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Whenever I apply my brakes to make the car come to a stop, they start shaking/pulsing. It feels aweful. What's going on? The same thing does NOT happen when I use my brakes on the highway to slow down, only when I'm trying to come to a complete stop (used under 15 mph). Is it the rotors? Or does my Neon ACR have a screwed up anti-lock brake system?

Maybe I should just go to brakeway on my day off next week, but I'd rather now wait till then to know what's going on...

Is it vibration in the steering wheel? If it is your rotors are most likley warped.

neonpla wrote:Is it vibration in the steering wheel? If it is your rotors are most likley warped.

Nope, it's in the pedal, if that makes any sense...

I had this same problem on my '97 ACR - turned out that the rotors themselves were literally flaking off large pieces of the surface on the back side. This on/off friction when applying the brakes made the pedal pulse like how you described. Put the car on jackstands, pull the front wheels, and check the backs of the rotors, if you can't see anything from the front.

Also, as Luis said, they may be warped.

Maddog wrote:I had this same problem on my '97 ACR - turned out that the rotors themselves were literally flaking off large pieces of the surface on the back side. This on/off friction when applying the brakes made the pedal pulse like how you described. Put the car on jackstands, pull the front wheels, and check the backs of the rotors, if you can't see anything from the front.

Also, as Luis said, they may be warped.

^ same thing happened on my girls stratus. They looked fine from the front however when I removed the wheel it was all messed up on the back side.

Oh, ok. Will do.

So if it is the front rotors that are all jacked up, what do I do? Just replace them? How much does that cost?

From you local Auto Parts it can be as cheap as ~$110 for new pads and rotors. And yes the cheapies work fine, just don't go racing with them.

If you want high dollar stuff like Hawks pads and power slot rotors you are looking at ~$240.

racer12306 wrote:From you local Auto Parts it can be as cheap as ~$110 for new pads and rotors. And yes the cheapies work fine, just don't go racing with them.

If you want high dollar stuff like Hawks pads and power slot rotors you are looking at ~$240.

$110 eh? Well, that's not bad at all. I'm a bit of an agressive driver on the road, but I by no means race in my car...

your might be able to fix your old rotors by getting them turnned or resurfaced. thats what i did with my 05

Yeah, but depending on his situation he may not be able to take the rotors off and take them to someone. Plus, I've seen the turning service priced at $25 or more. Insanity.

Napa sells front rotors for $25 a piece, so you can do it under $100.

racer12306 wrote:Yeah, but depending on his situation he may not be able to take the rotors off and take them to someone. Plus, I've seen the turning service priced at $25 or more. Insanity.

Depending on how much needs removed, they will generally warp very easily. A light cleanup pass is about all you can get away with, if they aren't worn much from the original thickness.

I have never had any luck with ones close to the min. thickness. Maybe 100 to 300 miles and they warp. It is more time/cost efficient to just buy new.

Well, my rotors have about 50k miles on them a piece, so turning/resurfacing them probably isn't going to do me much good...

I went to a place that does free brake "inspections" and all they told me is that my brake pads are fine. I knew that. They couldn't tell me anything about the state of my rotors, whether they were warped, old, worn, anything. What a waste of time.

So, what's the best place to go to get new rotors and pads? Forgot trying to "help the economy out" when businesses don't know what they're talking about. I have a friend that can help me replace my rotors, as I'm not mechanicaly inclined...

just go to napa cheap and effective especially if your friend can do all thework for you

Dodgeparts.com 5273038AA $82.98 Plus shipping

For zip 40202:
NAPA
NB 4886912 $23.49
UP 86912 . .$46.99 <Please call store for availability

AutoZone
5397 $39.99

Prices are for each.

occasional demons wrote:Dodgeparts.com 5273038AA $82.98 Plus shipping

For zip 40202:
NAPA
NB 4886912 $23.49
UP 86912 . .$46.99 <Please call store for availability

AutoZone
5397 $39.99

Prices are for each.

Thanks for the part #'s! I guess I should go ahead and order new brake pads too while I'm at it...

always replace the pads when you replace the rotors and visa versa.

Not to resurrect a dead post, but I replaced my front rotors today. Thanks OD for the part #'s from Napa. I went with ceramic pads for the front, even though my current set wasn't very worn; it just made me feel better... and my old rotors, well, they were so warped you'd think someone was trying to dig a trench in them.

It took me 3 hours to replace the front rotors, so I'll probably tackle the rear 2 next week sometime. Trial and error when it's your first time.