Brake Fade

[guest869]

Has anybody else experienced brake fade?

I was on some hilly back roads and was very surprised to overheat the brakes in a short time and I wasnt driving very hard.

I am sure I have Honda pads as I know that cheaper pads in general have a lower temperature rating. I did not expect Honda pads to fade so easily.

Ferodo do some fast road pads, these woud cure the problem.

Can bigger brakes be fitted from another Honda (Civic??)

John

[culzean]

Don't know how old your Jazz is and if you have had the brake fluid changed recently.

As well dodgy brake pads, brake fade can also be caused by water / moisture in the brake fluid (brake fluid is hygroscopic = absorbs water, which is why fluid should be changed fairly regularly), this is not such a problem with DOT 4 and above as it was with DOT 3 but can still happen. 

The moisture in the fluid has a lower boiling point than the fluid and can boil up and cause bubbles in the fluid, which makes the fluid 'compressible' and the pedal gets 'spongey', so it seems that you are using more effort, and the pedal is having to be pushed down further to get the same brake force.

[guest765]

if you have brake fade try using "GREEN STUFF" pads a bit less severe than the RED STUFF pads but quite effective........OK for Jags and stuff so should be ok for Jazz.

[culzean]

Never had problem with brake fade on Jazz and know I always use genuine Honda pads.

Be careful about changing the pad material as the pad and disc material are carefully designed to work together, and a different material in either part can cause problems, some pads don't work very well until they are heated up and you can lose the 'low down' instant braking response, they can also be more abrasive and result in increased disc wear.  If you change the pad material some manufacturers would probably recommend changing the disc material as well.

Check that your discs aren't glazed, this can be caused by dragging pads or by just using your brakes lightly most of the time and the discs develop a very shiny finish,  just like you can prevent EGR problems by taking the car for a 'blast' occasionaly, all brakes should be applied hard on a regularly basis to prevent glazing.

[guest869]

Thanks for th replies.

culzean: Definitely not the brake fluid. The symptoms were: the same pedal feel, smelling brakes and lack of stopping. It was the pads overheating.


Not a fan of EBC pads though maybe I should try them again. I once had them in my mountain bike and the friction material came away from the backing pad. That put me off them. Plus you never see top end motor sport using them.

I normally run Mintex M1144 in my cars and appreciate that they do not quite have the bite when cold. However I do find the Jazz brakes very sensitive (I prefer non servoed brakes) so the harder pads should reduce that initial grab.

The harder pads do wear the disc and require thorough prepartion of the discs but that is easy to do.

I think I will try some uprated pads with standard discs.

Thanks for the comments.

[guest684]

A useless and probably wholly inaccurate fact No. 1:  'Apparently' in the good 'ol days of motoring they used to pee on the brakes to cool them!!

Have you tried that one John?

[guest869]

Nope! But it could lead to warping.