Rep Power: 316

okay, i think my rotors are warped, whenever i brake, i get some pulsating in the pedal, its not smooth anymore. does that mean that my rotors are warped, or can it just be the pads?
if its the rotors, what can i have done? i dont like the way it stops, it bugs me. i'm gonna go in tomorrow or tuesday to get an oil change, is this something thats covered under warranty? i have an 02 with almost 18,000 miles on it if that helps.

also, with the rear drums ( i dont know jack about cars ), can the rear drums warp? what kind of maintanence is required for rear drums, they dont have pads right?

 
Rep Power: 0

Yup, most likely warped rotors. Common problem with our crappy stock rotors.

Some dealers will resurface it for you for free under warranty, some others won't ... for some reason they have different policies when it comes to rotors, since it is a "wear" item.

You may want to consider getting a set of decent replacement rotors, like Brembo blanks, instead of resurfacing the crappy ones you have now... that's what I did.

 
Rep Power: 327

if you replace or resurface make sure that the caliper is working properly ( not dragging ) and clean and lube the slides so everything is sliding properly. Warped rotors indirectly cause pedal pulsation.

 
Rep Power: 316

how much would a rotor resurface cost? i saw replacement brembo rotors for $41 a piece at tirerack, sounds like a good deal to me.
i might be able to "hassle" my dealer into resurfacing for free, my car has had lots of problems and its still fairly new, they are pretty nice to me, can't hurt to try. but if it doesn't work out, how much would it cost to install those brembo rotors? can it be done myself?

 
Rep Power: 327

re-surface if done by a shop would be a little less then replacing them, if you have the cash I would recomend buying new ones that way you have the thicker rotor to begin with.

 
Rep Power: 316

i might be able to get a friend to install new rotors, but if its time consuming, i can't (he works all the time, he doesn't have much free time). if resurfacing is cheap ($50?), i'll do that until the next time they warp, at which point i'll replace.

what about the rear drums, nothing there to worry about? can the rear drum cause pedal vibrations?

 
Rep Power: 327

rear drums can cause it but about 99.999999% of the time its the front rotors

 
Rep Power: 0

That's where I bought my Brembos from.

Grey has a really good DIY in the Tech forum for installing rotors and it can be done yourself, but if you don't have the right tools and you've never done it before, you may want to get someone who knows what they're doing to help you out, or at least keep an eye on what you're doing.

If you can get free resurfacing, you may as well go for that as a temporary solution and save some cash for now.