Brake judder

[britten_mark]

Anyone got any reasons why my brakes judder under light and medium applications? It has been like that since I got the car, has not got worse, and to be honest I only really become annoyed by it when I have a passenger in (like tonight) and its embarrassing.

I have spoken to a couple of previous owners who tried to solve it with new calipers and discs, but said it returned soon after. It has greenstuf pads by the way.

Like I say, no great danger, car pulls up nicely, just makes me feel like I'm in some homebuilt kit car sometimes.

[V8TT]

Brake Shudder usually means warped rotors ... if it dissapeared when they changed them and returned soon after then they are beating on the car to much. LOL.

Id get a upgraded set, mine are warped as well if thats any consolation ...

AL

[karlfranz]

V8TT said:

Brake Shudder usually means warped rotors ... if it dissapeared when they changed them and returned soon after then they are beating on the car to much. LOL. Id get a upgraded set, mine are warped as well if thats any consolation ... AL

Folks,

Warped brake discs are sort of an urban myth. If you want to learn the real reason for brake judder, read the following:

www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/warped_rotors_myth.htm

And here is one solution to fix the problem once you get it:

www.stoptech.com/faq/data/faq26.htm

Cheers,

Karl-Franz
www.espritfactfile.com

>> Edited by karlfranz on Saturday 24th April 09:41

[Nacnud]

Noble thread linking into a Wedge thread - all the same problem...
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=26&t=94834
Nacnud

>> Edited by Nacnud on Saturday 24th April 12:38

[superdave]

Mark are your calipers Brembos then? If they were the single piston type then maybe I could shed some light. I read an article about greenstuff causing brake juddle on cetain german cars and they don't recommend them definately for single piston calipers. Best go to red stuff and choose a different pad.


Dave Walters

[britten_mark]

Yeah, that was my first (ie cheapest) solution, to change the pads for something else, standard or otherwise. I think I have seen Karl-Franz's brake link referred to before here. residue may be a decent explanation as like I say it can vary in its severity. I think one of the tips was never to hold the car on the footbrake after the brakes are up to temperature.

[neal_mcdonnell]

One other thing to check. I had bad judder under braking, especially light braking from speed. Was about to replace the front discs and pads.

But my first priority was to check for a slow puncture in the left front. It was losing pressure especially at speed. Visually is looked okay, at least from the outside!!

When we got the wheel off and I had a proper look at the tyre from the vehicle side I was astonished to see the tyre wall looked like a mountain range. There were large bubbles every few inchs around the rim!! Inside the tyre was even worse, the tyre wall was cut all the way round and in some places completely through the lining.

These were classic symptons of the tyre being run flat due to the slow puncture with the wheel slowly cutting its way around the tyre. Either the previous owner or myself before I became aware of the deflation problem were to blame.

The tyre was scrap but ironically didn't have a puncture. The problem turned out to be the valve. It was slightly loose and at speed the centrifugal force pushed it out enough for air to escape. At least I wasn't going mad

Drove home counting myself lucky I hadn't had a blow out when I noticed the brake judder had been miraculously cured So I guess the old tyre was up to the job of level running (or even acceleration) but when you braked and the weight of the car shifted forwards, the weakness of the tyre wall started to show. The car was literally bouncing up and down over the bubbles, hence the judder.

So to summarise a long reply, check the tyres!

Neal

[rob.e]

Mark - the symptoms you describe sound exactly like my car approx 12 months ago. I had a very small warp on one disc. Had them both skimmed for 100 quid - no problems subsequently.

cheers
Rob

ps green stuff? not used these myself but have heard very "mixed" feedback from other esprit guys..

[britten_mark]

Rob
I remember you mentioning Porterfields before (never heard of these before entering Esprit-land). Must admit to being a bit wary of brands outside the usual Ferodo-type everyday "premium" sort.

[rob.e]

Porterfields R4s are good but IMO are not much of an improvement over stock, although they are much cheaper. Don't use them if you are going to do a trackday though (apparently R4 is better for track use - however no experence of this myself).

The pagid RS-14's i had in my brembos are very high cooefficient of friction but are noisy and expensive.

I've heard good things about Ferodo DS3000 pads. Talk to Les:
www.cars.u-net.com/lotus/esprit.htm

[GKP]

My V8 suffered from brake judder from day 1. It had managed to come off the production line with a warped hub! A warranty claim later, all was lovely again.

Might be worth checking bearings etc, too.

[rob.e]

Yes, absolutely right. My v8 has had front bearing replaced twice in 40k miles. Seems they don't last very long at all on the v8.