G60 brakes

[Bernie Benz]

Phil,

If the externals of your G60s, the guide pins, were found to be in such poor
shape, do you assume that the internals are any better?  You don't need
guide pins if the pistons are frozen, you know!  I assume that you did not
overhaul the calipers at the same time and flush the fluid on all four
corners, or you would have added further detail to your tale of woe.

Bernie

> From: Phil Rose <pjrose at frontiernet.net>
> Date: Sat, 6 Jul 2002 12:01:52 -0400
> To: 200q20V mailing list <200q20v at audifans.com>
> Subject: G60 brakes
>
> The G60 brakes are widely regarded as being just (barely?) adequate.
> But given that situation, it's so important to make certain they are
> operating as effectively as possible.
>
> In that spirit, it might be useful to briefly review a recent
> encounter I had with the G60 brakes on my wife's car. Its stock pads
> and rotors looked in reasonable condition when we bought the car last
> fall, but a strong pulsation suggested a serious warped-rotor
> problem. Otherwise the brakes seemed fairly typical and adequate for
> casual driving. The car was being used for just low-speed trips
> around town (only 1500 miles so far), so dealing with the brake
> pulsation was (unwisely) deferred.
>
> A few days ago I decided it was time to install the new rotors  (and
> also the Hawk Blue pads we'll be using at the Glen next week). When I
> removed the driver's side caliper I found that one of the guide pins
> had been utterly and  absolutely frozen tight. It took about 2 hrs of
> spraying with PB Blaster and grappling with a Vise Grip pliers to get
> the pin to move and finally extracted. In spite of its rubber boot
> being in place and intact, this pin was dry and seriously corroded,
> and hence the caliper had greatly reduced braking capacity (and
> perhaps some serious gas-guzzling drag). Hmmm, puzzling that the car
> still had been able to brake in a nice straight line.
>
> So, now on to the other caliper; could _it_ be any worse? There I was
> startled to find that the outer pad had worn to within a  sixteenth
> inch of the backing plate, whereas the inner pad had been jammed
> (stuck) and showed very little wear at all. Both guide pins were
> working OK, but obviously (and for quite some time) all the braking
> effect had been coming from just one pad. Everything nicely balanced,
> huh? :-(
>
> With everything cleaned up and regreased, braking is now very
> obviously improved. Just as obvious now is how easily the car can
> (should) roll--without the drag from either side. I won't be
> surprised if our sub-par gas mileage  increases by 2 or 3 mpg! This
> experience demonstrated to me how one (OK, "I") can become lulled
> into accepting really abominable braking; it was scary to discover
> that we'd been driving with brakes that were limited to just a
> fraction of their capacity. The G60s will never be great brakes for
> our cars, and an upgrade is worth serious consideration, but in the
> meantime,  I hope you'll make sure _your_ G60s are functioning at
> 100% of their capability. For that matter, UFOs, too.
>
> Phil
>
> P.S. With all that is said about the limited ability of G60 brakes on
> our cars, I'll reiterate my opinion that they can perform well even
> on the track--if equipped with excellent pads. This is based on the
> very good experience that I (and my son) had last year at Watkins
> Glen in our Hoppen-chipped car using performance pads (Hawk Blue
> pads). These pads allowed the G60 brakes to do a very adequate
> job--given the car, the track and the drivers. Of course this
> assessment might not be appropriate for high(er) HP cars and drivers.
> --
>
> Phil Rose    Rochester, NY USA
> '91 200q (130 Kmiles, Lago blue)
> '91 200q   (57 Kmiles, Tornado red)
> mailto:pjrose at frontiernet.net
>