Hello there, and here is why I'm here :)

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mr.monkey

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Hi there,

I'm the owner of a 2000 reg Almera Sports+, which so far has been a fine old drive and has certainly offered value for money. However, I had a problem, and this is what has led me to this place.

I've had some problems with braking, with some pretty heavy vibration at speed. I don't think it's the ABS because it happens under relatively mild braking, but is especially bad under load. Three months ago I had the front tyres, pads and discs replaced by a local garage who have use Apec pads, and I assume Apec disks from a local supplier. There was some binding on the front passenger side brakes which caused the car to fail the MOT first time round.
The tyres are Michelen Pilot's. I've had a quick look at it this weekend and have replaced the pads (again with Apec - are they a good make or one to be avoided?), which has lessened the vibration at low speed. I also noticed the shims are missing off all the pads, and the pads where fitted with the tapered part at opposite positions on the disk (one with the tape up, one down on the same disk).
My initial guess is warped discs, but I don't want to replace them with out making sure that is the problem - they aren't cheap. The discs themeselves don't show any uneven scoring or evidence of grabbing, but then they are pretty new.

The questions I have are:

- Would putting new shims on potentially help this problem?
- Could it be caused by an interaction between the tyres and the suspession? This has been suggested as a possible cause. Is it worth getting the tyres balanced front and rear then having the front and rear tyres switched?
- Should I just do the damned obvious and replace the disks?
- Does anyone know of a good Nissan specialising garage in the Cardiff/Bridgend area? I'm sure I saw a specialist in the Yellow Pages but I'm damned if I can find him again.

I've also got various other (apparently ;) )minor issues with the car, but I'll wait 'till I've got membership here to post about those!
 
if its vibration when braking its more than likely warpped discs, when you say the shims are missing, wheich ones are you on about exactly, is it the ones that go on the back of the pad or the ones that sit in the carrier?
 
It's the ones on the back of the pads that are missing. All other parts appear to be present.
 
mr.monkey said:
It's the ones on the back of the pads that are missing. All other parts appear to be present.
Click to expand...
i took mine off when i changed the pads as they were corroded, just use a bit of copper grease on the back of the pads instead and all is good
 
its most likely to be the disks, my gf had same problem with her fiesta after a garage done it for her, i forked out a bit for genuine ford disks and pads and all was well, but consider going for EBC disks and pads, look on www.ebcbrakesdirect.com
 
Thanks for the pointers.

I took the car in to get the wheels balanced today after starting to get some vibration at speed after I swapped the pads and checked the pressure, which was a bit low. There was a problem with the back two tyres (quite low tread on one, a split to the metal on the other) so I had them swapped (£95! Each!) and switched the front and back set round. The tracking was 'miles out'. Anyway, this appears to have certainly helped the problem. There is still a little vibration at speed, but the braking vibration is much improved if not completely gone - I'm not clear on if the ABS is kicking in under moderate breaking. Under steady breaking it seems pretty smooth.

Part of me still thinks the disks will need swapping out, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that is was the tracking/balance/tyres that were the problem :)

As for the shims I'm going to leave them off and put a bit more grease on the back of the pads
 
I've just read this thread

First of all, Welcome to the site, and secondly this vibration as you drive do you notice it more on the motorway than anywhere else?

I notice this vibration on the motorway but not when i'm driving about town or a back road - only on a motorway...

I presume it's just normal as the Almera was never the 5-star mile muncher we would like to think it is... Mine done that with steel wheels, then when i changed to alloys it was still there so i'm hoping it's normal on the N16's

If not, let us know what the solution is!!
 
The steering vibration is only noticable on the motorway. After I had the tracking and balancing done, the vibration went away. Now it's returning, and it's pulling to the left a little, so it seems the Almera is very sensitive to tracking. I'm going to get mine done again in a couple of months time to see if it goes away again.

As for the braking vibration, again this is only noticeable at speed, and the tracking drifting seems to exaggerate that problem. I've not yet replaced the discs (too much other stuff on my plate at the moment!), but I certainly report back when that has been done.
 
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