After changing my rear brake pads on my 1990 LS400 I mentioned to the
mechanic that when I depress the break pedal, I feel a noticeable
pulsing. He claims that this sounds like I need new front brake
calipers (brake pads are okay). Make sense or is this just another
grab?

What's the best source of these calipers (barring the dealer, of
course). How much should a front break pad caliper job cost?

"carygee" <carygee (AT) ix (DOT) netcom.com> wrote

Not the calipers but the disks (rotors) are the likely cause.

MrCheerful

Worn and/or warped rotors are the typical cause of brake pulsating.

Sometimes you can get away without, but typically you should resurface your
rotors when doing a pad replacement. If this wasn't done, I would suspect
that your rear rotors need resurfacing or replacement. If it was done, then
it could be a faulty job. If the trouble started when doing something at
the rear, I'd be skeptical that coincidentally you just developed a problem
in the front.

Calipers seldom need replacement and the typical symptom is a fluid leak,
not pulsating. When they do need replacement, they're big bucks.

- Mark

The front brakes and rotors were replaced at the same time. The rear brake
pads a year later

It was while changing the front left tire, that the mechanic noted a black
streak on the 1-year old rotor and asked whether I was getting a pulsing
sensation when I braked. Frankly, I replied I did (this was before he
replaced the rear brake pads).

It seems the black streak on the rotor triggered his remarks.

"markjen" <mark.jennings4 (AT) comcast (DOT) net> wrote