Rep Power: 224

Does anyone have anything positive or negative to say about Power Stop brake parts?

A few months ago I had a rear caliper sticking so I replaced both rears with Power Stop reman set. Three weeks later the park brake on one of the new ones began sticking. Got a warranty replacement set, two weeks later the park brake was sticking again. RockAuto wouldn't send me another set so they gave me a full refund and let me keep one of the sets. After investigating some more I found a pin not fully seated on the caliper that was allowing play in the park brake cam. This was then causing it to bind/stick, both calipers were like this. I was able to fix it myself by hitting the pin with a hammer and haven't had issues since.

Last week I noticed a brake was dragging and could smell it when I got out of the car, this time it's one of the fronts. Those were replaced with Power Stop remans about 4.5 years ago. There's almost no rust on the outside of the caliper, the piston does have a little but nothing severe. I pulled up the rubber boot on the piston and it still looks fairly clean underneath, no severe rust or anything. I don't visually see anything that explains why it's sticking and I really don't feel like pulling the piston out to look/rebuild.

About a year ago I replaced the front rotors/pads on my Acura MDX with a Power Stop kit, the originals were beginning to pulse while braking. Maybe a month later the new rotors were pulsing under hard braking already. My brother also used Power Stop for the rotors on his Accord, he has also noticed pulsing during hard braking after just a few months.

I am not impressed with them at all, I think at this point I am done with Power Stop. Am I the only one having bad luck with them?

 
Rep Power: 100

My opinions....

If a set of reman calipers lasted 4.5 years before giving you problems, I'd say they did they're job pretty well. Reman calipers generally aren't very expensive. And if they didn't show much rust after that much time, that's pretty amazing. The one set of reman calipers I bought I got from Autozone. They rusted after only 3 short SUMMER months. But they worked well so I didn't care.

I have purchased Power Stop brake kits (rotors and pads). The one set i bought for a car I sold shortly thereafter. The other was for a family member with a Toyota Avalon. I didn't notice any issues with either, but this was just initial performance. I don't know how well they hold up over time.

As far as the pulsation during braking, I think it's more than likely sticking guide pins. The holes for the pins need to be cleaned well, and the pins lubricated properly. Sure, it may be that the rotors are just out of round. But I don't experience that problem often with new rotors and pads. Buy new pins and lubricate them with Sil-glyde. Then see if the pulsation is still present.

 
Rep Power: 224

They were in the "Coated (Additional Protection For Rust Prone Areas)" section, so I didn't expect them to rust much. They did carry a three year warranty which is good compared to some others, the Cardone brand has a 10 year warranty though. On RockAuto there's only one option for new coated calipers (Ultra-Power Brand), that's why I went with a reman.

On my MDX the sliders were in perfect working order. On my brother's Accord the calipers and brackets were also replaced at the same time, everything was working. Maybe I'm being too hard on them about the caliper, still not impressed with the rotors though.

 
Rep Power: 100

I've only purchased Ultra Power hood and tailgate shocks. They always fit well and work just fine. But I wouldn't buy calipers made by them. Their parts are usually the cheapest option on RA. I've had good experiences with Cardone products despite people criticizing their parts. So I would probably go with Cardone.

But if the guide pins were good, then yeah I'd say the rotor/pads were bad. Power Stop doesn't strike me as a company that is very stringent on their quality control. They sell all-in-one kits that are convenient and inexpensive. I'm fine using them on other people's cars (when old parts are SERIOUSLY worn out), but not my own. I prefer Centric, Bendix, or Wagner.