03 Pilot Uneven Braking

[Boden]

Just bought an '03 Pilot. Overall very nice.

I'm noticing, however, that the braking is rather uneven, especially when the vehicle gets down to lower speeds (~15MPH and under).

By uneven, I guess I mean that it's very subtly "jerky"...or "not smooth"...or "slightly lurchy". My wife claims to not really notice it, but I really do and it drives me nuts.

Let me take one more crack at describing it: if I'm traveling at 45MPH and press the brake pedal firmly, without increasing or decreasing pressure on the pedal, deceleration feels nice and smooth until speed drops under maybe 15-20MPH, at which point it decelerates unevenly until coming to a stop....like a slightly warped record.

Any wild guesses?

[rocky]

Hmm...gearbox downshifting would be my guess

[Boden]

I think it's too constant to be that...though I can try braking in neutral.

After doing a bunch more searching, I'm seeing people talking about "pulsing" while braking, likely due to warped rotors. I think that might be it.

[dustino8]

Yep, sounds like warped rotors to me.

How many miles on the unit? You may be able to get them turned, but at that age you may be better off just replacing the rotors.

[rooster59]

In no order:

Rust flakes between hub and rotor- rotor won't run true

Heavily glazed rotor- herky jerky braking

Brake fluid contamination of pads- herky jerky braking

Unevenly worn pads- pads won't release correctly

Pads sticking due to rust

Sticky caliper- caliper won't track rotor run-out; clean and lube slider pins

Bad job of turning rotor- grinding sound / pulsing pedal

I've never actually had a warped rotor, usually crappy brakes are combinations of stuff above.

[whizmo]

At about 30K miles, my Pilot started developing a slight unevenness in coming to a low-speed light stop. I think it is just how the rotors wear unevenly and while turning the rotors would probably solve it, I'm not going worry about it until I replace the pads, probably around 60K or so. It hasn't gotten worse.

- Mark

[Boden]

Thanks everyone. This vehicle has 103K on it so I'm not surprised it needs a little work. After driving it a bit last night, I do have to admit that the problem is pretty subtle at this point. Perhaps the repair won't be too costly if I've caught it in time.

My mechanic is going to do the 105K maintenance and replace a couple struts sometime in the next few weeks, so I'll have him look the brakes over.