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Purchased the new car sitting exposed on a lot. Do you folks expect rust around the rotors?
whatfuture
Member Posts: 46
in Hyundai
When I returned from a long trip, I checked tire pressure. I happen to notice there's a bit of rust on what appears to be all the rotors on the brakes. Bought the 2013 Elantra Ltd. early Jan. 2014. Had been on the dealer's lot since June 2013.
Is this to be expected? I don't think I've ever looked at the brakes so early.
Thank you much.
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Of course there is going to be rust after the car sits. After you stop a few times, it'll be gone.
Just normal.
Thanks. It's what I thought. With so many negative postings about the vehicle, I just didn't know if this was a real problem or not. You're in Washington, that makes you the expert through all your rain. I've been driving it since Jan. 2. We'll see what happens to the rest of the rust.
Rotors rust... that is a fact. The areas where the brakepads do not touch will rust within a few months of being exposed to the elements.
Here in Vermont, Chloride is used to melt snow/ice, Once the bare-metal of the rotors gets some Chloride on it, the salt will be there FOREVER. Even hot-humid summers will 'activate' the chemical-reaction that causes rust.
Infact, I rarely wear out brake pads or rotors..... Instead, the rotors usually get so RUSTY that they need to be replaced. The pads are simply replaced while I have the rotors removed to replace them.
I can tell you that when I replace rotors, I have learned to pay a little extra for the better ones.(Made in Germany or USA) The cheap rotors (Usually made in Mexico) are REALLY cheap and may not last more than a couple winters.
bpeebles: You gave a super and knowledgeable response. I've had so many cars in my lifetime and used to know quite a bit about them. But, time and the infinite number of cars that exist in today's market took its knowledge toll on me. I remember living in CA and having the rotors ... what ... turned when they were bad because there was sufficient metal in them to be able to do that. I have a couple of places where I'm keeping track of things I need to know about this car and will add your replacement info to it. I will stick to rotors made here or in Germany.
I already know that if the brakes go prematurely, they're under warranty for a while and I'll see what I can do about insisting better rotors are used for the replacement. (I think I'll lose that one because it's with the dealer.) I am going to be a stickler about battery replacement with my local guy. I know the Interstate that comes with the car is junky per Cons. Rpts. and I'm not dong that again.
(whatfuture) A couple follow-up comments on your last append
1) Many 'modern' brake-rotors are hard-surfaced. This means that they should NOT be resurfaced because the grinding process may remove the hard-surfacing.
2) I find it interesting that you have a negative opinion about "Interstate Batteries". The Interstate company is one of the very few that actually manufactures their own batteries. In fact, "Interstate" manufactures batteries for most of the other guys (like Sears, Walmart and most autoparts store brand.)
All "Interstate" does is deal with batteries of all sizes. That is their focus.
Sure, one could purchase a cheep "Interstate" battery and get what you pay for. If you were to visit their website, you would see that they also offer more expensive batteries that are some of the best available.
Additionally, If you were to visit an "Interstate Battery" store, you would see that they offer MANY different kinds of batteries from cal-phone to Power Tool. I often recommend to people that if they are on a low budget or plan on getting rid of their car soon, that they buy one of the refirbished batteries from "Interstate".
I had the battery from my power-drill rebuilt at "Interstate Battery" store and it has been FARR better than the original battery that came with it.
Don't know how definitive the site is, but bestbatterytips.com says Johnson Controls makes batteries for Interstate. Wikipedia says Interstate is a "marketing" company.
Back to rust, my mechanic keeps telling me to drive my Subaru more often in the summer. Mostly it sits and the brakes get rusty.
Yes, Johnson Controls is the parent company for the Interstate Battery stores.
back to rotor-rust - Approximately 2 to 4 times a year, to prolong the life of my rotors I PURPOSEFULLY drive up to a local ski-area and come back down getting the brakes HOT HOT HOT (let the smoke out).... then follow-up with about 20 minutes of driving to allow them to cool.
This procedure is considered part of the bedding-in procedure of pads and seasoning the rotors when new brakes are installed. Do not forget that the surface of the rotors is SUPPOSED to have a thin layer of pad-material on it. This is what provides the very best 'torque' or stopping-power.
This process also tends to remove rust from the rotors if it is not too tenacious.
Dang, I should do that. Except the ski resorts around here have a vertical of around 500 feet and it's flat all the way from my house to the parking lot.
