Nope! , Change the upper and lower radiator hose??? Na!!!...How bout the transmission fluid?? Ahh yes the transmission...I'm glad I asked myself that question ;oor; ...well after all these miles For some reason, I started experiencing a "soft shift" in the gear changes. This is a very general symptom of a pending clutch pack failure in many GM trannys( in the latter part of the previous century), usually brought on by a low fluid level or "mucho" full throttle events during the gear changes.

I owned a Aamco Transmission Center in Huntington Park, Ca. between 1970-1975 so Im a little familiar with the ,"doom and gloom" of a pending transmission problem...anyways...so I thought I check the fluid level, being the, "expert" in the biz that I am???...Hummmm??? let me see here??? When was the last time I checked the fluid??? Opp's never!!....

If you have not guessed by now.... I come from the school of, "IF ITS NOT BROKE DON'T FIX IT SCHOOL"....Anyway, too embarassed to ask you folks where they put the transmission dipstick in the 32 years I've been out of the biz, I finally did what I swore I would never...ever...ever..do again....I actually crawled up underneath my car

Na...not that I was actually trying to find the dipstick....Hell!!! I was trying to find the transmission!!! Whew!! Its comforting to know they still try to "more or less" position these components down the middle of the under belly of the car....elsewised I might have been thrown off and looked endlessly in places like the glove box....anyhow I found it!!....Long story short...I added a quart of Dextron 3( after figuring out how to put it in without having to turn her upside down) and the problem of the soft shift went away (4 now)....no sign of any leaking....nothing...AND its only been 140K miles...Im suspicious

J

[Ldub]

Do yourself AND your a VX a favor & check for proper fluid level.

(sorry for the thread jack zadam)

[blacksambo]

Yes, it's a dealer German Auto House in Burnt Hills, New York. Ask for Marc.