# soft brakes



## smorey78 (Apr 8, 2012)

hi everyone...new to cruzetalk. bought a new 2012 1LT. The brakes on the Cruze seem to be a lot softer than what i am use to. I traded in an 09 cobalt on the cruze and the brakes seem much harder on the cobalt than the cruze. some of the reviews of the cruze call out that the brakes are not that good...that they are alil soft. One review said that they were smoking on there test. Anyone else have this happening and is there any up grading that can be done yet! This could just be me but i drive 20 to 30 different car a day and the cruzes brakes just seem a lil off to me!


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## GoldenCruze (Dec 18, 2011)

No trouble with brakes. I have a 2LT that comes with 4 wheel disk. Almost no pedal travel at all before the brakes engage. And they remain firm.


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## leeclark (Mar 25, 2012)

I have the 1LT also and yeah they seem a little soft. The 1LT has drums in the back and I think that might be why they feel soft to me. I'm used to 4 wheel disk brakes.


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## smorey78 (Apr 8, 2012)

i thought the same thing and i maybe just have to see if they are not adjusted right. did notice that the had brake pulls a lot more that 7 clicks till it holds the car!


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Is the car still new? Did the brakes(including the master cylinder) have time to seat and adjust properly? Straight from the factory, the brakes will be usable but certainly not adjusted or seated yet. Anytime after you change a set of brakes, you are told to "let the brakes seat" and wear to the rotor or drum they are with. Even though what I described is is when changing brakes, I don't see that being any different than a new car. As far as the Hand brake, mine tends to have days wear the it will pull farther or shorter. Probably depends on brake fluid temp or in my case drum adjustment. 

I would not worry about it. As long as the brakes work they will improve with mileage as they adjust. 



smorey78 said:


> i thought the same thing and i maybe just have to see if they are not adjusted right. did notice that the had brake pulls a lot more that 7 clicks till it holds the car!


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## TechCruzer (Mar 15, 2012)

Interesting... My 2012 ECO feels the same as described by smorey78. I thought it was just me since I came from driving an 09' Isuzu Trooper all disc, and thinking it was the rear drum brakes I needed to get used to. Although I really need to get better a applying them sooner than later. I tend to apply them harder since it feels too soft & end up jerking the car when I do.


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## Beaker (Mar 21, 2012)

I felt this way and posted about it after I got my Cruze. Close 1000 miles now and they've firmed up. Just part of them being new brakes I guess.


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## smorey78 (Apr 8, 2012)

Patman...yes the car is new (516 miles) and no nothing realy has had time to seat. Just something i noticed right out of the box.
Techcruzer...i am doing the same thing. hitting the brakes later and harder...

.


Patman said:


> Is the car still new? Did the brakes(including the master cylinder) have time to seat and adjust properly? Straight from the factory, the brakes will be usable but certainly not adjusted or seated yet. Anytime after you change a set of brakes, you are told to "let the brakes seat" and wear to the rotor or drum they are with. Even though what I described is is when changing brakes, I don't see that being any different than a new car. As far as the Hand brake, mine tends to have days wear the it will pull farther or shorter. Probably depends on brake fluid temp or in my case drum adjustment.
> 
> I would not worry about it. As long as the brakes work they will improve with mileage as they adjust.


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## TechCruzer (Mar 15, 2012)

smorey78 said:


> Patman...yes the car is new (516 miles) and no nothing realy has had time to seat. Just something i noticed right out of the box.
> Techcruzer...i am doing the same thing. hitting the brakes later and harder...
> 
> .


I have exactly 2984 miles (7 off the lot) on my ECO & she's only about 6 weeks old... yea I drive a lot. Anyway, we drove to Houston & back yesterday & a couple of times my wife's says "hey, what was that for?!" so if that doesn't confirm what I am doing. I have to take it in for another look at the "squeech" yes spelling is correct... that is what I call it when coming to a complete stop from about 20MPH to see why it's returned after I took it in once before. I'll mention the brakes & that I've talked to another owner with similar concerns.


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## smorey78 (Apr 8, 2012)

i know what ur talking about...i only here it when the windows are down. to me it sounded like the left front caliper shim was in need of some grease. so i had my wife hit the brake peddle and at idle with the hood up i here like some kind of lil motor running....i have no idea what it is??


