Pte Socks
03-20-2005, 01:04 AM
Ok, well to start this story off, I will start from the very beginning. Ok, ive been recently been very concerned with my brakes. I myself havent touched them and ive owned my car since it had 122,000 kms on it and it now has 178K on it. So, knowing that one, the rotors on this car are notorious for warping and two, the pads are wearing out because I dont stop like I used to, I decide to go out and buy some new rotors and pads. So I go to my regular shop, a place called Mopac here in Edmonton to take a look at new rotors and pads. It so happens that I heard this shop caries powerslot slotted rotors, a rotor that ive heard great things about. Ive recently been curious as to which pads I they carry as well because from what ive learned either Hawk HPS pads or EBC greenstuffs would most likely be ideal for my application. So I go there and pick up the slotted rotors and as recommend by a buddy there, the Hawk HPS pads.
I then book my car in at the same place that built my exhaust to do the install, a place called Apex Modified. ( Ive never touched brakes myself so Im not going to start experiments considering they are brakes, you screw them up and your screwed ). Anyways. The install originally takes two hours, but big problem, the left side cant be bled properly because the bleed point is a bit corroded and they cant take loosen it because they are afraid to break it off. Then I try driving in it and the brake peddle is like a sponge. Not good, not good at all considering I can barely stop and now have to drive my car home.
Ok, next day, take it back and they flush out the brake system and bleed it properly. Big problem. The original brake fluid must still be in the car because its as dark as oil and almost in like a gloop. Anyways they do the full flush with dot 4 brake fluid. Everything is great, it only takes an hour. No problem its 3 pm. Test run. Bid problems. The car shudders at every press of the peddle and the brake still dont work as well as they should. Theory #1 arises. Maybe the same damn left side caliper is stuck and needs to be replaced, lets take a look at the pads wear and see if thats it. Possibly, the pad wear is uneven and its not looking good at all, also, the main shuddering is coming from the left side. Just in case though, they check the right side. If that one is fine that it could be the left caliper because its kinda stuck and it doesnt seem to work well. WHoa, wait a sec, the right size is messed as well, again, uneven wear on the rotor as well. Ok Theory #2, both calipers are busted. Well, thats kinda unlikely because I didnt have this problem before and its unlikely that both would be gone. Anyways. After more testing, like switching the pads to opposite side ( inside -> outside and vica versa ) Nope. Same problem. Well WTF is it?
Up comes the solution. As a test, they run an exacto knife on the rotors while having the car up on jackstands and in drive. Bingo. You can just see, the rotors are warped to shit and the sound is definatly the tell tale point. Its uneven as ever. Well how the hell could that be, these rotors are right out of the box? Well it was true, the rotors were warped to shit and I couldnt get replacements installed for another 5 days. So I go home, its 8:30 at night and they were supposed to be closed at 4 pm.
I get the new rotors and thankfully they didnt charge me anything extra and my buddy at Mopac takes the hit. So does Apex because they only charge me for the time spent on the brake flush of only an hour. Anyways, I finally take my car in last night and get the new rotors installed. Again they only charge me an hour for the install and these new ones work like a charm :).
Big problem arises again though. My car is again up on jackstands and they are testing the new rotors with an exacto knife again, listening to the pitch. Pitch is good and its time to put hte tires back and and drive out of there. I reach to open the drive side door and "click" the door locks. F*%$#@*!!, Automatic door locks!! So here is my car, the front jacked up, its tires off, sitting in drive and having the front wells spinning at their delight. Im pissed, like no other. I phone up a locksmith. Ok, be there in 10 minutes no problem. Ok. Thats good. Another problem. They cant open my locks. For some reason, the bars in my locks seem to be bent becasue they can open them halfway, but not fully and thus cannot get into my car. They try all windows, it should be a 30 second job, it turns into a 45 minute job. My passenger side now doesnt like me and doesnt always unlock properly when I deactivate my alarm and have it unlock all my doors. Thats besides the point. The original guy calls in backup and the new guy works on it for 15 minutes before finally deciding to use like a pump to pry open the door and roll down the power windows. Finally I can shut off my car, get in and drive away. In short, I spent just over 10 hours at that shop for a 3 hour job. I was only billed 4 hours when they wasted 10 hours of shop time in my car. Lesson to all, just dont have my luck. It is practically impossible for me to lock my keys in the car, but I somehow managed to do just that. Just dont have my luck for the past week.
