I've been having a slight problem when braking to a stop...maybe someone can shine some light on this..

Sometimes as I'm slowing down to a stop, it feels like the car is nudging itself to a stop. Almost like the brake pad is catching the rotor periodically. I thought the rotors were warped, but the problem only happens every once in a while. All the other times I get a smooth stop. I took my car in last week to have the rotors checked and they said they were fine, no sign of warped rotors.

Maybe my brake pads are crap?

 

It only happens once in a while? When it does happen are there any similar occurances of ANYTHING?

 

I take the same route to work every day and I notice it at some stops, but not on a reoccurring basis...if that makes any sense.
I did a little experimenting this weekend...I drove around doing stops on a couple of newly paved parking lots and didn't notice anything. But when I coast down a hill while braking, it happens. It seems to happen on most declines/down hills when I come to a stop. That's pretty much the only reoccurance that I can really say at the moment. I'm going to try it again tomorrow and see what happens.

 

That happens to me right after I wash my car. I figure that my brakes are just wet. Do you guys think the tire cleaning stuff they use could be doing it?

 

The water that they spray on the wheels gets onto the brake rotors. When water is sprayed onto HOT brake rotors the surface of the rotors steam. When you drive away your hot brake pads have to stop cool/cold brake rotors. Thats why they tell you to test your brakes when you drive away from a car wash.

 

A few thoughts:
1. Brakes can get hot and warp, returning when colder. This seems to happen on my wife's CRV rear drums.
2. Your tires may not be quite round, especially when cold.
3. If it has rained a bunch with your car parked, your rotors may be unevenly rusted for the first mile or so.
4. The factory's acceptance criteria for flatness is not perfect, allowing a few thousands of an inch run-out due to rotor flatness, hub trueness, and rotor trueness. You can often feel the max. allowable runout, though it is far from dangerous.

 

Also, poorly paved roads will make it feel kind uneven. Around here we have some heavily warped roads in some areas, resulting in what feels like MASSIVE torque steer and warped brakes.

 

For some odd reason, I decided to take a look at my rotors yesterday and I found a nice groove all the way around my front driver side rotor.



I'm going to take it in next week to have them checked out. I wonder if that's a sign as to what I've been experiencing.

Any ideas?

 

I've noticed something similar, once in a while and I think it's the automatic transmission downshifting...

 

I regularly feel the same kind of light, almost imperceptible, pulsing when coming to a gradual stop. At first, I thought it might be a minor rotor warping issue or something, but this issue has surfaced from other drivers. My girlfriend's '03 Accord has the same thing, only a little more noticable. In both cases, it's really not significant enough to be annoying or warrant mentioning to the dealer. I'm assuming it's the due to the point quoted above, since it's mild, and there's no sign of the steering wheel shaking while braking.

BTW, I know some folks are disappointed with the TSX brakes, but I've found them to be solid and predictable. The limiting factor for me seems to be the tires (ABS will kick in under emergency braking on dry pavement). Looking forward to some summer tires that are better suited to the southern California climate

 

I have the same problem. It only recently started. I now have 25,000 miles and will have the dealer check in a few weeks.

 

I have a similar thing, I think. Tends to happen, as you observe, on downhill stops.

Feels like abs, but it's not hard enough braking.

Odd, but doesnt seem to be a real problem.

 

Yes, more noticeable on downhill stops. My dealership told me that it's the transmission downshifting...but it happens when I'm in neutral also...I swear I have less than 5 gears...

I'm going to take it to a different dealership when I get my next oil change and see what they say.

 

I took my car into a different dealership to have my brakes looked at. They ended up resurfacing my rotors and so far, I haven't noticed it happen yet. I'll post results after a week of driving.