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## smorey78 (Apr 8, 2012)

on another note...i put the cruze on the lift and pulled the rear wheels to see what the drum brakes were adjusted to...zero is what i found...adjusted them out about 15 to 18 clicks and now the brakes feel about 70% better!


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## Dale_K (Jul 16, 2011)

smorey78 said:


> on another note...i put the cruze on the lift and pulled the rear wheels to see what the drum brakes were adjusted to...zero is what i found...adjusted them out about 15 to 18 clicks and now the brakes feel about 70% better!


I'm interested in your solution. Did you have to pull the brake drum to make the adjustment? There was another thread a while back where the poster said that's how he manually adjusted his brakes. He had some pictures and it looked like the adjuster wheel was at the top of the drum and the rubber inspection plug was at the bottom. I couldn't figure out how he could make the adjustment without making it impossible to get the drum back on.


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## ChevyCruzeLTZ (Apr 7, 2011)

smorey78 said:


> on another note...i put the cruze on the lift and pulled the rear wheels to see what the drum brakes were adjusted to...zero is what i found...adjusted them out about 15 to 18 clicks and now the brakes feel about 70% better!



That should fix it, the brakes should be seated well before 500 miles but drum brakes require frequent adjustment to keep them operating at their best and they are quite often on the loose side from the factory.


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## smorey78 (Apr 8, 2012)

yes adjuster wheel is at the top and need to remove the drum. the adjuster was all the way in. i have seen this with new ford trucks and vans. if they have rear drums they are not adjusted and when you doubble pump the brakes fast when stopping the pedel feels much better. thats the first sign that they need to be adjusted. i found a .204" gap between the drum and highest point of the shoes. so i justed adjusted out about 16 clicks or so and closed the gap to about .040" to .050" and they feel much better now and there is very little drag if any. some people dont like to adjust them out that far! rule of thumb is that the wheel (once drum brake has been adjusted) should spin freely for about 2 to 3revolutions!


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

TechCruzer said:


> I have exactly 2984 miles (7 off the lot) on my ECO & she's only about 6 weeks old... yea I drive a lot. Anyway, we drove to Houston & back yesterday & a couple of times my wife's says "hey, what was that for?!" so if that doesn't confirm what I am doing. I have to take it in for another look at the "squeech" yes spelling is correct... that is what I call it when coming to a complete stop from about 20MPH to see why it's returned after I took it in once before. I'll mention the brakes & that I've talked to another owner with similar concerns.




TechCruzer,
I would like you to keep me posted on the outcome of your visit to the dealership. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## TechCruzer (Mar 15, 2012)

Thanks for all of the tips smorey78 & your time to take a look at the issue... I don't do my own auto work so hopefully the dealership will take my concern about the brakes "softness" will be addressed & not discounted as it is what it is. I'll keep the forum posted on my progress & you too Stacy.


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## smorey78 (Apr 8, 2012)

No problem glad i could help


TechCruzer said:


> Thanks for all of the tips smorey78 & your time to take a look at the issue... I don't do my own auto work so hopefully the dealership will take my concern about the brakes "softness" will be addressed & not discounted as it is what it is. I'll keep the forum posted on my progress & you too Stacy.


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## scha7530 (Apr 15, 2012)

smorey78 said:


> i know what ur talking about...i only here it when the windows are down. to me it sounded like the left front caliper shim was in need of some grease. so i had my wife hit the brake peddle and at idle with the hood up i here like some kind of lil motor running....i have no idea what it is??


That noise is the vacuum pump...which is this thing (grey object) :








These cars have them to help with the vacuum brake booster since the 1.4 turbo doesn't make a lot of vacuum at cold starts and obviously, when there is boost. 

If your drum brakes feel loose (spongy pedal), just find an open parking lot, back up at 15-20 mph and stand on the brakes. Repeat a few times and it should feel a lot better very quickly.


