Mada Protege & warped front brake rotor....

Technical aspects of automobiles, et. al., post #18,608
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 vzmjsmlrlikn@mailinator.com
 2008-05-04 22:42:11
 Mada Protege & warped front brake rotor....
Hey everyone - long time lurker, first time poster.

I have a 1999 Mazda Protege, 1.6L engine, at about 110,000 miles. For
the life of me I can't get this problem figured out: The front
driver's side front brake rotor keeps warping. The warpage is so bad
that you can hear "wonka, wonka, wonka" as the car goes down the road-
the "wonka" being the sound the caliper makes as it travels in and out
along the *entire* distance on the caliper pins. I've replaced the
caliper, the pads, the rotor multiple times- including once with a HD
Mazda OEM version, flushed the brake system, etc- nothing helps. When
I replace the rotor, it only takes about 150 miles or so for it to
warp again.

When I brake, the car does not appreciably pull to the left. And the
caliper and rotor do not appear to be heat damaged- as I would expect
them to be if there was too much braking force being applied to just
that one caliper. There *is* pulsation in the brake pedal, but not
much. The pads on the passenger side & the shoes in the rear appear to
be wearing evenly, and the brake dust accumulation looks even as
well.

I am thoroughly stumped, as is every mechanic I take it to. Any
ideas?
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Big Al
 2008-05-06 21:53:27
 Re: Mada Protege & warped front brake rotor....
Did you insect the hub surfaces that the rotor contacts? I had a similar
problem and found a deep layer of rust causing the surface of the hub to
lift up enough to prevent any rotor from running true. I used a grinder to
carefully remove the rust without going to far down and ruining the hub. It
seemed to solve the problem. You may have a warped or damaged hub, bearing,
etc
Also make sure you are not overtorquing your lug nuts? Usually about 80 ft
lbs is right but check it out for that model. Some people impact the nuts on
to the max, bending the crap out of everything they hold together.
Hope this helps.

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:c76a54d8-dcda-4ea5-bf94-8ec5adbf2877@b1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> Hey everyone - long time lurker, first time poster.
>
> I have a 1999 Mazda Protege, 1.6L engine, at about 110,000 miles. For
> the life of me I can't get this problem figured out: The front
> driver's side front brake rotor keeps warping. The warpage is so bad
> that you can hear "wonka, wonka, wonka" as the car goes down the road-
> the "wonka" being the sound the caliper makes as it travels in and out
> along the *entire* distance on the caliper pins. I've replaced the
> caliper, the pads, the rotor multiple times- including once with a HD
> Mazda OEM version, flushed the brake system, etc- nothing helps. When
> I replace the rotor, it only takes about 150 miles or so for it to
> warp again.
>
> When I brake, the car does not appreciably pull to the left. And the
> caliper and rotor do not appear to be heat damaged- as I would expect
> them to be if there was too much braking force being applied to just
> that one caliper. There *is* pulsation in the brake pedal, but not
> much. The pads on the passenger side & the shoes in the rear appear to
> be wearing evenly, and the brake dust accumulation looks even as
> well.
>
> I am thoroughly stumped, as is every mechanic I take it to. Any
> ideas?