The Dreaded Vibration While Braking

[stoopid]

That's unfortunately. This brake pad material transfer issue such a well-known problem by now and so easy to fix, I don't understand why Kia can't seem to do it right.

Agree on both. Kia should have switched to a different brake pad material and owners can easily find out about this in a 20 second google search.

There's a novel being written on this forum alone regarding the issue and solution(s).

 

[ddavis1982]

Yes, I know there have been a zillion posts on this and I have also read the post about this not being rotor related and to do the hard stop, let the car sit etc.

When I began getting this vibration, I went to the dealer who said that I needed brake pads (no rotor issues) which were apparently better than what came with the car. At the same time, the service person is telling about how "delicate" the brakes are. He tells me not to brake hard, not to sit in stop and start traffic etc....all of these things will cause issues. Ok, I live in Dallas, so it's not like I can avoid sitting in traffic nor avoid idiots who turn in front of me which means I have to slam on the brakes. This is absolutely absurd!
So, I pay for a brake job and less than 2 months later the vibration is back. I took it for a second opinion and watched as they checked the rotors which are indeed warped. I go back to the dealership and he askes me about my driving etc. and says "oh, so the brakes did get hot." Really, yes! It's summer in Dallas and I drove my car so yes, i'm sure the brakes got hot. I tell him about the rotors etc. blah blah blah. He tells me he can't get me in for 3 weeks. He also said that some Stinger owners are choosing to upgrade their rotors which is $1000 +. It's just hard to believe that I should have to pay that kind of money for brakes for a new car. He's also sounding like the stock replacement rotors won't be covered under warranty.
As much as I love this car, i'm seriously considering getting rid of it. I don't know if I should get rid of it or suck up the $1000 to upgrade and hopefully enjoy the car longer with no more issues. I'm open to suggestions.
Thanks for letting me vent!

So if you love the car I do have the solution, as I was in your situation, and the hot brakes do make sense from what I'm finding. And the problem is indeed the rotors.... but let me explain before the pithforks come out.

I am finding it is actually an issue with the design of the car itself. Why? Air. There is not enough air getting to the rotors and brakes. I live in California, we get the same summers you do and I noticed as well my brakes/rotors get super hot on regular driving in the summer time. Now where does this come into play in with the rotors you ask? No there not warped, they just can't clean themselves and the brake deposits collect, solidify causing an uneven surface, and shudder here we come.

I have tried 3 different types of brakes (stock, low dust ceramics and a non kia reccomended brand) every time the dust accumulates on the rotors within 2k miles and the shudders return

I can fix it by re-bedding the brakes by a 3 set of getting to 80 and stomping on em till it basically cleans the rotor. 1-2k miles later, here we go again. All this explanation leads to this, you minimally need to replace the rotors with slotted rotors so they shed the dust, the stock ones just won't do it because of the defect of the car.

This is my suspicion after countless trial and error, and with haggling with Kia. There service manager himself stated that they can replace the brakes and rotors however the problem will persist. His reccomendation was an outside shop that will put on slotted/drilled rotors. I have been on my slotted and drilled rotors now for 3k miles, smoothe as butter, and still in the Cali summer. I didn't go with his shop reccomendation but got the r1 slotted and drilled rotors and replaced them myself, wasn't all that hard to do with a YouTube video. It's a beautiful car, don't ditch her for this ez fix. But don't believe people when they say the rotors are fine, there not.

 

[Sting18]

Yes, I know there have been a zillion posts on this and I have also read the post about this not being rotor related and to do the hard stop, let the car sit etc.

When I began getting this vibration, I went to the dealer who said that I needed brake pads (no rotor issues) which were apparently better than what came with the car. At the same time, the service person is telling about how "delicate" the brakes are. He tells me not to brake hard, not to sit in stop and start traffic etc....all of these things will cause issues. Ok, I live in Dallas, so it's not like I can avoid sitting in traffic nor avoid idiots who turn in front of me which means I have to slam on the brakes. This is absolutely absurd!
So, I pay for a brake job and less than 2 months later the vibration is back. I took it for a second opinion and watched as they checked the rotors which are indeed warped. I go back to the dealership and he askes me about my driving etc. and says "oh, so the brakes did get hot." Really, yes! It's summer in Dallas and I drove my car so yes, i'm sure the brakes got hot. I tell him about the rotors etc. blah blah blah. He tells me he can't get me in for 3 weeks. He also said that some Stinger owners are choosing to upgrade their rotors which is $1000 +. It's just hard to believe that I should have to pay that kind of money for brakes for a new car. He's also sounding like the stock replacement rotors won't be covered under warranty.
As much as I love this car, i'm seriously considering getting rid of it. I don't know if I should get rid of it or suck up the $1000 to upgrade and hopefully enjoy the car longer with no more issues. I'm open to suggestions.
Thanks for letting me vent!

I have 2018 GT and i live in San Antonio. . After 10k miles I decided driving it hard. It's when I experienced the pulsating brakes. First went to Kia thinking the rotors are warped. They're fine. So I put on steel braided lines. Not really any difference. I bought dimpled and slotted rotors just for the front . A little better feel but the back should of been done too but I didn't have the money at the time. I heard about these forums and ppl were saying change the pads. I did that but didn't help much. I was about to get the rear rotors replaced and Brake Performance was offering a 60% discount on rotors. So I bought the drilled and slotted for about $400. I just installed them last week. Broke them in correctly. Today I was running 100 and braking hard to 30 several times and absolutely no more pulsating!!! Got them so hot i could smell the pads. So the dimple and slot rotors might have resulted the same but if your trying to get rid of the pulsating do the brake lines and all 4 rotors and maybe the bevel cut pads will help too. I got my lines from Khartunerz. I was about to sell it too but figured let me try this one last thing .

 

[Thomby]

I bought dimpled and slotted rotors just for the front . A little better feel but the back should of been done too but I didn't have the money at the time. I heard about these forums and ppl were saying change the pads. I did that but didn't help much.

I'm going to post what I did on the other thread for any others that find this:
- If you replace stock rotors that have deposits on them, the problem will temporarily go away, until the stock pads re-deposit
- If you replace stock pads with aftermarkets, you won't create new deposits but may still feel the old ones

So the sensible approach to minimize cost & work should be, in my opinion:
- Brake aggressively a few times with stock pads to clear off whatever deposits you can
- Change to aftermarket pads that don't create new deposits
- Brake aggressively a few times with new pads (ie the bedding process) to clear off whatever's left

Only then if deposits remain would I escalate to turning or replacing the stock rotors.

 

[Buzzman12]

So the sensible approach to minimize cost & work should be, in my opinion:
- Brake aggressively a few times with stock pads to clear off whatever deposits you can
- Change to aftermarket pads that don't create new deposits
- Brake aggressively a few times with new pads (ie the bedding process) to clear off whatever's left

Only then if deposits remain would I escalate to turning or replacing the stock rotors.

Just did this last month on my 2023. Canada GT Elite.
I only have 3,000 Kms on it (about 1,800 miles).
Installed EBC red stuff pads, front and rear.
I didn't have any pulsating brakes prior to doing this, but I decided to be pro active about it.
Everything seems fine so far. Only observation is that the EBC pads have more grip. This thing stops on a dime with very little effort.