The brakes in my 2009 SS are slipping and causing dangerously long braking distances. I have found that this is increased in wet weather. When I hit the brakes, there is no pressure behind the pedal, however it does not go straight to the floor. The car will eventually start to grip and then stop, but I've came into too many close calls with the slipping in the first place. I've complained to GM twice so far. The first time they bled the brakes, the second time they said there was nothing wrong. I'm wondering if anyone else is having this problem? It's scary when you can't stop your car!!! help!

 

yes, Im aware that the brakes do this when wet or cold... just be weary of it until you can afford to grab new rotors from R1 concepts and new pads as well.

 

Mine always does this in wet weather.

You really gotta step on it.

 

Make sure your rear brakes aren't binding, in other words, ensure the outbound pads are engaging uniformly across the rotor. The Brembos tend to suffer in wet conditions but since I had my rears serviced I haven't felt as unsure about my brakes as I used to and we've had a load of rain, ice rain and snow as of late.

 

Put your car on jackstands,
takeoff your wheels
and inspect your brakepad lineing thinkness
Also check your brake fluid quantity.
Inspect the lines and ends and bleed ports for leaks.
Get a friend (with the wheels back on) to hold the brake
pettal firmly on the floor and manualy try to turn each wheel.
Try changeing, and bleeding your brake fluid.
Maybe its posible something in the ABS controller
is getting a locked wheel signal as well. If the ABS
is geting a false locked wheel signal it may throw a abs light/falt
or cause abs to try to not lock up on you.
Or perhaps your just on a slippery surface? And ABS is preventing the lockup
CHeck your tires in that case. IT is winter, make sure your not over ice.

or take the GM mechanic for a ride, hell let him drive, then sue his ass off when he wrecks because "Nothing was wrong"

 

This has been reported before by many of us. I've had the same problem on every Sunbird, Cavi, G5 & Cobalt I've owned. It gets worse when it's cold & wet.

 

P.s. our rear breaks aren't Brembo

 

of course it gets worse when it's wet!!!

when you know you're coming to a stop, lightly apply the brakes, there is a thin film of water on your rotors, and the friction will dry them off, also heating up your pads. Then apply the brakes fully when you are ready to start slowing down. I guarantee they will feel much better.

 

I'm aware of that; what I was getting at is people constantly blame the rear and it's the fronts that are slipping harder than the rears are in wet conditions. You can feel the front-end chugging along not the rear pushing on the front; I've experienced both since my rear sliders were bound and they weren't applying at all under braking. Thought my back was going to become my front.

 

It is something your going to have to get used to . Between cold brakes and the layer of water between the rotor and pad ... It takes a second or so to burn off the water barrier. I was just reading a post on a BMW website and they have the same issue . BMW actually put a sensor in some of it's newer car's to move the brake pad in when it detects precipitation and actually keep the water off the rotor without applying the brakes.

I've always had to clean the brakes off on my Z28 in the rain ... Just take tap brakes and clean the water off every once in awhile ... If you can get some heat in the rotor it will keep the water off for longer periods of time.

If it bothers you enough you can go to a cross drilled rotor , that will stop the problem for the most part ..... But big brakes and cold are always going to need to have some heat .

 

FWIW, my previous SVT Focus did the same thing.

Ya gotta plan ahead.

 

P.P.S.It's brakes not breaks

 

stop oiling your brakes to keep them from rusting? :P haha j/k

 

Damn it I should know better.

 

Same issue here. I thought these Brembo brakes were supposed to be the ****, but my wife's Civic Si has no issues in the rain. I find if I pump my brake pedal once, the pedal gets stiffer and the cars stops much more quickly. I guess I'll pay to have the brakes bled to see if that helps.

 

Dont go with cross drilled. Slotted will work better and be safer. Best advice has already been said otherwise. just lightly apply the brakes before stopping and that should help. though my sport doesnt seem to have this issue.

 

I looked at it like all he was worried about was wet braking ..... according to what I've read cross drilled are better in the wet conditions.

Porsche claims: "Discs are cross-drilled to enhance braking in the wet. The brakes respond faster because the water vapour pressure that builds up during braking can be released more easily."

I know all about cracks and stuff. I'd like to run a set just to see how the car reacts to the loss in unsprung weight....if it reacts at all. Plus cross drilled look cooler. lol

 

I have had this same problem. The dealership looked for two days and could not find anything. I only have the problem in the cold when I first take off. Once the brakes have some heat in them, they are fine.

This I believe is from the performance brakes that our cars have. I have felt a little of this before in my truck when I had Power Slot rotors and Hawk pads.

Also, what tires are you running? Since it is winter here in Ohio and we are getting snow, I have Blizzaks on now. If your tires are not made for winter, like the factory Conti's, this can be part of it. The tire compound is not made to work in cold weather. Before I had mine changed over, the factory tires would slide on cold days in a corner. In warm weather, the car would stick really good in these same corners. I could also feel some difference in braking too, but not to bad.

 

I've never had that problem before in any of my cars. :dunno: My best guess would be what you already tried - bleed the brakes (and in the proper order from the reservoir!)

 

Same here ... they gotta be hot to perform ..

 

Yep. This is a common problem. It happens in my SS too. Its just because the roters are very large and very smooth so when they are wet the pad needs extra time to stop. Just be cautious.

 

So which do you guys like better, wet weather braking or cold weather squeal.

 

The pads that come stock require heat to work well, hence the squelling in cold weather and poor performance in the rain. The pads have to first squegee the water off the rotor and then heat back up to start braking. Try lightly tapping the brakes before applying firm pedal pressure.

I love when ppl complain about the brakes on our cars and automatically assume something is wrong. We have performance brakes, along with performance pads! They don't do all that well in cold and wet situations.

 

Guys, I had this problem in both of my Balts. It was less of a problem in my 06 NA, but you can really notice it in my 08 TC. The rotors need to dry and heat up a bit. You can't just coast for half an hour in the rain and then expect the brakes to work right away. Whenever it's raining outside, i'll tap the brakes every once in a while to dry up the rotors. And if you dry up the rotors, there's no need to take it to the dealer's to bleed the brakes or what not. Most likely, the tech at the dealer's just did the same thing, made sure the brakes were heated up a bit, and couldn't find anything wrong with them.

 

I think the argument is that this isn't a problem with 99% of other cars.