Problem with brake

[Tubbyc]

my 2001 camry has about 110,000km (70,000)miles on it. The brake rotors have been resurfaced for a couple of times. My brake seems soft, almost too soft in my opinion (even when I have my brake pad replaced, it feels better for about a week, then the brake seems to fade). from time to time, when I brake (normal braking on a dry road surface), I can hear weird noise coming out from the brake rotor (not the squeaky type of noise), feel the vibration from the brake pedal (not quite similar to the ABS feeling), as if the brake pad can not held onto the rotor, and whenever it happens, it takes longer to stop. What can have gone wrong? my brake pad is at 70% thickness, and maintenance service deemed my brake system to be okay. Since it does not happen all the time, the shop can not do much about it until they can experience it.

[Mike Gerber]

Are you trying to describe a brake "pulsation"? Do you feel this pulsation more when you are stopping from highway speeds? If so, one or both of your rotors are probably warped again. If that is the case and given the fact that your rotors have been cut a couple of times, it's probably best to just replace them with new ones. As they are cut (resurfaced) they get thinner each time. The thinner the rotor get's, the less able it is to withstand the heat of braking and the faster they warp again.

Mike

[Frodo65]

How's the bearing run-out on the wheel? Excessive bearing run-out can cause the rotor to 'wobble' and result in a 'soft' pedal; sinking, actually.