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Crummy brake shoes??? or not??

3309 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  McLeod1981
We got this 07 a few months back. when we test drove it, the brakes were "rough" sounding....BUT it had been sitting for at least a month on the lot, so I figured the discs just had some surface rust on them. The noise did stop within a mile or so, and a few applications of the brakes to clean the rotors.

However the sound returned......After it sat overnight, they would make the same scraping sound till you applied them a few times.

I removed the wheels and the pads. Turns out the pads are NEW....but in the groove on all of them there was brake pad material built up. i had to clean the grooves on all the pads to remove this HARD material. After that, the noise was gone....for about 2 days.

These are NAPA pads.....has anyone else had this problem? Are they just extremely CHEAP pads. and does anyone know if I can take them back to NAPA even though I'm not the ones that purchased them?
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Did you buy the car from Nissan? I'm not sure about returning the pads but the dealership should be able to help you. Or atleast check it and tell you what to do(since the pads are new).
I've had good luck with Napa pads, but another pad might just do the trick for you.
My wife's '06 Subaru makes the same kind of noises you describe. Once scrubbed, the brakes sound normal.
In some cases, I've found that pads from the dealer were the best remedy.
Hmm thats odd. I know NAPA probaaly wont take them back cause you werent the one that bought them and you dont have the box nor recipt so idk
nope, not from nissan...no warranty.

I've been doing brake work for about 16 years and never came across this before. Just wondered if anyone else had experienced it.

gorp, interesting that you had the same problem. I just wonder if they aren't the cheapest of cheap pads napa sells....although I've bought the cheapest of cheap from advance, autozone, napa etc.!!

I'll probably just replace them, as I'm worried about premature disc wear. Might take them to napa though, just to see if they've had other complaints.

thanks for the responses guys!!
Good idea, pads aren't expensive but if there's a recall on them you could save money! :D
the pads are NEW....but in the groove on all of them there was brake pad material built up. i had to clean the grooves on all the pads to remove this HARD material. After that, the noise was gone....for about 2 days.

it sounds like you should replace the brake pads, check the rotors and go from there
or it could be just moisture in the pads and rotors do to the fact i know with many old cars, they will do that i mean my versa squeeks a bit in the morning but if their worn dow or something, i can see the pads check your rotors see if their warped or anything common sense stuff man.
yeah, gonna replace them, and leave the material on them and take them to NAPA to see what they say. not pulsing on the pedal when applied, so the rotors don't seem to be warped.....and are still in good shape, no severe grooving etc.

I've just never had a problem like this with any brand of pads.....they shouldn't be wearing like that.....maybe we got some "monday" pads!!!LOLOLOL!!
Just spoke with someone at NAPA.....first he said it sounded like organic pads and not ceramic pads.....which would explain the faster wear.

BUT...he brought up another interesting possible explanation.....maybe the calipers aren't retracting properly, causing the pads to continuously drag on the rotors. I say interesting cause if it was a caliper issue, I would think one or the other would do it, not both at the same time. Having both doing it points to a systemwide issue. Has anyone else had any problems with pads wearing faster than normal??? You should get AT LEAST 30,000 miles out of a set of pads.....anyone getting like 15-20,000 before needing new ones???
I went through a nightmare of a problem with the rear disks on my '00 GMC Sierra last year.
The calipers were dragging heating up the rotor something fierce. Both rear calipers would take turns dragging and sometimes both.
I eventually replaced both rear calipers with Napa loaded calipers and the problem went away.
If your calipers are dragging the pads, the rotors will definately get hot.
Based on what you're saying, I don't think this is your problem.
sounds to me that who ever replaced the pads last just threw on a cheap set of organics the dealerships only use ceramic pads on there brake jobs.
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