# Brake Disc Fade



## BoBakTXL (Aug 30, 2004)

When I was at the races the last weekend, I noticed that after about an hour in to it, that I was experiencing disc brake fade, alot of it. I did'nt push the car hard AT ALL, and didnt brake to hard to often either. But I noticed that disc brake fade was really noticeable, before I actually had my own experience with disc brake fade [ I always read about it but it never occured to me ] I didnt know it was this noticeable. Pedal feel was alot mushier and softer, and in a certain way I could actually tell my brakes were to hot because of the amount of fade I had and because of pedal pressure. Do stock 86' Z's [ non turbo's ] have this problem? Or is it just me?

Oh and by the way, I also noticed that after I parked my car for a good 45 minutes to an hour, and returned to the car and started driving again, I noticed that the fade was gone, though it came back again a good 30-45 minutes later again. I hate it!!!!


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

Might be air or water in the lines. After the lines heat up , you'll get that "mushy" feeling. I'd bleed and replace all your fluid with new stuff. It's something that never gets done anyway , and yet is supposed to be done about once a year. I'm willing to bet the brake fluid in your car is almost all original.


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

Something I forgot about , you might have both front calipers partially seized. Happens a lot on older cars and with the calipers putting pressure on the rotors all the time , it'll heat up the rotors , and the pads , and cause the same condition as brake fade. It's a good bet after this long the rotors would be warped , though , and you'd feel that under hard braking. It'd feel kinda like ABS kicking in. If that's not happening , I'd say maybe it's contaminated fluid.


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## lshadoff (Nov 26, 2002)

There's a really good article on brake fade by Mike Kojima here. 

Lew


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## JAMESZ (Mar 12, 2004)

Replace your brake pads.


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

lshadoff said:


> There's a really good article on brake fade by Mike Kojima here.
> 
> Lew


 Yeah , I read it. He's got it pretty well nailed down, as only Mike can.


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

JAMESZ said:


> Replace your brake pads.


Unlikely that's his only problem. Pad fade shouldn't happen under normal driving conditions, even when with 20% of pad left or less. I'd say it's more like fluid fade.


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## JAMESZ (Mar 12, 2004)

[email protected] said:


> Unlikely that's his only problem. Pad fade shouldn't happen under normal driving conditions, even when with 20% of pad left or less. I'd say it's more like fluid fade.


He said he was at a race.


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

JAMESZ said:


> He said he was at a race.


You're not going to get brake fade that bad on a single run down the coastdown lane. I've barely used the brakes at all on the coastdown lane here at the local track.


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## JAMESZ (Mar 12, 2004)

[email protected] said:


> You're not going to get brake fade that bad on a single run down the coastdown lane. I've barely used the brakes at all on the coastdown lane here at the local track.


Was he drag racing? My Jetta on the stock pads had horrible brake fade in auto-x i replaced the pads and it's all good now. 

Sorry Balliztik I just got the pm.


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

JAMESZ said:


> Was he drag racing? My Jetta on the stock pads had horrible brake fade in auto-x i replaced the pads and it's all good now. Sorry Balliztik I just got the pm.


 :banana:


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