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## TechCruzer (Mar 15, 2012)

I finally had a chance to take my ECO in for another look at the brakes noise, however the noise is not why I took it in... that is becuase it finally stopped happening. I took it in because after 3500 miles the brakes still didn't feel right to me. So I took it in to have them "looked into". After about two hours the verdict was nothing was wrong & that the brakes were functioning to factory specs and no "adjustment" was needed, neccessary or could be done. I said ok... took my keys & went to work. Wow, was I surprised that the brakes actually were at least 75% better... I mean no more late stops, nosediving, paranioa, or deliberate pumping. I could also hear what I don't recall hearing before was the slight hydraulic sound when you press the brakes to move out of park, etc. Despite not having "anything wrong" by the service dept. I am very pleased at the results of them not doing anything "special" during this visit. :eusa_clap:


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

TechCruzer said:


> I finally had a chance to take my ECO in for another look at the brakes noise, however the noise is not why I took it in... that is becuase it finally stopped happening. I took it in because after 3500 miles the brakes still didn't feel right to me. So I took it in to have them "looked into". After about two hours the verdict was nothing was wrong & that the brakes were functioning to factory specs and no "adjustment" was needed, neccessary or could be done. I said ok... took my keys & went to work. Wow, was I surprised that the brakes actually were at least 75% better... I mean no more late stops, nosediving, paranioa, or deliberate pumping. I could also hear what I don't recall hearing before was the slight hydraulic sound when you press the brakes to move out of park, etc. Despite not having "anything wrong" by the service dept. I am very pleased at the results of them not doing anything "special" during this visit. :eusa_clap:


Sometimes you actually have to talk to the service technician and not the service advisor to get the full story.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

TechCruzer said:


> I finally had a chance to take my ECO in for another look at the brakes noise, however the noise is not why I took it in... that is becuase it finally stopped happening. I took it in because after 3500 miles the brakes still didn't feel right to me. So I took it in to have them "looked into". After about two hours the verdict was nothing was wrong & that the brakes were functioning to factory specs and no "adjustment" was needed, neccessary or could be done. I said ok... took my keys & went to work. Wow, was I surprised that the brakes actually were at least 75% better... I mean no more late stops, nosediving, paranioa, or deliberate pumping. I could also hear what I don't recall hearing before was the slight hydraulic sound when you press the brakes to move out of park, etc. Despite not having "anything wrong" by the service dept. I am very pleased at the results of them not doing anything "special" during this visit. :eusa_clap:



TechCruzer,
I am glad to see that this issue is no longer a concern. If you notice this issue again I would like you to contact me. If you have any other questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## TechCruzer (Mar 15, 2012)

Chevy Customer Service said:


> TechCruzer,
> I am glad to see that this issue is no longer a concern. If you notice this issue again I would like you to contact me. If you have any other questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me.
> Thank you,
> Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


Stacy... thanks & will do.


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## Betterfixit (May 7, 2013)

I too have the soft brake problem on a brand new 2013 Cruze. I had test driven a new Cruze from a Chevy dealer close to home but the price was lower from the Chevy dealer close to work, so I had one delivered to my jobsite. When I drove it for the first time on the way home I noticed the pedal travels nearly to the floor board to stop this brand new car! Unacceptable! car going back to dealer. It was made in April 2013.


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## mattjt21 (Jul 12, 2013)

Betterfixit said:


> I too have the soft brake problem on a brand new 2013 Cruze. I had test driven a new Cruze from a Chevy dealer close to home but the price was lower from the Chevy dealer close to work, so I had one delivered to my jobsite. When I drove it for the first time on the way home I noticed the pedal travels nearly to the floor board to stop this brand new car! Unacceptable! car going back to dealer. It was made in April 2013.


I am having a similar issue on the car. Thinking about calling the dealer to have them adjust them. Assuming they will cover it. Otherwise I will just do it myself.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

I thought spongy brakes was common on all rear drum GM cars? When I drive anything else the first time I use the brakes I almost put everyone through the windshield. I Should have bought a 2LT/LTZ with rear discs, guess there is another reason to buy a diesel. 

Yes adjusting the rear brakes will make the pedal a bit higher, but will still be spongy with fade because of the drums.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Hi mattj21

Please feel free to keep me posted on the outcome of your visit to the dealership. If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to contact me.


Jackie
Chevrolet Customer Care


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