1995 es300 150kmiles.

We recently replaced front wheel bearing, in order to make the replacement easier i bought the whole wheel hub (used) with wheel bearing already pressed in, it came from low mileage es300. So, we also had to swap brake disc from the old wheel hub to a "new" one. The rotor was impossible to remove and in the process it cracked so we had to use rotor that came with the used wheel hub. Its not very worn (actually its thicker than the old one), but rusted on the outside. We figured this rust will be removed by the pads during breaking in period.

Now the problem: the breakes are weak now. For some reason i have to press the pedal all the way in to get the car to stop. not very good. We bled the brake line just in case (even though brake line was not opened during hub swap) and it did not do much. Pads were repalced this spring, so they were good.

During the hub replacement we also broke ABS sensor, but thats a different story... they are PITA to remove intact and also made of plastic. will need to put a new sensor before its starts snowing.

Any ideas guys what may be going on here? Do i get weaker breaking due to rust that may be caught up on the pads surface??

EDIT:
i took some pictures here:
looks like pads are not pressing on the rotor correctly

 

You didn't mention anything about the calipers so if you replaced it then they can be the culprit.

Also the rust could be softening the braking i.e. its causing the brake to slip a little when the caliper grabs onto rotor. Think about when you try and stop with sand on top of the ground i.e. you slide so you have to push harder to brake. Overtime the rust will wear out and it should be fine.

If you want to do some work then bleed your brakes and put in new fresh brake fluid. Another thing you can do is spray your rotors down with brake cleaner.

 

the calipers are the same. I do not understand why replacing brake fluid would help. Brakes were fine before this job, so the only thing thats different is the hub and the disk.. Brake cleaning fluid is a good idea, will try this. Any other ideas?

btw, thank you for the advice.

 

First, it looks to me that the pads are not making good contact with the rotor. The Shinny band around the outer circumferance of the rotor looks to be a little narrow. I would remove the to slide pins that hold the caliper on. Checking for rust on the pins. Then check the rotors, make sure the pistons are sliding freely in and out. If you can afford a few extra dollars, pull the rotors, have them turned. Lastly, replace the pads.

 

As far as I can tell, your problem is this:

1. You used old rotors with their own specific wear patterns
2. You used old pads with their own and different specific wear patterns.

Now as you can see from your pictures, neither are not making full contact with the other, so only a small portion of the rotors and pads are trying to do the same amount of work stopping your car. That is why you need to push your brake pedal harder; only a fraction of your brakes are working.

The fix, and I would do this as soon as possible since your car seems pretty unsafe at the moment with such small rotor/pad contact and your long pedal action, is to have those old rotors turned, and replace your old pads. Especially now that they have been heated up so bad trying to stop your car as is, they wont be good for much stopping power anymore.

Oh and at this point, brake cleaner will just be a waste of money.

 

I submitted my reply before the pictures were on here. Looking at these pictures, your better off getting new rotors and brake pads. These days new rotors are pretty cheap and the labor you would pay to have your old rotors cut almost adds up to the cost of new rotors.

 

thanks for the advice guys, i'll get a new rotor and pads.i agree it does looks like wear patterns on the disc and pads were different.

 

Pepboys has rotors for $28 (1yr warr) and AdvanceAuto for $27 (2yr warr).

 

id pick up some brembo blanks for the front (40 bucks) since your car stops mostly on the front brakes instead of the back. then pick up some new rear rotors at pepboys or something for 20-30 bucks