hrmm im getting some odd scrapping noises coming from my brakes when i drive. course the higher the speed the less i hear it but its definitely there at slow speeds. im about to break 10k on the car and this is very discouraging. i understand this is covered under warranty being as its nothing i caused. any suggestions as to how to know this is it for sure? and for that matter IF possible should i have it replaced by nissan would i be able to "upgarde" to a brake system of my desire even if that would void the warranty on brakes with them? on the same note anybody know a good set for a enthusiast AT. thnx for the help guys it pains me to see a nice car sound like a old pos with this scrappy noise

 

For one, you definitely don't have warped rotors. It sounds like you have somehow managed to wear your stock brake pads down to the point where they are beginning to make the grinding noises you speak of. If you don't know how, have them inspected at a shop to confirm this. It is not the car's fault. They are wear items and will wear out, sometimes faster than one would like, depending on driving style. I would bet you will soon begin to hear the squealer tabs making contact with the rotors, which will invite a high pitched squealing noise.

 

You'd know if your rotors were warped if the brakes shook when you applied them. The worse they are warped the more prominent the shaking feeling, even with light pedal pressure. You'd know they were warped for sure.

Have you looked for rocks or debris stuck in there?

 

I think very few people manage to actually warp rotors. However, I think many people manage to over heat their stock brake pads. I did this. After one particularly spirited canyon blast in my Type R, I was coming to a stop at the bottom of the mountain, and as I was decelerating, I was losing brakeing power. No matter how hard I pressed, I didn't slow down any faster.When I came to a stop, I had thick, white smoke pouring out from the pads. Smoked 'em! Within a few minutes, my braking came back. However, ever since then, when I would slow down from highway speeds or greater, the wheel would vibrate and shake, and it felt just like one would imagine a warped rotor would feel. So I swaped pads to a high performance autocross/light track duty pad, and the vibration and shaking completely stopped. So, I hadn't warped the rotor at all. I had simply deformed the cheesy stock pad, and this resulted in the shake. This may be what has happened here. So what I'm saying is that it's fairly difficult for one to truly warp a rotor. Especially stock, the pads will generally give before the rotor will. One caveat though: have you ever taken the car out, and with cold brakes done some sort of ABS-inducing panic stop from high speeds or something? The sudden rise in rotor temp from ambient to 400 degrees might cause a slight problem.

I've had a small rock get stuck bewteen the rear rotor and the heat shield once, and it made a hideous shrieking noise. Just to be sure, push hard along the edges of the heat shield on each rotor, and see/hear if something falls away.

 

ty very much guys i bet thats it, a few times in the past few weeks i noticed when i applied the brakes it almost gave no stopping power. i chalked it up as road conditions but that is probably it. that being said would replacing them with nissan issue brake bads be a good bet or is their a "best" type. i really know next to nothing about brakes ive never had a issue with them before but thats probably cuz my last car was a celica and i didnt go 150 in that hehe.

i see nismo makes some would that be a good bet or is the name im paying for by going with those? also is changing out your break pads something you can do with a jack and enough research or is this definitely a job to take to a shop?

 

For a sports car like the Z, I plan to swap the stock pads out for some aftermarket pads like Axxis Ultimates or Porterfield R4-S. They are a much more capable pad, able to withstand higher operating temps, and wil be better suited to my style of spirited driving. Sometimes, there are tradeoffs, such as high dusting (sometimes not though), and some noise under certain braking conditions. I don't mind some minor squealing from a high peformance pad. It reminds me that I have a good set of pads in there. This is something that should be researched heavily by yourself first to come upon the right pad for your needs. I highly recommend Andie Lynn at Cobalt Friction Technologies. They have a website, contact them, they're highly knowledgeable on this subject.

As far as changing them yourself, it's something i like to do as I like to work on my own car a little. It's not a particularly difficult job, but it helps to have seen it done once before you try it. I'd try to find someone who has done it and recruit their help, or you could ask the Nissan service people if you can watch while they do it.

Contact Cobalt Friction Technologies, you'll thank me.

 

Blue Liquid -

Generally, brake pedal pulsations (or steering wheel vibrations while braking) are due to uneven brake pad deposits on the rotor surface rather than warped rotors. They generally go away when you switch to a new pad since it abrades away the old pad material and replaces it with the new material. This is what you exerienced in your Type R.

The pads can deposit unevenly for a variety of reasons but the most common is improper bedding in. So remember everyone, bed in your new pads (and new rotors) properly. There is a lot of information about this and other brake topics at Stoptech's and Zeckhausen Racing's websites.

To the OP: I think Blue Liquid is probably right, your pads are worn and the wear sensors are starting to do their job. Of course, I've never used wear sensors on my brakes so I don't know exactly how they work but this sounds like the descriptions that I have heard/read.

Jason

 

Check for any gravel that may have been kicked up into the brake area. Maybe look for gouges in the rotors where the gravel could have dug in a bit. You may try to get one of those "cans of air" (the compressed CO2 cans) and just blow out the area around the caliper and the backside of the rotor.

Check the pads for wear. It is very easy to do, and you don't even need to get under the car.

I changed my rear pads @ about 10K miles after I had two track days. My second set is still good and my original fronts are still good and I am now at 24K miles.

To check the pads, just remove the wheel and look in the window in the caliper. The window will show you the pad backing and the pad itself. If you want the pages from the service manual, I have them in PDF format so you can check them out and decide if you want to do that yourself. PM me your e-mail address and I will send them on over. Changing your own pads is a good way to save money since it is very easy and much of the cost from a shop is due to labor. It seems like most brake jobs cost about $200, and the pads themselves are about 1/2 that for all four.

The wear sensors are little metal tabs that stick out of the pad backing and contact the rotor when the pads get low enough. The sound they make should be a loud screeching/squeaking sound, not a grinding sound (at least that's what I've heard in other cars, maybe it's different on the Z).

Anyhow, good luck!

-D'oh!

 

i think it may be gravel or something to that extent. i recently did some work on the car to put in a cai, fix the front bumper, and cleaned all 4 tires thouroughly. there is a lot of construction in my area at the time so it could just be an accumulation but ti seems its defintely the brake pads if anything. im gonna yank the two front off tommorrow cuz those seem to be the ones where the noise is coming from. at any rate for someone who drives in rush hour traffic and has a heavy foot would 10k be a good estimate for a time to change? cant really hurt can it