I then book my car in at the same place that built my exhaust to do the install, a place called Apex Modified. ( Ive never touched brakes myself so Im not going to start experiments considering they are brakes, you screw them up and your screwed ). Anyways. The install originally takes two hours, but big problem, the left side cant be bled properly because the bleed point is a bit corroded and they cant take loosen it because they are afraid to break it off. Then I try driving in it and the brake peddle is like a sponge. Not good, not good at all considering I can barely stop and now have to drive my car home.
Ok, next day, take it back and they flush out the brake system and bleed it properly. Big problem. The original brake fluid must still be in the car because its as dark as oil and almost in like a gloop. Anyways they do the full flush with dot 4 brake fluid. Everything is great, it only takes an hour. No problem its 3 pm. Test run. Bid problems. The car shudders at every press of the peddle and the brake still dont work as well as they should. Theory #1 arises. Maybe the same damn left side caliper is stuck and needs to be replaced, lets take a look at the pads wear and see if thats it. Possibly, the pad wear is uneven and its not looking good at all, also, the main shuddering is coming from the left side. Just in case though, they check the right side. If that one is fine that it could be the left caliper because its kinda stuck and it doesnt seem to work well. WHoa, wait a sec, the right size is messed as well, again, uneven wear on the rotor as well. Ok Theory #2, both calipers are busted. Well, thats kinda unlikely because I didnt have this problem before and its unlikely that both would be gone. Anyways. After more testing, like switching the pads to opposite side ( inside -> outside and vica versa ) Nope. Same problem. Well WTF is it?
Up comes the solution. As a test, they run an exacto knife on the rotors while having the car up on jackstands and in drive. Bingo. You can just see, the rotors are warped to shit and the sound is definatly the tell tale point. Its uneven as ever. Well how the hell could that be, these rotors are right out of the box? Well it was true, the rotors were warped to shit and I couldnt get replacements installed for another 5 days. So I go home, its 8:30 at night and they were supposed to be closed at 4 pm.
I get the new rotors and thankfully they didnt charge me anything extra and my buddy at Mopac takes the hit. So does Apex because they only charge me for the time spent on the brake flush of only an hour. Anyways, I finally take my car in last night and get the new rotors installed. Again they only charge me an hour for the install and these new ones work like a charm :).
Big problem arises again though. My car is again up on jackstands and they are testing the new rotors with an exacto knife again, listening to the pitch. Pitch is good and its time to put hte tires back and and drive out of there. I reach to open the drive side door and "click" the door locks. F*%$#@*!!, Automatic door locks!! So here is my car, the front jacked up, its tires off, sitting in drive and having the front wells spinning at their delight. Im pissed, like no other. I phone up a locksmith. Ok, be there in 10 minutes no problem. Ok. Thats good. Another problem. They cant open my locks. For some reason, the bars in my locks seem to be bent becasue they can open them halfway, but not fully and thus cannot get into my car. They try all windows, it should be a 30 second job, it turns into a 45 minute job. My passenger side now doesnt like me and doesnt always unlock properly when I deactivate my alarm and have it unlock all my doors. Thats besides the point. The original guy calls in backup and the new guy works on it for 15 minutes before finally deciding to use like a pump to pry open the door and roll down the power windows. Finally I can shut off my car, get in and drive away. In short, I spent just over 10 hours at that shop for a 3 hour job. I was only billed 4 hours when they wasted 10 hours of shop time in my car. Lesson to all, just dont have my luck. It is practically impossible for me to lock my keys in the car, but I somehow managed to do just that. Just dont have my luck for the past week.