In Chattanooga yesterday and I noticed both times I was going down a particular hill - long, 2-lane, winding the following:

About 1/3 way down the brakes developed a SEVERE, INTENSE, SHUDDER.
The whole car shook. I had to use them sparingly and gear down the car for fear of brake failure.

This is NOT NOT NOT rotor warpage. I'm aware of what that is.

I do NOT NOT NOT ride the brakes on a downhill decline. I'm aware of what that is and does.

It's obvious that the brakes heated up (as they will do going down a long hill), but there is ABSOLUTELY NO ACCEPTABLE reason this degree of shudder should have happened with the car.

I will have to learn how to duplicate this on our regular flatter roads before I can take the car in.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

jerij

no..
there are some minor up , down hills when I drive to work and back home..
But, I already upgrade mine to all wheel disc with larger rotors.

Most of my driving is falt, but when we went on a road trip to Laughlin we had to drive up and down some hills and had no problems

Under search, I turned up "shutter" (our schools are obviously a mess...).

There was one mention of someone having the problem but the next day it went away. The problem DOES go away once the rotors have cooled.

Ya'll get out on those hills and ride those suckers! Let's get some "shutter" out of your HHR!

jerij

I've done several high-speed runs (100+), with deliberate panic stops after to check handling. I have never experienced anything similar to what you have described. My suggestion is to take it in to the dealr and have it checked out. Your rotors could have possibly overheated, which can add "hot spots' to them which cause problems. In that case you should have both rotors replaced.

Overtightening the front wheels with an impact can also cause problems with front rotors, so if you've had anything done front-end wise (tire rotation, balancing), a mechanic could be suspect.

Hope it helps,

Ya'll get out on those hills and ride those suckers! Let's get some "shutter" out of your HHR!j

Hills??
Sorry, the closest things to hills here are flyovers and bridges. And none of them here are long enough to do this test.:D

Found this on HHRORG.

http://www.hhrclub.org/gforum.cgi?post=22520;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC; forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unrea d

They were in the Blue Ridge mountains and experienced the exact same thing.

jerij

Hills??
Sorry, the closest things to hills here are flyovers and bridges. And none of them here are long enough to do this test.:D

OK, forget the hills. Just drive carefully with your foot lightly on the brake pedal. That should heat them up!

jerij

Anytime you see TWO identical posts about a problem, you might want to take it into the dealer to have it checked out...vehicles are built on an assembly line and there's a high probability human error might be coming into play.

As an aside (from the manual);

Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people drive in spurts — heavy acceleration followed by heavy braking — rather than keeping pace with traffic. This is a mistake. Your brakes may not have time to cool between hard stops. Your brakes will wear out much
faster if you do a lot of heavy braking.

Know how to go down hills. The most important thing to know is this: let your engine do some of the slowing down. Shift to a lower gear when you go down a steep or long hill.

AUTO TRANS - INTERMEDIATE (I): This position is also used for normal driving. However, it offers braking from the engine for slight downgrades where the vehicle would otherwise accelerate due to steepness of grade.

Also, if you have a manual trans, engine braking can help prevent your HHR from gaining excessive speed on steep grades. Anytime you can use the engine to help slow the vehicle it will reduce strain and wear put on the braking system.

I DO AGREE - this should NOT be taking place on your HHR. Your safest course of action is to take the car in to your dealer immediately to have the problem analyzed. If they can't find the problem or reproduce the symptoms - try another dealer.

Hope it helps,

Jerig-does your car have ABS?

Near my houme, there is a slight down hill section with a traffic light at the end. If I am going about 40 and the light changes, I get a shudder as the car stops. I believe it to be the antilock brakes coming on.

Jerig-does your car have ABS?

Near my houme, there is a slight down hill section with some bumps and there is a traffic light at the end. If I am going about 40 and the light changes, I get a shudder as the car stops. I believe it to be simply the antilock brakes coming on.

Funny this came up. I too have noticed a slight shudder in the brakes when applying. I have been very careful with mine in order to prevent this, and it does it when the brakes and car are warm, or hot after driving a little distance on the interstate, 25 to 30 miles. I noticed this, and it is not brake rotor warpage, it's way too fast of a frequency for that. The idea of the ABS crossed my mind too. I'll see if it gets worse. I noticed it the other day too, but didn't pay much attention to it. I have the 2 LT with ABS, Auto, Blah, blah blah. May be normal with these brakes, don't see any brake dust.

I'm thinking possibly about changing out my pads for some that are rated at a higher temperature. Does anyone have any experience in this or am I just wasting time and money?

I've painted my calipers and drums, I can just hear the service tech now...

jerij

I'm thinking possibly about changing out my pads for some that are rated at a higher temperature. Does anyone have any experience in this or am I just wasting time and money?

