First off I still plan on posting compression numbers. I just got very discouraged after I drove the car the other day. I'm gonna do a prop valve test from several quick stops from 35mph and measure the heat of the rotors all the way around. I was told that if the fronts are way hot and the rears are barely warm that this means a bad prop valve. Lucky for me my sister has a LASER THERMOMETER !!!!! WWWHOOOOAAAAA !!!! DON'T ASK ! LOL!
Clint - Before reading the rest keep this in mind: I didn't know about brakes a long time ago and the car probably went almost 100k without a brake fluid line flush and also the brakes were used on at least 2-3 occasions while submerged in flood waters during that 100k no-flush time.
Symptoms:
1. Extreme (half as much as normal) insufficient braking power.
2. Pads scrape rotors despite free turning wheels when jacked up.
3. Car pulls hard left (but this changes at times to soft left or even right)
ALL brake system components replaced except the prop valve and brake pedal itself. Slider bolts freshly greased to proper grease amount per caliper. MC rebuilt. Replaced booster. All 4 calipers BRAND NEW. Lines bled in correct order with car on several times. New SS lines. No leaks. NO ABS.
I used to have consistent slanted wear on my rears with every pad used. As of late though I think I've identified it as a factory defect. If you use a small ruler and measure the length of the slider bolt boots in the rears the length of the top most boot is 1 hash mark on the ruler longer than the length of the boot on the bottom. If the sliders are uneven (which it appears to be due to the thickness of the rubber boot at top slider bolt) this to me would cause the rears to over time slant with the thinnest part of the pad being at the bottom of the caliper and thickest part of the pad at top. This 1 piston design in my NA is also to blame as I believe this problem would be solved with 2 pistons for the rear. This is just a theory, but I think its a good one because I was not satisfied with my front calipers till the distances between the caliper and caliper bracket along the slider bolts was equal. This cannot be attained on the rears that I have cause when the slider bolts crunch together the top most one keeps it from going all the watch to equal the length of the bottom most one.
Nihil - The engine is idling just right FINALLY which is a HUGE accomplishment as it hasn't run this smooth in at least 3-4 years (solved vac leak). Seems to be running well, but I am not entirely sure of "HP" on acceleration because I think some of the brakes are slightly engaged without pushing the pedal. If that isn't the case then the power is NOT right as far as I'm concerned. My mom's maxima has better pickup, but I must ensure this brake problem is solved to be sure.
I didn't use gobs of RTV. lol - Just used enough to form a seal at the slider bolt boots edges and all 8 slider bolts are extremely well lubed not too much or too little and the calipers move freely by hand as they should.
Threads I've been working in:
Proportioning valve: symptoms of being bad - Most of your answers about the brakes are in this thread.
Slider bolt problems
Compression Testing Correctly and Cold vs Warm engine