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Chevrolet Malibu: Brakes

54 messages,  Last post on May 28, 2009 at 3:29 AM

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What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet Malibu SS, Brakes, Sedan

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#5 of 54 Noisy brakes. by 3745 May 26, 2006 (2:08 pm)
I'm sure it's rust. I parked my car outside over a weekend of driving rain and the right hand brake rotors were soaked with water. When Monday morning came and I took off with the car, my brakes on that side were so noisy I turned back home. It sounded as if there were no brake pads left. I took the rear wheel off to see what the problem was. The rotor was rusted. I cleaned it off with sandpaper and all was well again.   Other than that, my brakes are very good and as smooth as silk.
#6 of 54 Not a unique problem.. by kurtamaxxxguy May 26, 2006 (7:02 pm)
My GM/Toyota built Prism had exactly the same problem.   If brakes were wet and allowed to dry, the rotors would develop some rust and the brakes were noisy when applied. After a few applications, the noise stopped (I assume the rust was ground off by the pads). Replies to this message: 3745 (May 27, 2006 2:47 am)
#7 of 54 Re: Not a unique problem.. [kurtamaxxxguy] by 3745 May 27, 2006 (2:47 am)
Replying to: kurtamaxxxguy (May 26, 2006 7:02 pm) Just down the road from me is a Ford dealership with about a hundred new vehicles on the lot. As far as I can see all the new vehicles have rusted rotors so I would think that they would also be noisy when the brakes are first applied.
#8 of 54 abs brake light chevy malibu 2002 by jetilson Oct 25, 2006 (6:37 am)
my light on abs keeps coming on and brakes are just find why else who this kight come on and what can i do about it Replies to this message: prdm (Oct 25, 2006 6:41 am) malibujeff (Jun 13, 2007 7:19 pm)
#9 of 54 Re: abs brake light chevy malibu 2002 [jetilson] by prdm Oct 25, 2006 (6:41 am)
Replying to: jetilson (Oct 25, 2006 6:37 am) When that light goes on the ABS system is inoperative - normal braking is still fine. It needs to be checked out.
#10 of 54 Knocking When Braking by josephus Oct 31, 2006 (6:51 am)
I'm not sure if this is brake related or suspension...or both. I'm having this intermittent annoying problem. Sometimes when I apply the brakes, i get a nasty knocking sound from the floorboards or the front of the car. When this happens it will happen for a few brakings in a row, then I don't notice it anymore. It sounds like rotors, except it is too intermittent. And just last week I did take the car in for regular service and they checked the brakes and other than some uneven wear they're fine. They did do a brake service. I didn't tell them about the problem then, cause it was so intermittent and hadn't been doing it for a while. But now, it does it almost every other day. Because it is so intermittent, I'm afraid that they won't be able to spot the problem. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Joe
#11 of 54 Re: 2005 Malibu BRAKES [calisnshyne] by 01malibu Nov 03, 2006 (8:41 pm)
Replying to: calisnshyne (May 26, 2006 11:25 am) Wow, GM has still not fixed this ? I have an '01 Malibu and it did the same thing yours is doing right off the lot with 3 miles it. It kinda sounds like a trolley car coming down the street. khhhhhh___, right ? The car would not stop ! Then the rotors warped after the first 3,000 miles. The dealership gave me a hard time about it and said that GM's fix is to use ceramic brake pads but I would have to pay for the uprgraded pads not the standard pads and they would cut my rotors not replace them. And that the warping problem is due to overheating because of a bad runout alignnment between the rotor and the caliper. The fix for that is to not overtighten the lug nuts and clean and adjust the rear brakes. Isn't that special.
#12 of 54 noisy brakes on my Maxx... vibration too... by cwesleyg Nov 10, 2006 (1:32 pm)
My 21K mile 2005 Maxx LS has had the rotors turned twice for severe vibration... they warp very easily if you brake hard at high speeds. Most cars with disc brakes will do this eventually, but the Malibu's brakes seem to warp more easily than on any car I've ever owned. I could not warp the brakes on my 1998 Taurus.   I've also noticed that the brake's rotors get excessive rust after only one night when put away wet... especially if it is salty wet. This is also much worse on the Maxx than on any other car I've owned. It makes the brakes rub and howl for the first few appications of the pedal. Again, my Taurus never had this issue.   I think GM is using some really poor quality material for their rotors. Probably cheap Chinese castings.   I'm looking forward to replacing them when out of warranty with something better... maybe something cross drilled if I can find them that way. Meanwhile I'll let GM keep fixing them. Replies to this message: mr_bots (Nov 11, 2006 10:17 am) 04cad (Aug 16, 2007 12:14 pm)
#13 of 54 Re: noisy brakes on my Maxx... vibration too... [cwesleyg] by mr_bots Nov 11, 2006 (10:17 am)
Replying to: cwesleyg (Nov 10, 2006 1:32 pm) They're probably warping because the lug nuts on the wheels are over tightened. Shops just use their air wrenches to tighten the wheels back on, which commonly causes warped rotors. Any time you take your car to somewhere that will have the wheels off, once you get home you should bust the lug nuts loose and use a torque wrench to tighten them to spec. My 04 Malibu warped its rotors twice within 12k miles, but after the last time I've retightened the wheels myself after I got home and have made it 20k miles since with no sign of warping. Replies to this message: 04cad (Aug 16, 2007 12:14 pm)
#14 of 54 Custom Rotors by shinran May 21, 2007 (12:34 pm)
First time poster, long time reader.   I've just purchased a set of Pro Stop drilled and slotted rotors to combat the constant issue of warped/soft rotors that GM is put on my 2005 LS Malibu.   They weren't cheap, $400 for a set of 4, but I'm anticipating less squealing, longer rotor life and cooler brakes. Plus, they're made not to rust and a nice 12,000 mile warranty.   As soon as I brake them in, I'll let you know if they were worth it.

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