Hey everyone!

Took car for a spirited drive earlier today and i noticed that my brakes became really spongy especially under heavy braking. The brake pads were all replaced in the last 5000 miles and I have hawk HPS in the front (these were actually shooting a couple sparks once the brake pedal built up full pressure) Now its not like its not to the point where its unsafe, but the first 25 percent of the brake pedal doesnt really do much. I have 125k on the car so do I need to bleed the brakes and replace the fluid?

thanks for the help!

 

Seen this several times with Hawk pads, most likely glazed. You can try to clean them off but it will most likely come back.

 

Thanks Way!

So i actually had these things installed about 4 weeks ago and today my service light lit up for the brakes... I cant believe that these are so unreliable! Im buying from you next time that's for sure!

 

how old is your brake fluid ?
if its older then 2 years, it might be time to change it

 

Fluid change + bleed would be in order if not recently done.

Search archives from a month or two back on Hawks. From watching that whole thread play out, Hawk is forever off my pad possibles list. Too much hassle was what I concluded from that thread for what should be a no-brainer element used on literally tens of millions of cars.

 

thanks for all the responses guys!

Im changing the brake fluid this weekend, but the strange thing is they didnt feel soft at all until the hawk pads came on, and then a couple days the brake cel came on... i assume theres no sensor for the brake fluid though so could I already have worn through the pads in a matter of 3 weeks? Seems a tad outrageous..

 

Don't know about Mini's, but my 2006 Audi does have a fluid sensor for the level.

3 weeks on pad life isn't even in the universe of believable unless tracked a huge amount. Do Mini's have a rear wear sensor too by chance?--I haven't been back there to give it a good look. Otherwise, I would be guessing something has flaked out with your front sensor, or you are getting an overlapping warning for something else like the fluid. See what the owner's manual says about the various conditions that trigger the warning light.

You might want to find that prior post on Hawks. It wasn't pretty on balance. In my case, having lived with a squeal condition on a set of Audi brakes where I used supposedly quality parts (as in, I paid good money for them; not Hawk to be clear), after literally about 5 times of pulling the pads out, more squeal compound, more bedding, etc., I finally just dumped it all again way before the brakes were worn out and went to mainstream EBC rotors and pads (as in close to OEM). And, problem solved finally and no more apologies or "oh by the way" "instructions" needed for other drivers of the vehicle. In retrospect, I should have pulled the plug earlier given I have done a lot of brakes over many cars, and have a sense when something just isn't right in a given fitment. From the other post and various drivers with actual experience with the product, I have a similar (second hand) sense you may be swimming upstream with something inherent to the Hawk pads/compound from those posted experiences.

 

GEN1 has two sensors, lft front and right rear....and there is a fluid level sensor too.

 

Just flushed the brake fluid about 4 times because me and my fellow incompetent college friends really dont have any mechanical experience. It feels a million times better. just to be sure the brake pedal doesnt feel at full pressure until about 30 percent of the way pushed in ... is this correct? Thanks for all the help I really appreciate it!