Has anyone had their brakes serviced for their warrantied work under 36,000 miles?- What did you have done- Front, back, both? Resurfaced rotors or replaced? My car is going in this week for its 30,000 mile tune up and I am hoping for new rotors/pads for front and back.

 

Just from my experience at my 15K service, I asked the dealer if they could replace my pads and they told me their policy on that is "if the brake pad has 3mm or less, they will be replaced". Brand new they have 10mm worth of pad to go through. Dealers want to be ginger with this because in turn it saves Infiniti $$$ as a whole. Some dealers are very **** while others are very customer friendly so i'm curious as to what answer you get from your dealer. Also our driving habits have to do with it. I know people who had their pads replaced at around 8K. my .02 cents.

G35sedan03
03.5 briliant silver, 6MT, premium pkg, 19" Kaizer wheels, Skyline badges, HID upgrade, Racing pedals, clear lenses, 35% tint (Coming Soon- Grounding Kit, CAI & Exhaust, Coilovers)

 

I have had a couple come back for brakes and they are covered for pads, rotors, and labor. Infiniti requires us to send them back the old brake pads. If the pads are not 3mm they will not pay the claim and the dealer will have to eat the work. That is why most dealers wont do it until the pads are at 3mm.

04 Sedan, Twilight Blue, Graphite int. 18 inch coupe wheels.http://www.pbase.com/twbg35sdn

 

I actually had both sets of pads and my front rotors done at 29000 miles with no issues. And then of course at 38500, I needed front pads again!! Damn that Murphy and his laws...

03 Sedan,Clear Corners, Blinker Mirrors, Stillen: HFAB, GK, Exhaust, Z-Tube, Eibach Pro Kit, 18'' XS Style 420's

 

I just had front (2 mm) and back (6 mm and squeaking) brakes replaced under warranty at my 15k mile check up last weekend. I know they resurfaced my front rotors b/c they were grooved, but I don’t think they resurfaced my back rotors. So far, my brakes don’t seem as grabby as before (which I actually liked) but I don’t think they’re as dusty either.

03.5 5AT Sedan
<font color=black> Black on Graphite / Prem / Sport / Winter / Tint / Aero Package </font color=black>

 

My brakes are "whistling" when I back up slowly, actually sounds like the front brakes, they are going to check that out when I get my 7500 service done this week, I don't think they are worn much though. Is this the first time for your brakes. that isn't bad at all IMO!


Brilliant Silver/Graphite/Chrome Wheels '04 Sedan/5AT

 

At 27,000 miles Infiniti replaced front rotors and pads on both sides. I took it in because the front passenger side was squeeling. It was covered under warranty. I would rather they find and warrant a fix for my Got-danged driver's seat pain problem! I can replace brakes myself!

 

Somewhere around 12,000-15,000 they replaced my back pads because they squeaked. Nothing done to the rotors. They replaced both the front pads and rotors at 17,000, just after I got the warranty letter. They were below 2 mm.

ETicketRide
2003 G35 Sedan/Ivory Pearl/Willow Premium/Sport/Tint

 

My rear brakes were replaced under warranty for the "squeaking rear brake" problem about about 15K miles (there is a TSB on this).

Then at about 30K miles my front brakes started making a rather nasty noise and they were replaced, under warranty, with no fuss (~1mm of pad left). At 30K, the pads on the front (only) were replaced and the rotors turned. We drive fairly easy, for the most part (>60% highway, no stop-and-go rush hour traffic). Supposedly, the new pads are supposed to last a bit longer.

However, I had them put on ceramic pads instead (at my cost for the pads only). The ceramic pads have, IMO, two major improvements. First, they provide a MUCH more progressive brake pedal, with none of the "jerky" quick "bite" of the originals. Second, there is almost NO visible brake dust between oil changes. MUCH better than originals.

The only problem I have is that the pads I put on (NAPA ceramic) are not supposed to be used on vehicles with VDC. If I were to do it over again, I would get the Akebono ceramic pads (available from Tirerack.com). They appear to be OK for VDC equipped vehicles.