I've painted my calipers and drums, I can just hear the service tech now...

jerij

Yeah, they're gonna cancel your warranty now for sure! :D

I think replacing the pads is a waste of money at this point. I'm 99% sure the rotors are your problem. If "hot spots" have developed, the metal will harden at certain points causing this shuddering you are describing. I've even seen them stay that way even after turning in some cases.

Your best bet is to have the rotors replaced under warranty - as you bought a new car with new rotors. Don't opt for turning them; the problem could resurface later.

Hope you get it fixed soon,

I am on my 2nd set of rotors, 1 left hand caliper and 1 set of brake pads. Mine started at 5,000 miles with a lot of wheel shake while applying the brakes. The first time was a cracked rotor on the left side. Then at about 7800 miles they started doing it again and it turned out the caliper was hanging up on the left side. Once again they replaced BOTH rotors and the caliper with new pads. I am at around 23,000 miles and I have developed shake again. I was planning a brake upgrade so I am not too concerned but I thought I would help add to the thread.

As one other poster asked, do you have ABS? That system could be wigging out. In my Mazda I noticed sometimes with "heavier" braking (not enough IMHO to actually ever lock the brakes in a non-ABS vehicle) my ABS will make wonderful vibration and even sometimes sounds like it is grinding the crap out of the rotors (loud metalic crunching), all of which the dealer said was "normal" or at least not a problem they could fix.

I'm having some front brake issues also.....first I thought it was me, being female and paranoid.....lol but it just kept getting worse. Took it back into the garage and they took a look and done there normal break check and said it was all good. So I thought ok it was fixed and now its been a couple months later and its worse than ever....have an appt to take it back to the garage on the 3rd of July to have it looked at again. It worries me cause I'm in the mountain area of WV and afraid I will loose brakes or have a lock up. I first started noticing the problem about 5000 miles and now that i'm coming up to 10,000 miles its just seems to be getting worse.

Yes I have ABS. This is not what I would consider a typical ABS response.

I recently replaced my brake pads (anyway) and they really have MUCH better bite. I haven't been on any hills lately to experience the "shudder". I'll know in 2 weeks when I go hanggliding again in the moutains.

I think something is amiss with the front disc braking system on these cars. I'm reading too many reports.

jerij

My HHR w/ ABS has done this from day one with less than 100 miles on it as well, but only very slightly, at very slow speeds with minimal pressure applied to the pedal. It seems to happen maybe 2 in 10 times when I cross a sagging and broken-up part of a driveway or entrance, as if the traction control is trying to compensate for the loss of solid ground by overriding my braking, at least that was my first instinct as the brakes function perfectly otherwise, and it doesn't happen consistently like a damaged mechanical part would probably do. The T/C light never comes on though.

Sounds like a trip to your dealer is in order to have it checked out, especially since it only has 100 miles on it.

Agree.. in fact I did just that, of course it wouldnt happen while anyone was watching, but they did check the computer; nothing.

I've adressed this in a couple different threads...but what I've heard here really sums up my dilemna. Only during two mountain fishing trips, returning down the mountain, I experience severe shudder and vibration from front left brake. On 10/30 had rotors turned and yesterday, they looked at it again and found nothing wrong with rotors. It is perfect on the flats, highway, city driving etc. Only problem has been coming down the mountain. I don't know what my next move should be.

antilock?

antilock?
I have a 1LT so i don't think i have abs

Most of my driving is falt, but when we went on a road trip to Laughlin we had to drive up and down some hills and had no problems
My 2006 HHR had brake pulse (front to back) and steering wheel shimmy at all brakng speeds at 20877 miles due to warped front rotors. They were resurfaced - as GM policy prevents dealiers from replacing rotors that have enough depth to resurface. If the dealer replaces "good" rotors under warranty, GM bills the dealer for the parts! Guess what, I now have 41,000 miles - and need new rotors.... because there is not enough metal to resurface again. But, I am out of warranty - and even under my "covers it all" extended warranty - wear items are excluded and brakes are wear items. In contrast, I have a 1993 ford escort wagon with the ORIGINAL rotors/drums - so it's NOT my driving. HHR brakes stink.

Just before first rotor resurface, the left front wheel hub assembly failed causing an ABS failure. This was replaced under warranty. Just before the second rotor problem, the right front wheel hub assembly failed causing an ABS failure and resulting in a single-car accident with side of road (almost 9k in damages). This time GM said it was operator error - so no warranty coverage.

NOTE TO SELF - buy a toyota hybrid next time.

NOTE TO SELF - buy a toyota hybrid next time.

Then the scenario changes only slightly:

You will find yourself having to purchase very expensive battery packs and motors when they wear out! :eek:

Hang in there - and get your problem fixed. You'll be much happier. :D

Then the scenario changes only slightly:

You will find yourself having to purchase very expensive battery packs and motors when they wear out! :eek:

Hang in there - and get your problem fixed. You'll be much happier. :D
So they say. But Toyota has cornered the market on hybrids and taken away major market shares from all the us manufacturers - even those with hybrids. Guess 10 years of making hybrids has taught them a two or thing.