You can still be an Olympic skier. Nick Goepper cut his teeth at Perfect North Slopes in Lawrenceburg, IN. 400 ft vertical drop.
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Cool answers, everyone. I live in the mountains (the base once you get over them). Our tallest mountain is over 6000'. I'll give it a shot in the summer and they will be hot hot hot. I hope they don't burn out out out
! I think we live at 2400'.
bpeebles: Cons. Rpts. rated it very low years ago. I bought one anyway to get away from Sears. Shortly after buying it, it died. Had it towed to my own mechanic who replaced it. I didn't know I needed to return it from whence it came. The battery may have been an accident but what wasn't an accident was Cons. Rpt's review on it. I will look at the website, though, based on what you've said. I did get a bomb and maybe it was just a cheap bomb - I didn't do it on purpose and didn't buy it because of the price.
I know that rotors can no longer be turned. They don't have the metal they used to have.
Many thanks.
The process of "seasoning" the rotors can be accomplished without the benefit of a steep hill.
I chose to use a steep hill to save me from accelerating multiple times.
After many years of trying different ways to prolong my rotors (reducing rust build-up), I have found that repeating the "seasoning" process has worked for me. (couple times a year)
Below, I have pasted some URLs which help explain the procedure.
http://www.bira.org/bedding.html
http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm
Let me tell you, there's nothing more bracing than a slow 6 minute double chair lift ride at minus 7°F, followed by a 60 second run down the hill.
@whatfuture, if you go back to Sears you can get a DieHard. Johnson Controls reportedly makes those too, just like the Interstates. East Penn/Deka may make some of the DieHards. More to the point, the "brands" specific different specs to Johnson Controls. Have to say, the last couple of Walmart batteries I've gotten both lasted 8 years or more (they were so old, they may have actually been made by Exide before they went through a bankruptcy).
Rotors CAN be turned in most cases as long as they are within specs afterwards.
To all of you folks here. In my younger years when cars were simple, I knew a lot about them. In my 20s, I had a guy down the street (lived in CA for a while) turn the rotors on my purchased new 1982 Dodge Challenger (Mitsubishi engine - I looked prior to buying). But again, there was metal to turn. Some years later, I was told newer cars became harder to turn as cutbacks were made. Then at some point, there was no turning, just replacing. Heck, maybe I was lied to. I don't know.
bpeebles: Mountains are easy. I won't go on one with my motorcycle but the Blue Ridge is here built for braking. (Hopefully the old adage is true: Do you want to wear down your brakes or transmission when going down a hill? In snow, I'll toss the car in first but in regular weather it's brake time and there's plenty to be had here. I read both links and printed out the instructions on the 2nd link. Many thanks.
isellhondas, ah crud, if the brakes go within warranty, I'll have to go to the dealer. But at some point, I'll be able to go to my mechanic and will ask him if he can turn them.
Stever: I'm in shock and again, I used to know who owned what but it keeps changing hands. Geesh! I don't want to feel minus 7 degrees on a chairlift. That's why I used to go to the Poconos in the summer to go up a chairlift on a nice day and slide down the mountain on a tray with a brake. It's also why we moved from the north to Western NC except, like everyone else, we are being hit by cold and the white stuff. I'll be back here when I need a battery!
Shops also quit cutting rotors because they were losing money on call backs. Often the new pads would make a lot of noise because the cut rotors wouldn't be properly sanded and fragments would embed in the pads. By the time you do the extra labor for that, it's cheaper just to replace the rotors. Here's a blurb from RockAuto/Federal Mogul about the problem. (pdf file)
This doesn't address the thickness (or lack thereof) issue of the rotors. Rotors are supposedly getting thinner to save weight. Probably boils down to saving some money though.
(Re: "I don't want to feel minus 7 degrees on a chairlift", me neither. That's why I haven't ridden my snowboard yet this winter. For a little hill, it'll have to be a bluebird day to entice me to buy a lift ticket.)
The process to "season" your rotors does not require a steep hill for several miles... but saves you having to accelerate multiple times to execute the procedure.
I have pasted below several URLs which help explain the procedure.
http://www.bira.org/bedding.html
http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm
http://www.autoanything.com/brakes/how-to-bed-in-brake-pads
http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/bed-in-theory-definitions-and-procedures/brake-pad-bed-in
http://brakeperformance.com/bedding-in-rotors.php
bpeebles: You're one of the people on this forum who's actually making me feel better about the car. I will read the links shortly. Many thanks.