PT Cruiser 2001 - Brakes (Autozone)

Ok here's the problem.

I've changed my own brakes forever and never had this problem. I got
new rotors and pads at Autozone. Then about 6 months in I started
hearing a grinding or groaning sound while braking.

I looked at the pads and they had tons of life. I looked at the rotors
and they were smooth. Nothing seemed wrong. I wen on driving for a
year plus more just living with it as it seemed to stop well and it
wasn't warn out.

I finally gave up and decided to get my rotors turned as they seemed
weirdly worn. The pad wore a groove the entire size of the pad into the
rotor. On other cars they seem to wear all the way out to the edge of
the rotor I think. This looked odd. But, I turned them to totally flat
again and got new pads (for free because of lifetime warranty.)

I installed them all and viola, the noise was gone. Cool.

Then about 2 months later the groaning is back. There is no deep groove
yet but they are wearing out the same.

A couple of questions:

Do others see that PT rotors wear out this way? Wide groove.

Would the drum brakes in the back have anything to do with this? There
is no noise back there and I haven't changed them in all this time.
They hardly wear out fast.

Might these just be bad rotors? Soft like silly putty?

Don't want to reinvent the wheel (pun intended) or spend a ton on the car.

Thanks in advance.

 

"Just Me (remove <nospam> to reply)"

Maybe the wheel cylinder pistons are seized and they're not
working at all.

The cheapy third world produced rotors are like that.

Does 'it's your brakes' play into this at all?

 

Nope, brakes don't play at all. Work fabulous except for the noise.
The noise is lighter now, but it will get worse in the months to come.
It will stop great for over a year but continue to get noisier.

 

"Just Me (remove <nospam> to reply)"

So, you're saying that you don't consider your cars brakes to be
important, because that is what I meant.

Noisy brakes do not work fabulous.
There is either something wrong with the component(s) chosen or
there is something wrong with the installation.

Well, hopefully the increased noise will serve as a warning and
who ever may be potential victim has a chance to get out of the
way.

 

Apparently you have never experienced the world of high performance
motorsports. The braking systems on F1, Indy, Sprint, Midgets,etc and even
good ol' boy NASCAR are totally noisy and unacceptable to the majority of
North American motorists but I guarantee they will out brake anything on the
street. Very aggressive brake lining materials are noisy and lots of
European performance cars owners want the grind and squeal of brakes. I am
in no way saying that his noise is ok but just because there is brake noise
does not mean there is a problem. The common brake squeal (not warning
squealer) does not affect braking performance. It's just a Midas selling
point.

 

What an asinine opening statement.

And this has -what- to do with a stock PT Cruiser?
(other than you saw a 'I need to wave my dick' opportunity)

A PT Cruiser is a "european performance car?"

It certainly does. Whether it is major or minor is impossible to
determine.

It indicates that a piss poor job was done and that details were
overlooked.
Brake squeal -may- be acceptable on a dump truck, it certainly
isn't on any passenger car.

FYI, the Audis' and BMWs' that I service have quiet brakes that
function at or above their design intent. Their owners wouldn't
settle for anything less.

 

Could be that those pads are unusually hard. (Not unreasonable, considering
they're giving you such a long warranty on them.) This is why you don't want
to use race duty pads on your street car. Hard pads last longer, but eat the
rotors (and, incidentally, don't stop as well as softer one, unless you're
racing & getting them very hot).

 

When you put your new pads on, are you putting anything between the pads
and the calipers (that large back area on the outboard pad; the piston
contact area on the inboard pad) to dampen vibrations? I'm not saying
that that *is* your problem, but if you're not using something there,
that *could* be your problem. Silicone brake grease works as well as
anything - just a nice thin coating - nothing super heavy that could
migrate over to the active friction area.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

Not to mention how the new rotors were cleaned.
Degrease in parts washer, rinse with brake cleaner, wash with hot
soapy water, rinse and dry with clean towel watching for any
signs of metal dust.

