anyone,

My brakes have started to pulsate a lot everytime I brake and come to a stop. i just changed tires to summer tires and the local mechanic said I had enough pad and rotor in the front, the read brakes might need replacing soon. Is this pulsating related to the rear brake pads and rotor worn out or is this sign of a major problem. The front brake rotors and pads were replaced with BALO rotors and Pads about 8000 miles ago and brake were also bleeded..

SHould I replace the rear brakes and hope the problem goes away or I need to get the codes read from the dealer..

thanks

joe

Your brake problem is most likely from warped rotors either front or rear. The front is more common because they generate more heat, it can also be caused my not torqueing the lug bolts to the correct torque {air gun}. the brake rotors can be checked on the car with the wheels removed using a dial indicator to measure excessive runnout about .004 will start to cause some excessive vibration. It's not the pads and having your diagnostic codes for the abs will be a waste of your money. Volvo sells a silencing pad that is installed behind the rear pad to improve anti squeal it helps, and on your model the factory pads are the quietest, we have stopped using repco, pbr and ferrodo on this model do to customer noise complaint. All of these pads wear better than OE VOLVO but we had to many complaints of noise or vibration (not pulsation).

Have your mechanic measure your rotors for excessive runnout.

Joe,

I did the brakes on my 850 last year. I used the Brembo rotors and new pads. Mine also seem to pulsate a bit. My wife's Expedition had the same problem with about 10K on it. We had the rotors turned and it has been fine for the last 25K. I guess my point is that you may just need to have the rotors turned even if the pads are ok.

Good luck.

Erik

Joe, sounds like your rotors are just worped. I have not done the brakes on my volvo yet, but have done plenty on other vehicles. If it is like other vehicles, you can just take of the wheel and spin the rotors and look at them visually for a wobble. Find out which rotors are worped and replace them (always replace in pairs and do the pads while your at it).

robert,

what would cause the rotors to warp after 8000 miles.

Is it the way the rotors are installed or just bad rotors or can this be caused by tires being put torqued incorrectly. I think the problem happened after the tires were replaced by snow tires at the same shop that did the brakes.

The warping sound while braking..would it mostly come from front...????

thanks

poor OEM design, excessive heat from pads, inadequate rotor size for a car this bulk (and speed), more likely a combinationm of all these factors.

do a search, it's a common problem with our 8502/70 series. 280mm just isnt enuff to properly stop a turbo volvo, so the driver simply presses the pedal harder, that generates more heat and ultimately leads to faster wear.

thats why volvo fitted 302mm but only for the 70series turbos. can't fathom the rational why they maintained 280mm for the rest tho'...

jeff

95 855T5A SAM chip, IPD swaybars, full S/sprint exos, Bilsteins