So the '04 had the brake pad light come on. We replaced the pads with EBC greens, on a recommendation that reds all around are too aggressive. So here's the issue. It's been 500 miles or so. The brakes are still a little spongy, squawk occasionally. Jai says they're still seating. When I brake hard (say from 45 to stop, pedal to the floor), I get some feedback, like when the ABS kicks on, but it's not the ABS. Not at these speeds and distances. So do you think the rotors are warped, or are the pads still seating?
I didn't change the rotors, and I don't know if the mechanic bedded the pads. It's actually Jai's car and I wasn't there for the pick up discussion.
"warped rotors" occur very infrequently. Pad deposit on rotors is more likely the cause. If your new pads are more aggressive than your former pads, this condition will go away with use. If not, the rotors will need to be replaced or turned. MINI doesn't recommend turning rotors, but a skim to clean things up isn't bad IMO. Brakes will then need to be bedded.
If you have a set of aggressive track pads lying around, throw them on for a couple days and brake easy till the brakes start squealing like a school bus. Then put the street pads back on and the judder will be gone.
EBC pads come with a special abrasive coating on the pad surface so that they can bed themselve in on used rotors, according to the MFR. All the ones I've installed for club members seem to do fine after about 500 miles, but IIRC there's an instruction sheet that comes with the pads with a bed-in procedure. So many stops from this speed, so many from a higher speed and so on - did you follow those instructions in your bed-in miles?
I just installed a set of EBC Greenie stuff pads from Outmotoring on my MINI last Friday. They replaced a set of Hawk ceramics. My rotors, (Stop Tech slotted cryo treated)looked good & had no runout so I chose to reuse them. I cleaned them with brake clean & them hit them with a rotory disc designed to scuff up rotors. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Standard-Abrasives-STB595418-Pinnacle-Cleaning/dp/B000VHVJ5W"]Amazon.com: Standard Abrasives (STB595418) 2" 120 Grit Pinnacle Brake Cleaning Disc: Home Improvement@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21%2BOVoVbfVL.@@AMEPARAM@@21%2BOVoVbfVL[/ame] Put the pads on & followed the standard bedding in procedure. Brakes work well with no issues. I've got 1,300 miles on them now. I like the EBC Greenies, good initial bite. Better than the Hawk ceramic pads, but they also have more brake dust. It's all a trade off I guess. Rae- I'm thinking maybe you rotors weren't cleaned well & there is some old pad material on there or they were not bedded & possibly both. Go through the bedding routine & see if that helps.
Ok, so we pulled the wheels off to clean the rotors. The problem is that the rear wheels barely rotate. Is there some sort of brake pad adjustment? I'm thinking the wheels should spin freely when the car is on the jack stands. Yes, the e-brake is off
When you install the rear pads, there are clips that slip into a groove on the piston, sometimes folks don't get those engaged properly....easy to check, just slide that inner pad out and make sure you reinstall it with those clips seated in the grooves. When you installed the rear pads, did you turn the piston as you pushed it back in? This resets the em brake setting. Bottom line, yes they should rotate freely....
Like Dave says it is one or the other or possibly both. One more thing to check is the caliper sliders. Pull them out & lube them. Might as well you are under there anyway. Some good info here..... MINI COOPER :: North American Motoring - Maintenance :: Changing REAR Brake Pads for Beginners!
One other thing, if there is a large raised edge or lip on the outside edge of the rotor, that could be causing the pad to drag - if so you really need to replace the rotors.
There's definitely a lip on the edge of the rotor, no visible, but you can feel it. Thanks for the tips, it's really great having a place to go for mechanical advise - and general MINI chat! Thanks everyone!:beer