Front brakes producing shower of sparks. Help!

[tiggerbren]

I had just exited the interstate this evening when a car next to me signaled to roll down my window so she could tell me that sparks were coming from my brakes. It was already dark and after she mentioned it, sure enough, I could see sparks flying up when I pressed on the brakes.

The car has just over 5K miles on it. A few weeks ago the front brakes started squeaking. I guessed the pads were shot since I'd been to the track several times so I ordered a set of Hawk Street Race pads and a liter of fancy Castrol RBF. I installed the brake pads and flushed the fluid last weekend. Turns out the front brake pads had a lot of life left, but I swapped them out anyway. It didn't get rid of the squeak. It added some squeaks if anything. And I'm getting way more brake dust with these pads. Like tons. Is the dust igniting? I've inspected the brakes as well as I could with a flashlight and don't see anything unusual other than caked on brake dust everywhere.

Any advice on this issue would be appreciated. I'm a bit concerned about the sparks. I haven't seen anyone else mention sparks coming from their brakes.....

edit- okay, so I did find people on the web saying race pads spark like the fourth of july. If this is true I'm surprised I haven't seen sparks coming from other sport cars. So maybe I'm seeing my stock rotors being eaten by the Hawk pads?

 

[Quisp]

Advice? Don't drive it until you take a wheel off and do a through inspection.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

I demand a video....

 

[Crooked Letta]

The squeak is only going to get worse with a more aggressive pad. Stock brakes do squeak a bit so that was a normal condition (just nature of the pad). For pads to cause sparks under normal conditions is a bit odd, on track, yes it does happen and rotors glow red. You could of had something stuck in the rotor between the pad but you should of had some more significant indication with noise.

Better question would be the condition in terms of wear on the pads. Even all across? Or the color of the rotors, any discoloration? Did the sparks only happen when the brakes were applied?

 

[Gone in 60]

This happened to me on a commercial truck. It was a freak occurrence, but might warrant a look. I had a beer can kick up and wedge itself in the brake caliper. That was one in a million, but you might have a foreign object between your pad and rotor.

 

[tiggerbren]

The squeak is only going to get worse with a more aggressive pad. Stock brakes do squeak a bit so that was a normal condition (just nature of the pad). For pads to cause sparks under normal conditions is a bit odd, on track, yes it does happen and rotors glow red. You could of had something stuck in the rotor between the pad but you should of had some more significant indication with noise.

Better question would be the condition in terms of wear on the pads. Even all across? Or the color of the rotors, any discoloration? Did the sparks only happen when the brakes were applied?

The squeak actually doesn't bug me. I thought I was hearing the wear indicator on the stock pads (there isn't one) which I why I got new pads. I can deal with the noise and dust but I don't want to be spraying sparks around town. Also, google searching hawk pads and sparks leads me to believe these pads just spray sparks and eat rotors.

I'll inspect the brakes as soon as I can. I'll probably put the stock pads back on and use the hawk pads for track days.

Another note- the brakes were sparking after I had driven quickly across town with lots of heavy braking. They were probably not race hot, but they were hot. This morning I drove to work in the dark and didn't notice the sparks so it might be temp related.

Thanks for the advice everyone. Obviously I have a lot to learn about brakes but I'll get it eventually.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Go pro with a suction mount on the door....

 

[tiggerbren]

Go pro with a suction mount on the door....

I don't trust my current suction mount. Gonna have to go old school with the selfie stick out the window. Or I could pull the drone out...

 

[tiggerbren]

I demand a video....

https://youtu.be/g6psqXQ0I68

Had to use a selfie stick but I managed to get shots of the sparkage. More than I'm comfortable with out here in the dry windy desert.

 

[Brura22]

https://youtu.be/g6psqXQ0I68

Had to use a selfie stick but I managed to get shots of the sparkage. More than I'm comfortable with out here in the dry windy desert.

DEAR LORD WHY ARE YOU STILL DRIVING THAT


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[TyphoonFiST]

That is awesome.......great video man! We must have best video awards on a permalink on fiestaforum. This is first place for 2017.....im calling it. Please....please ....please moderator set an award system up!

 

[tiggerbren]

DEAR LORD WHY ARE YOU STILL DRIVING THAT


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Drove it up and down that street to get some vid but it's parked until the problem gets sorted.

 

[DEss]

Drove it up and down that street to get some vid but it's parked until the problem gets sorted.

I'm no brake pad/rotor expert, but that can't possibly be how they're designed to operate.

 

[tiggerbren]

I'm no brake pad/rotor expert, but that can't possibly be how they're designed to operate.

I'm with you and I don't want to use them even if that's what they're supposed to do. A YouTube search for 'hawk pads sparking' reveals that it's not uncommon for these things to throw lots of sparkage, but it still seems wrong for everyday use.

 

[me32]

DEAR LORD WHY ARE YOU STILL DRIVING THAT


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I agree

 

[me32]

Put some new set of oem pads and rotors