Nissan brakes grabbing

Joined
Feb 17, 2007
Messages
3,998
Location
Clermont, Florida
This is about my 2018 Nissan Rogue, 4 cylinder, CVT, 4 wheel ABS, it has 45,000 miles on it now. It has a problem that just started a few days ago, when I put on the brakes, it slows down like normal but when I get to about 10 to 15 mph and am nearly stopped it feels like the brakes grab and the braking motion is not smooth and easy like it normally should be. There is no abnormal noise that I can hear, there is no pulsation or vibration in the pedal, and no shaking or vibration in the steering wheel. The car tracks in a straight line when braking and does not pull to one side or the other. The wheels do not feel abnormally hot and I have not smelled any "hot brakes" after driving. It's not like it tries to stand me on my head but it definitely feels like I just stomped on the brake pretty hard, but it only happens when the car is slowing down almost to a stop.

I bought the car in January last year, it had 41,000 miles on it. When I bought it I had the Nissan dealer do a brake fluid flush, put on a set of new OEM Nissan pads on the front and turn the front rotors. The rear brakes were OK then and as far as I know are still OK now. This grabbing problem definitely is coming from the front brakes.

Any idea what might cause this kind of problem? I did search here and on Google but did not find much info other than just a few posts saying this might be warped rotors or possibly the caliper slide pins need to be cleaned and lubed. I have no way to know if the Nissan dealer did anything with the caliper pins. If they did, it's not on the invoice. I know anything is possible but I have a hard time believing rotors can warp that bad in only 4,000 miles. Please correct me if I am wrong on that. I work at home and don't drive a lot.

I plan on pulling the calipers and pads to get a good look at the brakes on all 4 wheels this weekend. Whether they look bad or not I will clean and grease all of the slide pins but would still very much appreciate any help here. Thanks.
 
There's some serious problems on some of those cars where it sets off the collision warning and hard brakes. Watch vids on Youtube.

I have a BMW X1 which had very grabby brakes, and system that uses rear ABS as a E-diff. Therefore, the rears brakes and tires wear faster than the fronts. I liked the feel on the track, but for general driving no. Also, the OEM brakes were very grabby, and my spastic foot jerks the car.

I solved the brake, tire wear trouble, and jerk just by putting Akebono Ultra Euro ceramic pads on.

Now I push brake and can feel it touching rotor but not much slowing. Just some pressure and it's very easy to modulate the smooth stop I want.

So many brake pads have so many different feels, but if it's jerk go ceramic. It's low dust, cheap, and long lasting. Look pads up on Rockauto.
 
The 2015 Altima in my signature has always done this especially when the brakes are working perfectly, as when the car was new and after my first full brake replacement after I had cleaned & lubed everything. I wouldn't consider mine severe and IDK if you do.

But what I did notice was, after a few years that(what you describe) had gone away. So I found to have slightly stuck rear pads. I cleaned & lubed the rears and that again(what you describe) had returned. I like it myself.

Mine feel as though it is coming from the rear(that bit of extra stopping power) just before coming to a complete stop. But I could be mistaken. It could be coming from the front as you say but it doesn't feel like the front in my car.

It has never caused an issue even in our harsh winters on the slickest roads. It may have something to do with Nissan's torque vectoring(if you will) rear braking. Which is supposed to aid in turns where the rear inside brake is applied(slightly) in corners to help the car get around in turns.

And it has me curious as to whether this also aides(and we didn't know it) in straight line stopping? Mine feels like this is happening at around 10 mph to a full stop. And the higher the speed that I am slowing down from, the more aggressive(sort of) it is. Though I shouldn't really call it "aggressive".

My car always stops nice & straight and in almost six years of ownership, my wife hasn't mentioned anything being wrong with the brakes. 🙂

I'm not sure that I explained this correctly but I hope this helps.
 
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Measure the rotor thickness and runout

Grabbing at slower speeds will grow to pulsating at all speeds.

I would inspect all suspension components to rule out a tierod, control arm/bushing, balljoint, and out or round/balance tires.....

If suspension is good, I would replace rotors and pads. Use quality pads. Clean hubs prior to installing new rotors using a hub cleaning tool.

Rockauto has EHT, ASP, Z26, and OEX brake pads. Flip a coin. And, get some new pins/boots while you're there.
For rotors, consider Bosch Quietcast or equivalent solid rotor with some type of rustproof coating(Wagner, Raybestos, Brembo).

Make sure you use a rubber safe silicone or pag brake grease.
 
My BMW also downshifts at low speed which can feel like some more braking.

Using ceramic pads is still a very good way to ease off the heavy handed traction system lots of new cars have.
 
Unless you saw the box the OEM pads came in, then you can only say you asked for OEM pads to be installed. I've been at dealers parts counters in our area and while it isn't routine, its not shocking to see parts store boxes sitting on the counter.

If the collision avoidance system is ruled out, my vote goes to Akebono ACT ceramic pads. They made a big difference one of my grabby cars. They are pretty reasonably priced on Rockauto.
 
Rear brakes on later model Nissans wear incredibly fast in the rust belt where I'm from, but this shouldn't be an issue in FL. The low mileage you've put on the car might contribute to some brake corrosion? This would normally result in noise and vibs though. Not necessarily what you describe.

FWIW, the rears were metal on metal on my inlaws 2019 Rogue SL two months ago with 18K miles on it. I changed rear pads and rotors on our 2019 Pathfinder at about 34K miles they were so worn.
 
Unless you saw the box the OEM pads came in, then you can only say you asked for OEM pads to be installed. I've been at dealers parts counters in our area and while it isn't routine, its not shocking to see parts store boxes sitting on the counter.

If the collision avoidance system is ruled out, my vote goes to Akebono ACT ceramic pads. They made a big difference one of my grabby cars. They are pretty reasonably priced on Rockauto.
Lot of Nissan dealers around here are using the Nissan value advantage pads due to cost.
 
EBD with properly sized rear brake pistons will indeed cause more rear brake pad wear for people that feather their brakes. But the flip side is that maximum brake effort increases significantly, especially in the wet or on eco tyres.
 
I should be ashamed of myself. Just yesterday when I drove to a doctor appointment the TPMS warning lights came on, said the right rear tire was low, at 27 psi. It said the other 3 were at 28 psi and the brakes did feel like they were grabbing a little when I slowed down to finally stop. I have a small HF air compressor here at home and usually do keep a close eye on the tire pressure but lately have not checked it as often. We have had some colder than normal weather here too which might have had something to do with it. I added air to my tires and Mrs. Jimmy's tires too, brought all of them up to 35 psi and took a long test drive, the brake problem is gone now. With correct air pressure in the tires the car brakes smooth like it always has. I need to get back to keeping a close eye on the psi.

Incidentally I checked the invoice from the dealer for the brake job they did, they used Nissan brake kit part number DA06M-PN00PNW. A quick Google search shows this is the "Genuine Nissan Value Advantage Front Brake Pad Kit". I don't have to do it right now but I may need to change rotors and pads some time in the future. I will also still clean and lube all of the caliper slide pins this weekend while I am changing oil and rotating the tires.

Thanks for all your help on this.
 
Very good and thanks for your response & update.

Mine still acts like what you described and I Have the correct PSI in the tires and everything is working perfectly.
As someone mentioned, this could be that extra slowing down coming from my transmission, where as to me, it feels like my rear brakes being applied with some extra bite.

But either way, it feels normal and I like it and my wife nor anyone else who has driven the car has mentioned this as being an issue.

Your's seems to have been a bit more severe and I'm glad you've figured it out.
 
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