I should note that I have not had ANY problems from the NAPA pads, but who knows what will happen in the future. I don't know WHY they would be OK for ABS, but not VDC. Anyway, braking is excellent with good fade resistance when the pads get hot, especially since I put stainless brake lines on.

Scott

 

After the warranty it is important for members to understand exactly how the brakes work and warp.
How the rotor gets runout beyond the 0.0028" factory spec and how lug nut tightening and sudden cool down affect the rotor iron microstructure.

If the hub gets out of spec a perfect rotor will conform to the bad hub......and soon become bad.

Make sure your rotors are indexed [and shim aligned] at each trueing [unless on the car latheing is used].

By the way those NAPA ceramic pads scored the absolute worst on hot braking [when pads rotor get above 550-600F] [in a test of various pads on cars used for police pursuit.
Akebono is a better choice but still ceramics cannot compete against oem at high temps ----- good for mild street.

 

Thanks, Q45tech, for the input on our brakes.

Sounds like it IS important for us members "to understand exactly how the brakes work, and warp. How the rotor gets runout beyond the 0.0028" factory spec, etc."

Is there a website or link we can go to in order to learn? I've only got 5,700 miles on my "G", but I understand via this forum that our brakes, although exceptional in performance ability, are a "problem" nonetheless. I want to stay on top of the situation, and take any steps I can to avoid having problems, or making inherent problems worse.

All suggestions/comments regarding extending our brake system's life and/of effectiveness, and where we can learn how, would be appreciated.

Sport Sedan Fan - 2004 6MT Sedan
Sport/Navigation/Premium/Aero
Obsidian Black/Graphite & "Titanium"
SHE'S SILVER & BLACK - GO RAIDERS!

 

Q45Tech,

Other than when I was bedding in the pads, I have not experienced any fade, even during heavy braking (duplicating the bed in procedure to make sure the pads are bedding in properly). Of course, I would not expect the NAPA to be the best pads (the reason why I would recommend the Akebono pads instead).

I did find it interesting that you mentioned that the NAPA pads came in worst of a group of ceramic pads. Can you point me to the review?

As for ceramic pads, I agree, they are not racing pads. Not a problems since I rarely race. For street, they appear to be very adequate and their "dusting" is, IMO, second to none. Not to mention the fact that the brakes are much less "grippy" than the OEM brakes.

IMO, the overly grippy brakes (at least for the first 5-10K miles) are great for 60-0, but can make regular street driving tiresome. The NAPA ceramics appear to brake almost as well as the OEM, but I can't tell without being able to test them back-to-back. They probably don't stop quite as short as the OEM brakes, but they are more than adequate in my experience.

If I WERE racing, relatively cheap that I am, I would replace the front rotors with OEM-sized slotted rotors and put on either EBS "Greenstuff" or Hawk HPS pads (total equipment costs of <$400). I might step up to "Redstuff" or HP Plus if I were more serious and didn't mind more rotor wear. This should provide better braking performance while not having the negative power effects of "Big Brake" upgrades. Not to mention lower costs. Best of all, I could do it myself.

Anyway, the more information you can give, especially "real world" type testing (as opposed to manufacturer claims), the better!

Thanks.

Scott

 

http://www.nlectc.org/pdffiles/brakepads_epr2000.pdf

202 pages of pad tests, remember aftermarket just puts their pad compounds on copies of the factory backing plate.
The Ford Policecar has a very very similar front rear caliper rotor system to the 90-04 Q45 [2 piston front/1 pistion rear 11"] the weight [4200#] while similar to Q would obviously be extra for the G.
If you correct [decrease the Ford's temperature rise by 18 -20% you should be comparable to G35 within 5%].

Ford Front 273 swept inches, rear 176 swept inches.

Check this out also:
http://www.nlectc.org/pdffiles/msp2004report.pdf

 

Q45Tech,

WOW! GREAT information! Where do you find the time to get all of this info?

Looks like I will be doing a lot of reading!

Thanks!

Scott

 

He probably does it at work! [img]/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif[/img]


Brilliant Silver/Graphite/Chrome Wheels '04 Sedan/5AT