Then there's the ways, lands, bushings and pins that the pads and
calipers slide on, wire brushed, filed, scraped, sandblasted
(whichever is appropriate) so no rust is left adhering and
properly lubricated.
Similar for the wheel hub where the rotor mounts...

Most people who claim that they know how to do a brake job really
don't.

 

Yep,

Used silicone brake grease.

The noise isn't that squeal that is normally a vibration issue. Nor is
it the high pitched grind of the indicators (since it never gets down to
them.) It is truly a groan. Kind of like the sound rubber brake pads
sometimes make on a bicycle, only MUCH deeper. Very hard to describe.
Never heard it before this.

I buy into the comment made that the pads are too hard for the rotors.
That makes sense. Weird though since they are both the Autozone parts.
Good ol' Duralast.

Semi-metallic pad - MKD841
Std. Rotor - 53000

You would think they were made for each other. But maybe not.

Purchased both together 07/2005. First groaning in mid 2006. Really
loud groaning in 2007. Turned rotors 12/2007 new pads at that time.
Light groaning again 02/2008.

Since my brakes have never given out or had ANY feeling of less that
perfect stopping power I feel pretty safe driving around like this. If
they felt weak or slipped or had any play in the pedal I would stop
driving immediately. Pretty certain this is a product problem or some
type of mechanical adjustment that needs to be made. Hate to replace
product again if an adjustment is the issue.

Don't know of any adjustment that would allow the pad to ride further
out on the rotor. Haven't yet heard of any other PT drivers that have
responded about their rotor wear pattern, whether it wears the rotor all
the way to the edge or not.

Thanks to all those that gave reasonable responses.

 

Funny you mention that - the LH cars had two different size rotors
(Ø282mm and Ø297mm), and two interchangeable version (PHP and non-PHP)
of the larger size. For a long time, the aftermarket world had the
smaller rotor and the PHP version of the larger rotor listings exactly
backwards. If one ended up with the wrong one, the pads would either
be hanging over the edge a little over 1/4", or leave a little over 1/4"
wide annular ring untouched (and the rotor would scrape the caliper). I
doubt there is the same scenario with the PT's, but thought I'd mention
it just in case.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

To be more specific: 2nd gen LH cars.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

I put the cheaper Chinese built rotors on my Concorde. got noise and they
turned blue within 2 miles. bought the more expensive American made ones,
no issues.

might want to make sure the pistons are not broken inside the calipers, you
didn't say anything about rebuilding or replacing them. I've had pistons
break and cock sideways. also the seal inside can cause issues. usually the
rotor will wear more on one side than the other but it can also cause weird
wear.

I don't do AutoZone. too many miss boxed parts, alternators that fail over
and over, and stupid parts that supposedly supersede other parts but the are
built completely wrong so there's no way they can even fit. clerks don't
have a clue when I tell them a 3 port heater control valve cant replace a 4
port, etc, etc. they do a good job selling hotwheels and candy bars up
front. I do NAPA or car quest.

 

My 2001 PT did the same (wide grove) with the factory brake pads and
rotors. The rotors were shot at 25,000 miles. PT's are known for this.
Lousy materials from the factory is all I can say. I replaced them with
rotors from Advance Auto and put ceramic pads on. Best combo I could
have made. No squeek or grind even 30,000 miles later.

 

Unreal, I had the same bad luck with the disks and the pads, did the
same thing, upgraded disks and ceramic pads. That was on our 2005
Convertible. We now have a Caliber and glad of it!

 

To both of you guys that went ceramic...

What brand of pads and rotors did you use?

I am in CA and don't have local Advance Auto and the site sends me to
partsamerica.com.

Just like to know what is successful.

 

Autozone pads and rotors => Cheap Chinese-made junk.

Check a reputable parts store like NAPA or CarQuest, and if they offer
different grades of rotor buy the high-end rotors, not the budget variety.

 

I went with the factory heavy duty rotors and ceramic pads from the
Chrysler dealer here in my town. Funny how our 2003 brakes never had
the problems that the 2005 Convertible had.

 

I hear akibono is good.for pads. good stopping power and don't get the
heavy brake dust build up.