it could also due the material of the aftermarket pads. There are various versions of the OEM front pads (different part numbers) to address a number of issues. If there is no air in the system, I would suggest swapping the pads for the latest version of the factory pads.

 

If the pedal feels soft, and the ultimately gets firm and stops then that is spongy, and air in the brakes. Note that you may hit the floor before this happens if there is a lot of air in the lines. Try a manual two person bleed, make sure the master cylinder never runs dry, or you'll need a scan tool to run the abs valves.
My guess is that your shade tree mechanic didn't touch the fluid though and just shoved the pistons back into the calipers.
He should have replaced the brake fluid, but commonly not done by DIYers.

If the pedal is firm, but feels like the braking is ineffective (requires more effort than normal) then he may have got grease on the rotor or pads.

As to turning a rotor, it can correct for a warped rotor, especially an on car lathe. This will remove parallelism (thickness variation), and run out. Even a reasonable amount of run out
from the hub. Over heating can cause warped rotors, especially on newer cars where the rotors are relatively thin new. I think the main cause is idiots torquing down wheels not in a star pattern, and/or with an air impact.

 

At this point I'm thinking there was grease on the rotors or pads. I've driven the car 4 days since the work was done and the pedal feel has improved almost to the point of being back to normal.

 

You can resurface a "warped" warped rotor all you want, but all bets are off once you put it back on the car unless the run-out is measured and confirmed post installation. Any sort of debris(rust, dirt, etc.) between the hub and rotor will cause additional assembly run-out on a perfectly faced rotor. At first it will be unnoticeable but give it time and the pulsating will come back. Pulsating can also be caused my disc thickness variation due to the uneven transfer of material from the pad to the disc depending on the type of pads you are running. Still gives the sensation of a "warped" rotor.

 

He probably just didn't bed the new pads to the rotors after the brake job. After driving a few days this is happening 'naturally.' But it may be happening unevenly and you may end up with uneven deposits and then have to come on a thread like this an enter the purpetual 'is is warping or is it uneven pad material' debate. Perhaps the most debated brake discussion on just about every car forum on the web.

So avoid this future waste of your time and bed the pads in properly. You can find the procedure many places on the interwebs. Just don't over do it. More is not better.

 

so the question is, is that rotors warped?




@ the bickering....

 

Don't waste your breath. Some of the posters here are clueless but need to be right and I'd like to see them try to resurface a warped rotor. How much useable rotor will be left?

 

It's ok Ceb. Please replace your rotors whenever you want to.

You can't watch me resurface a rotor, but you can watch this guy do it

I wouldn't want a off car lathe used on my car for the reasons mentioned regarding stacking tolerances. But the on car lathe does a great job. I won't go lower than .030" above min thickness, and advise that the rotor will likely need to be replaced at the next pad replacement.

Let's keep this thread alive

 

So? You'll never have sufficient rotor thickness available to be able to correct for a warped rotor. Once a rotor is warped it is done. I'm also none with this stupidity.

 

this has turned into a real saga

 

^^^ its still better than Twilight though