Pulsating brakes/rotor warpage

Took my '04 Forester XT-PP in for an oil change yesterday, and asked for a check of my brake discs due to some braking pulsation. Turns out all four needed "resurfacing." (Warranty took care of it.) They checked to see if brake line pressure was correct, and that the ABS is functioning OK. (I've never had it go on, to my knowledge.) Everything checked out according to specs.

Bottom line, I think they concluded I'm just hard on brakes. This is NOT how I'd characterize my driving. I don't race to stop lights. I don't tailgate and stomp on brakes frequently to avoid a rear-ender. I don't "ride" the brakes. And so on. I do drive a lot of stop-and-go in town. But, regardless of cause, this problem came up only about 3,000 miles ago (now at 21,500). If I'm so hard on brakes, why did I have about 14 months with no problems?

I'm puzzled and frustrated. Anyone else have a similar problem? Thoughts? Advice?

Thanks.

HW

Reply to
Hal Whelply
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HW,

I've had this problem on both of my cars since new, 1991 Legacy and 2002 WRX. I, like you, am not hard on the brakes according to your definition. As a caveat, I do live in the mountains and even using the gears I need the brakes part of the time. My solution to save money is to do the job myself, it's not hard and costs about $50 to turn the rotors since the pads don't need to be replaced everytime. I know brakes were a weak point on the car back in 1991, they've gotten better but I don't think any of the bakes Subaru makes will hold up to the heat generated by the weight of the cars for very long except maybe the 22B or other aftermarket varieties.

Mike

Reply to
Mike G

About the only complaint I have about my Subaru is the brakes. I also needed brakes turned (just the back) at about 30,000 miles. Now (about

38,000) a pulsing is getting noticeable again. I've never been real happy with the brakes - they're a bit noisy (especially in the morning) and they just don't seem to have "oomph". I'm not really a car customizer, but I'm considering after market performance rotors/calipers/pads. Anyone have any experience with this? Any suggestions?

kl

2002 Outback VDC Sedan

Mike G wrote:

Reply to
kl

On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 23:02:06 GMT, "Hal Whelply" wrote in news:3ZLWd.155341$0u.116434@fed1read04:

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Reply to
Juan Vado

It is critical with subaru brakes that you torque the lug nuts evenly with a good torque wrench. Uneven torque will cause the warping feeling you describe. No amount of resurfacing or replacement will cure it if the lug nuts are gunned on or torqued unevenly.

Reply to
Rat

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