i got a 05 cav with 70K - yep I drive a lot, 95% all highway. I have owned a few cav's but nothing as low end as this '05. I am experiencing brake pedal pulsing when slowing from high speeds. the harder you press, the harder it pulsates. no abs lite, no hard lock ups & nothing from the warning pins. any clues? is it time for new brakes? or is it the product factor - meaning you get what you pay for? I have some other high end cars & a truck that are chevy's and they dont do this.
Thanx in advance for the input.
Fred Hubbard
Time for front brakes. The rotors are worn thin in spots, causing the pulsation. Commonly called "warped" but thats sort of a misnomer. To check for absolute certain thats the problem, you'll need access to runout gauge. Most brakeshops should have one. In either case, if they are the original brakes, I'd definitely get new brakes. Rotors, pads, and have a look at the hoses while you are at it, they may be getting worn out also. rotors and pads should not cost you more than 50 or 60 bucks at the parts store, and are an easy job to do. Need a 3/8" allen socket and some caliper grease. Little grease on the back of the pads, on the caliper bolts (not the threads, the smooth part that slides in the caliper bushings) and a tiny bit on the ears of the pads where they touch the knuckle.
Factory brakes on the J usually don't last much longer than 40k-50k miles, you having got 70k is actually VERY good.
sounds like the rotors are (yes to not really use the proper works)"warped", there are likely differences in thickness in the rotor, when it hits the high spots it slows faster and it kinda skips over the thinner spots(something like that, replaced the front breaks and I had that before and now it is gone. hope that helps, that is what it sounds like to me.
cheap fix, about 2-3 hours and 80 bucks canadian and a beer and you are done(the front anyway), could take less time if you had any idea what you were doing and you don't paint the drums and calipers too(don't worry, just black) haha
i have a 97 caviler and am experencing the same problem, i've never felt pedal pulse this bad it actually pushes your foot up....changed the front rotors last year and it seemed to help abit but now its worse than ever...not sure if i got bad rotors or problem with one of teh rubber brake lines if u get ur's solved let me know what u did. I'm going to buy the premium rotors(think i got the cheapies last time).
I had a set of OEM rotors that got so bad that the entire car shook during high speed braking, and the car lurched to a stop as it caught each thick-spot in the rotor. I basically got told that while the brakes still had plenty of wear, they were unsafe and could potentially cause damage to other components if not fixed.
New set of rotors, and some new pads for good measure, and I've been golden ever since.
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