Brakes

[desertmike1]

I have a 98 Malibu with 102000 miles, at 67000 I turned my front rotors and replaced my linings with NAPA "Ceramix".
Brake pads W/spring clip set cost $66.00. I drive the mountains of southern california back and forth to work on occasion, and I can't say enough times just how much I like my brakes, Very low brake dust,absalutely no noise, no rotor warping, and the brake pedal always feels the same regardless of brake temperature, all this on stock chevy rotors. Bottom line is, chevy Malibu is non tolerant to aggressive or cheap brake pads, this also means stock OEM parts.

Ceramic brakes are the best you can ever put your foot on!

-Mike

[ken22]

I have change my front brakes 4 times in the last 45000 miles. The last set lasted a whole 6,500 miles. My brake mechanic realized on the malibu the pad with the wear indicator goes on the inside instead of the outside. He said most cars he works on the indicator goes on the outside, so they must have done that to my car. He said if that is how they are installed, the pad sits on an angle in the caliper and wears uneven. They must have installed it this way the other three times. He said putting the pads on the right way should fix the problem. We shall see.

[User261483]

Chevrolet has brake problems with the Malibu and the standard Impala. How do you get their attention? The dealer refuses to do anything without a $45.95 fee to examine the problem? And this is under the 36K bumper to bumper warranty? Problems started at 10K miles.

[ken22]

I did not get their attention. Actually GM told me to stop bothering them since they say there is no brake problem with the Malibu. They said they will do nothing for me. I expected this from them since they are only interested in their bottom line.

I take my car for brakes to a mechanic I trust and have used for years. He has worked on my brakes for this car ever since I bought it. I bought it used. This is the fourth brake job he has done for me in 44,000 miles. So he knows I am having brake problems.

We thought the first set of pads were defective. The second time he thought they may not have lubed the caliper correctly. But after two more wearing them out and numerous bringing the car back to be looked at, he decided to check out the entire brake system after this last round and also make a few calls to see what others have done for a problem like this.

I also spoke to a few dealers and the place where I bought the car and they said they never heard of this problem.

My mechanic said he talked to a few dealers and other mechanics and they have never seen this problem on a Malibu. I believe the dealer informed him of the reverse position of the pads. So he looked at the car and they installed them on the wrong side, the last time. Most likely the three other times also.

I will check the brakes at the end of July, since this is about when I will need to replace them, if this did not fix the problem. I do a lot of miles going to work, but not too much stop and go driving.

[lora_#677]

Hmmmm... I'm so glad to know it isn't ME!! We had to replace my brake pads and rotors at 28,000 miles.. which I guess is pretty good considering some of the other posts... But, the mechanic actually told my husband "Your wife must be hard on brakes!", we put new brake pads and a sport type rotor on the car hoping that would help. The original rotors were so warped they couldn't turn them. It's now 13K later and the brake pads are pretty much gone again. The rotors seem to be fine except that they were scraping the pad holder which my husband adjusted and fixed that problem.

I've taken it into the shop twice this week. Once they told me the vibration/noice from the front must be tires. I've had the tires 15 months and they were pretty much shot. Put new tires on it... guess what... still vibrating. I told them and my husband told them to check the brakes... Chevy dealership... they couldn't have checked it. Now they are trying to say it's a wheel bearing... at 41K!!! So, it's going to have that replaced.

It's upsetting because this is the first car we bought new without the extended warrenty of 100,000.. not that it would cover brakes or rotors (not sure how you got yours covered, but we were told NO).. my 96 Tbird has had less problems and it has 170K on it... I bet it outlives the Malibu... We never had problems with the Blue Oval and so we figured we would be fine with the standard warranty... ridiculous!!

[ken22]

I did not have GM cover my brakes. They also gave me the story about I must have bad driving habits. They told me to stop bothering them. Last GM I ever buy.

Anyway, I would never take my car to a dealership for work except if it is under warranty. They are a bunch of idiots who do not know how to determine the real cause of a problem like a real mechanic does.

My brake mechanic, who is not a dealership, fixed my problem. He said he talked to other mechanics about my brake problem and they said for this type of body/frame style car, the front brake pads are put on, on the opposite sides. Most cars have the front brake pads put on with the pad with the wear indicator put on the outside portion of the caliper. On the Malibu, GM decided to switch them, and the pads with the wear indicator are put on, on the inside portion of the caliper. If they are not installed like this, the are actually on a slight angle relative to the rotor and when the brakes are applied, instead of the entire pad pressing against the rotor, only a portion is and this is why they wear out so fast.

My mechanic did admit he put them on the wrong way for the previous brake job I had. He said he is so use to putting them with the wear indictor on the outside, and just did it for my car. Therefore, this is why they did not cost me anything. Nice to have an honest mechanic!

Anyway, it’s been about 8,000 miles since my last brake job with the pads put on the proper sides and I check them last week and their thickness is pretty much like new. My last set of brakes lasted less then 8,000 miles. Same exact driving conditions. One of the previous brake jobs, the rotors were replaced, I think at 41,000 miles.

My suggestion is check to see which side the wear indicator pad is on, and then if it is on the outside have your mechanic look, with the pads still on the car and ask the mechanic if they have been installed correctly. See what their answer is. Mine is a 2000 Malibu.

[bcleeper]

I am a little new to monitoring my car's maintanence, can you go into a little more detail for me about how to tell the inside and outside of the calliper so I can check my brake pads.

Also, I feel a little vibration on the brakes when braking at high speed (coming off interstate onto ramp at 65). Is this normal with new brakes or is there something I need to go back and have them look at again?

Thanks,
2003 Base, new brakes 500 miles ago.

[ken22]

The caliper sits over the rotor and the rotor is facing the same way as the tire. There are brake pads on both sides of the rotor. If you look at your tire, the side you can see from facing the side of the car, where either the hub cap or the custom chrome rim is, is the outside of the tire. If you take off the tire, you will see the outside, side of rotor and the caliper. The pad that works with the outside rotor is the outside pad. In order to see the inside rotor/pad you have to stick your head in the wheel well and look at the other side. You cannot see it from standing on the side of your car. In inside pad is a little closer to the middle of the car then the outside pad.

If you get new brakes they should have turned your rotors. Turning your rotors is just they make then smooth and flat. Sometimes the rotors wear out and have to be replaced. This is normal wear.

Anyway, the vibration can be either a bad tire, a improperly balanced tire, an out of alinement front end or your rotor.

If the vibration was there before the brake job, then most likely it is not the rotor.

If it is just at high speeds, then maybe an alinement or wheel balance problem. Hard to tell unless you actually drive the car.

[slojim]

I purchased and installed some aftermarket rotors and pads. (I believe they were powerstop). That eliminated all my brake problems. (high pad wear, vibration, warping)