I did a search but nothing seemed to turn up. I took the car for a test drive and the breaks seem really wonky.

By wonky I mean when I would hit the break the peddle would vibrate and I would hear the rear wheels lock up and slide (thank goodness for snow).

I pulled back into my garage and examined everything. Nothing was hot like I was having sagging breaks. So I continued on with the test drive.

I slammed onto the break pedal while I was stopped to see if I would have any issues with losing break fluid but the pedal didn't collapse to the floor.

The weird breaking continued for about a mile and then stopped.

I even did a fast slam on break test and the tires didn't lock up. Breaking was normal and I even floored it up to 80mph on a country road. Slowed down really fast to a stop and checked the pads. Everything was A-Ok.

My question is, is it typical to have wonky breaks after you pull the caliper and clean the pads with break cleaner?

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

BRAKES

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Goodness I really did do that. And to think my strong points all through school were writing and literature classes.

__________________
-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

There is a little guide tab that sticks out of the hub that helps center the rotor, is there a chance you installed the rotors without making sure those tabs were mated to the holes in the rotors?


Because that will cause some wonky-ass brakes. And its a mistake even an experienced wrench can make when they're in a hurry (ask how I know).

Also possible that there was some contamination on your rotors and the "vibration" was the brakes gripping where the contamination was low and slipping on the contaminated parts. You could certainly consider brake cleaner contamination if it didn't evaporate completely.

Double check your lug nuts and make sure that all your brake lines are intact. As long as the pedal feels good and the brakes continue to stop vibe-free and with normal power/modulation I'd consider it a case of post-maintenance shakedown and not worry too much about it.

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'84 300D
'97 Jeep XJ lots of mods
'01 Subaru Forester

It does sound like contamination. If the pad was wet with brake clean and maybe greasy finger marks on a disk, this "wonky" braking could occur. Sounds like you have fixed it though.

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

I didn't even know those existed. I will keep that in mind when I pull them off for next time. Thanks for letting me know.

I'll do some more extended driving and checking tomorrow. The roads are really slick right now so I'll wait till some salt has been thrown down.

Lugs and brake lines were fine when I checked them after the initial shake down so fortunately maybe this problem has worked itself out.

When I slam on the brakes right now I hear what sounds like sliding in the rear, but in the front they don't lock up. It was slick with some fresh snow and it didn't happen all the time so maybe i'm imagining things.

I'll do some more testing tomorrow in bright daylight on some dry roads.

Edit: I cleaned the brakes with brake cleaner yesterday and had them sit over night. I wouldn't be surprised if the problem was contamination from my gloves or other stuff. I will further my testing tomorrow! I appreciate the help as always

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.