brake problems

[david.mauck]

im having brake problems and i cant figure out what is causing it...

symptoms:
1)at speeds higher than 60mph the car vibrates violently
2)the brakes stick horribly, meaning if i am in neutral and on a hill the car wont roll back
3) sometimes they stick so bad at intersections i stall the car because it doesnt accelerate

if anyone knows what might be causing it that would help. the dealership says my brakes are fine so they arent diagnosing it correctly...the car shouldnt stop on its own. i was wandering if anyone knew what to do before have to start replacing parts.

[cfdfireman1]

High speed vibration could be several thing first get rid of the other symptoms.

Sticking brakes could be a bad caliper, crimped brake line or a bad master cylinder, try jacking the car up and rotating each wheel to see which one is dragging. If it's only one it's a wheel cylinder or brake line, cracking the bleeder on the one wheel will tell you if it's the brake line. If it's all brakes dragging it's a master cylinder.

If you're not comfortable working on your own brakes find a good high performance shop take one of their techs for a ride and show him what it does.

[AKEVOIX]

have you done alot autox or track time. if you dd it and havnt been hard on them do whats above. and while you have it up a good fluid change cant hurt. maybe you got a warped rotor.

[SmikeEvo]

Originally Posted by cfdfireman1

High speed vibration could be several thing first get rid of the other symptoms.

Sticking brakes could be a bad caliper, crimped brake line or a bad master cylinder, try jacking the car up and rotating each wheel to see which one is dragging. If it's only one it's a wheel cylinder or brake line, cracking the bleeder on the one wheel will tell you if it's the brake line. If it's all brakes dragging it's a master cylinder.

If you're not comfortable working on your own brakes find a good high performance shop take one of their techs for a ride and show him what it does.

Agree.

[david.mauck]

thanks a lot guys. I'll try some things today and let you know.

[buchnerj]

The vibrating when stopping is most likely due to a warped rotor, and/or a wheel that is significantly out of balance. It is not likely however, that this would be significant enough to actually stop your car when coasting in neutral or prohibit you from starting at a dead stop. What pads/rotors are you using? Do check the color of the fluid, if you have problems in the lines it could lead to inadvertent bursts of pressure to the cylinders in the brake calipers, or prohibit the release of said pressure if you let your foot off of the brake at a stop sign. Best bet is to take it to a shop, but check the fluid color, and see how much pad wear you have left and the rotors appear to be in decent condition (pitting and gouging) then go from there... Another guess is if you mod and have messed around with the car a bit, check for kinks or twists in the brake lines, that could also send things haywire.