sorry ..can't resist..
I treat my brake pads , on the friction face, with Jack Daniels whiskey.
Works great !

really though,
I have never put anything, like Don says, on the rotor or on the friction
face of the pad ..
though I have no doubt such a thing exists.

Are  we still playing with the same set of new pads here ?
if it's not working well..
I would consider trying some low-metallic or semi-metallic pads.

still wondering if it's the early two piston design,
or the later with one larger piston and sliding caliper. ....?

the brake hoses aren't restricting flow are they ? .
very rare...but consider everything.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hanson" <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 6:26 PM
Subject: Re: Brake Fade

>  Brake rotor "paint"?  To stop brake squeal?  Coat the friction surface of
> brake pads with something, to stop brake squeal?  I dunno about doing
> that.
> I don't think that is good.  Brakes are made to work as they come from the
> manufacturer.  Any magic Goo you put on them, especially where the
> friction
> is 'supposed' to take place....that has to interfere with the stopping
> power....They were designed to have maximum power---pad against rotor.
> Period!
>   Maybe that aftermarket stuff you are putting between the pad and the
> rotor....that stuff is what is causing your brakes to not stop you very
> well, to heat up.  Who knows what that stuff is?  Why does that service
> tech
> "know" better than the original engineers who were responsible for making
> the best brake components possible?
>  You've said your brakes looked a little 'glazed' again....No wonder, you
> put 'stuff' on the braking surface, and that stuff got ground and baked
> right into the pads...
>  I never ever let anything touch either the pad surface or the rotors when
> I am doing a brake pad replacement or a rotor replacement....and I did
> them
> almost weekly on my 6-piston Brembo Big Red Porsche racecar brakes....The
> only thing that ever got on the surfaces that were supposed to supply the
> friction was brake part cleaner.....and then only if I'd made a mistake
> and
> then I never really trusted that set of pads.....Clean!  Clean!
>  The anti-squeal treatments I have seen are usually mechanical...some type
> of dampner device that is clipped or clamped to the back side of the pads
> to
> dampen vibrations and harmonics.
>  Geeze, on a vehicle with marginally adequate stopping power (if
> everything
> is just perfect) putting some solution between the pad and the
> rotors...that
> may just remove the "margin" and make the brakes...not quite adequate.
>  Not for me...I'd rather have squealing brakes than maybe run long at a
> stop sign, rolling into a busy intersection at the bottom of a long grade
> or
> something..
>  Don Hanson
> On
>
>> Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 3:20 PM
>> Subject: Re: Brake Fade
>>
>>
>>  Pistons and pins moving smoothly.
>>>
>>> video of wheel cylinder "pullback" syndrome.
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?**v=mQrTuwBdXxs&feature=related<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQrTuwBdXxs&feature=related>
>>>
>>> Edward
>>>
>>> At 05:45 PM 9/11/2011, Scott Daniel  - Turbovans wrote:
>>>
>>>> sounds like progress.
>>>> I always put 'disc brake quiet' on the back of the pads myself.
>>>>
>>>> I wouldn't go by appearance so much as how they feel and work..the
>>>> front discs and pads.
>>>>
>>>> did you check for smooth movement of front caliper pistons..
>>>> and guide pins if it's the later style ?
>>>>
>>>> I don't think you over did it especially ..
>>>> some hot brake smell by itself is not a big deal.
>>>>
>>>> wheel cylinder 'pulling back'  ?
>>>>
>>>> perhaps 'weak'  ?
>>>>
>>>