[ARCJr]

So, something else has broken on my car.
I went to replace the guide pins and bushings in my front calipers with Tyrolsport's stiffening kit, when one of my pads fell out when I removed the caliper. I then realized it was only the backing plate, the pad's friction material was still sitting against the rotor. Is it normal for a pad to separate like that? Does it indicate a lack of maintenance of some kind, or damage I've done somehow? I guess what I really want to know is, is it something I did or didn't do, or a manufacturing defect?
Thanks in advance.

 

[littlegreek]

This happened to me with EBC green stuff on the rear of my jetta.Pad material split from the plate.Also common with me is the anti-squeal plate thingy to separate too.I'd say its just poorly made pads.Now ive switched to hawk ceramic pads for the rear,no complaints yet and no stoopid brake dust like the green stuff.

 

[death 4kqt]

ive seen that on several cars, replace the pads and you will be fine. The ones I have seen looked like they got corroded behind the pads and the friction material just fell off.

 

[ARCJr]

Thanks for the info.
FYI, although I was very happy with the pads (they probably would have survived 2-3 sets of rotors at the rate they were wearing down) they were Hawk Ceramics. I was using them with ECS Tuning's slotted and cross drilled rotors. The rotors were actually worn down to almost the bottom of the slots, which was starting to concern me until the pad fell apart and I realized I had bigger problems :-D
So, I'm trying Satisified GranSport6s and Brembo OE rotors in the front this time.
One thing I never liked about the Hawk Ceramics is there was a scary delay in braking when they were wet and cold. We'll see if the GS6s are any better.

It did look like there was corrosion between the friction material and the backing, like you said, Death.

Hopefully Tire Rack pulls through and I'll have the parts tomorrow so I can give my wife her car back. Nice as they are, rolling in Avants is getting old. Audi automatics suck.

 

[naudi1]

I had set of hawk ceramics on my ImpalaSS. The only time I like them was when they got hot. In town squealing, dirty and nothing when cold. They also like to eat rotors. Got sick of them before they even wore out.

 

[ARCJr]

I never had any squealing problems with the Hawk Ceramics. In hindsight, if I still lived in SoCal, I'd probably get the Hawk Ceramics and see if Cryo treated rotors helped with rotor life. Living somewhere with weather, though, I'd opt for something else. The HPS pads in my wife's Avant are working well so far...

 

[ARCJr]

Forgot to mention. I had PBR ceramics for about 3k miles before the Hawk Ceramics. The PBRs were just like the Hawks, except they weren't even good in warm temps. Oh, and they had tons of brake dust. Oh, and they squealed. On second though, there was no redeeming value in the PBR Ceramics, which would explain why I replaced them after only 3k miles :-D

 

[ARCJr]

Update: After requesting pictures of the offending pad, and the other three, Hawk determined that it was, essentially, a manufacturing defect.
Pursuant to that, they've asked for a mailing address to send out another set of pads, free of charge!
I've asked them about brake pad shelf life, as I just bought, installed, and broke in a new set of pads and rotors, in addition to asking them if I could get a set of HPS pads instead of the ceramics.

We'll see what happens, but kudos to Hawk for getting the the root of the problem, and offering to replace the pads. :woowoo:

EDIT: Because it was a warranty item, they can only send the identical pads, but still...