So I now know way more about brakes than I ever wanted to. Here's what happened:

Took in the car to Nissan today with Hawk brake pads I bought online...well they cleaned the rotors and called me to tell me that they can't install the pads because it won't fit or something like that. But a million people on here have put them on and I called Hawk and they said it would be fine.

The Nissan tech said it had 2 sensors instead of 4 and was misssing some sort of spring. I had to sign that I won't sue him if something goes wrong or else he refused to put it on.

Did anyone else have these similar problems with Hawks? if so, what did you do about it?

thanks in advance,

 

Huh? I installed my pads myself. They look just like OEM to me. I used the OEM back plate too. What the hell is he talking about? What sensors? If it's the low pad sensor, thats just a metal piece that rubs on you rotor to make an anoying noise (squeak) to let you know it's time to replace pads.

 

I'm not following...if a tech was putting the pads on...exactly what did you learn? Nissan service BS?

 

Exactly. In most cases anyway. Freakin idiots!

 

well i called Hawk to confirm things and he was telling me about springs and clips and all kinds of stuff i've already forgotten. hah. I'm not much of a tech guy...i just like to drive fast and look at my car when it's clean! I was hoping this would help.

the tech guy says that there is no spring on the inside pad and it might wear the rotor excessively or something like that.

 

All 4 of the front stock pads have a wear bar and the hawk pads only have 2 front pads with wear bars. The stock calipers have a small spring like finger that inserts into the wear bar tab. Thats the only thing I can think of.

 

don't have nissan install ANYTHING ever ever ever

...unless they're the Performance Nissan in Durante, CA or another mod friendly nissan.

or you're installing a Nismo part and want to make sure you have proof they did it so you get warrenty on that part.

otherwise they'll remember you and give you some crap how your brake pads void your entire suspension warrenty...

that and they charge quite a bit more than a performance car shop will. They might have access to the 350Z service manuals, but most mechanics there are still idiots who only know how to put on an exhaust and change oil anyway and will charge you whatever time it takes them to read those service manuals to learn stuff the guys in performance car shops already know....

 

I have Hawks front and rear. Not dealer installed. I think the dealer is giving you a hard time because your not using their pads. Never had a problem getting them installed.

 

I totally agree. I did the same thing. nissan techs suck. Install was a peice of cake and there spectacular

 

maybe the techs meant the tire pressure sensors?

I'd LOVE to play along with them and get them to show me EXACTLY WHAT SENSORS - oh oh , but they won't let you back to the shop area...I'd so love to play the jerk customer and demand they pay ME for wasting my time for their incompetence and ask for the corporate Nissan number and call them right in front of a manager and report to them how that particular dealer apparently is so incompentant that they don't know how to install brake pads - BRAKE PADS! they can't install BRAKE PADS without running into issues?

 

That is what I was thinking.

 

they meant the little metal strips that stick out towars the rotor, once the pads wear down enough it'll make contact with the rotor causing a squeaking sound, this indicates you'll be needing new pads soon. the hawks come w/ only 2 pads w/ the metal strips. whereas the OEM has the strips on all for pads. typically 2 is enough, 1 on each rotor. or you can put both on one side because whatever u do on one side you have to do on other so it doesnt matter. i forgot what they call that metal piece, i think "wear indicators"? you have no problem dun worry

 

I dont think the tech was talking about the "wear sensors".

The stock brake pads have a metal loop on the back of the four pads, and a small metal clip goes through it that pulls the pads away from the rotor once you take your foot off the brake pedal.

All the other pad sets I've seen only have the metal loops on two of the pads instead of all fours and it's possible for the two pads witout the loops to maintain contact with the rotor at all times. Normally the airflow that hits the pads is enough to push them back.

I just replaced the pads and rotors on my sister's Z. Stoptech slotted rotors and carbon-metalic pads. I drove the car a little and it seems like the front pads are sticking to the rotor because @ slow speeds you can hear the contact (the pads are really abrassive and tend to be louder than stock). I'll let her drive the car for a week if the noise doesnt go away I'll have to figure out away how to have the pads pull away when the brake pedal is not being pressed.

I've done brake upgrades on several friends Z and this is the first time I ran into this.

I've tried the following rotors.
Stock
Nismo
Stoptech
Brembo
Rotora

I've tried the following pads
Stock
Hawk
Nismo
Duralast

Has anyone noticed this on any of their brake upgrades

 

i'm about 99% sure the tech was talking about the wear sensors. i have never heard of those loops you mentioned. and the pads never leave contact from the rotors, they always maintain a certain amount of pressure on the rotors.

you can see proof here: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/disc-brake2.htm

the metal things the tech was talking about is this: (see attached photo/circled in red) and those are wear sensors. and having 2 instead of 4 is good enough because if they do start to make contact due to brakepad wear, then its time to change all the pads.

toothlessracer: the sound you hear on low speeds is normal due to the pieces of metal contained in the brake pads. metal pieces contacting a metal rotor will produce sound.

 

Here is a pic of the brake pad, you can see the loop I was talking about which serves two purposes after a second look, it's also the wear sensor



On the following pic you can see the pad installed and you see the pin that goes through the metal loop.



But as I said before all the aftermarket pads I've seen only have these loops/sensors on 2 out of the 4 pads.