Brakes and Rotors. Please Give me Peace of Mind.

Would like some advice.
Last week we got new rotors and breaks before going on vacation. Well today we arrived in TN and after driving ~7 hours with no issues, beside cranky babies hence the 7 hours, we heard some rough grinding when breaking hard. I'm thinking we got a bad rotor as it only happened 3 times which tells me it's a particular spot on rotor that rotates off the brake pad. I am not worried about driving back after vacation with them but wanted some advice from more knowledgeable guys on here. I plan on taking it into my mechanic when we get back to get it replaced and have already left a message for him to call me but he is out until Monday..The day we leave to come back. I basicaly just called him for the same reason I'm posting this. Peace of mind in driving my family 7 hours home Monday. Thanks in advanced.

I'd never drive on a noisey set of new breaks. That just implies a problem from the start.

Now, a noisey set of new brakes I'd have less issue with.

It's been a long while since I have had new brakes but, I think they do have a "break in" period or a "wear in" period. I think you'll be fine but, it never hurts to be sure. Especially when it comes to the safety of yourself and family.

The pad doesn't grab one spot and hold onto it, so even a bad spot would be getting contact on each breaking. There is a wear in period though, but not sure how long that normally is, but I am not a mechanic and no longer work on cars of my own.

Is the vehicle front disk, rear drum?... or are they both disk? You always have your emergency brake... which is usually just the rear brakes by themselves. If a front rotor is giving you the problem, just keep your hand/foot ready to pounce on the emergency break for 7 hours. If a rear rotor is giving you a problem, the front ones will stop you. Front breaks function for a large percentage of normal breaking... especially when breaking hard.

Oh, and find a new mechanic.

menschmaschine said:

Oh, and find a new mechanic.

Click to expand...

Plus Juan on finding a new mechanic. Or minus Juan if his name was Juan. You get the idea.

A bad spot on the rotor would be evident when breaking all the time. If it only happened during hard breaking the new breaks may not be bedded well. Though a good mechanic should bed them in for you. Perhaps a cheap pad and they are prone to glazing? Could of been they are working so much better and you are hearing the ABS system working when the tires lock up.

Could be nothing more than road grit kicked in there??? Tough to know what is wrong. Are the operating strangely or just making a noise?

I recently had my brakes done and my mechanic said that there is a 500 to 1K mile brake in period and said not to drive and brake like a pizza delivery driver during the break in period

If you did not season the rotors and bed the pads this is very common. Id look at them to make sure a pad didnt fall out. Barring that just give it time.

You know, if you just take the lug nuts and the wheel off you can see the brake pads and rotor for yourself. They're right there. Just look and see if the pads are intact and whether or not the rotor is scored. It will only take you a few minutes and then you'll have peace of mind.

I used to do a series of 30-5 mph stops, followed by a series of 50-5 mph stops (maybe 10 of each), to put a s#$load of heat into new brake pads. Then I'd limp home without using the brakes at all, park in the driveway without using the parking brake, and let them cool down. Breaks them in quickly!

Of course, this was with race-compound pads... I'd be careful not to put too much heat into a set of street pads.

I would understand there being noise if you only replaced the pads and not the rotors.... but it seems a little strange to have noise with new pads & rotors. If you can pull off the wheel on the one that seems to be making noise, it's very much a good idea that you do. Check for any gouges or unusual wear on non-contact surfaces, if there's a problem it should be pretty obvious.

Good luck

Or have it inspected by a brake shop. Most will look at them for free. Might be worth peace of mind. It's very possible that the repair shop did not install something just right, or something came a bit loose.

If it only does it once in a while, might be fine.



Might be.

menschmaschine said:

Is the vehicle front disk, rear drum?... or are they both disk? You always have your emergency brake... which is usually just the rear brakes by themselves. If a front rotor is giving you the problem, just keep your hand/foot ready to pounce on the emergency break for 7 hours. If a rear rotor is giving you a problem, the front ones will stop ve no doubt you. Front breaks function for a large percentage of normal breaking... especially when breaking hard.

Oh, and find a new mechanic.

Click to expand...

eschatz said:

Plus Juan on finding a new mechanic. Or minus Juan if his name was Juan. You get the idea.

Click to expand...

I have no doubt about my mechanic and will continue to use him. He is the kind of mechanic anyone would wish to have. Honest, will not replace a part without being 100% sure it is the problem and does good work. I have no doubt he will make this right when we return the car to him on Tuesday.

I'll see if I notice it again today if we drive anywhere and listen closer to try and see what wheel it is coming from. If I can tell I'll pull the wheel off and inspect it.
It has only happened 3 times yesterday and that is all since we had them done a week or two ago and I'm thinking it is also road grit as suggested. I'll also keep an eye for for a brake shop while we're out this weekend. Not a lot of driving and a pretty touristy area so I'm not sure of the mechanics in the area. Thanks for the tips all.

How old is the car? I really dont think you got NEW rotors. I bet they were just resurfaced. Nothing wrong with that, rotors can be cut a few times. But it could have been just a bad resurface.

It's pretty common to just replace the rotors on cars these days when they're $40 each and paper thin. Is the car pulling left or right on braking? Check to see if the rotors are smooth or if there's a gouge starting.

nitrousjunkie said:

How old is the car? I really dont think you got NEW rotors. I bet they were just resurfaced. Nothing wrong with that, rotors can be cut a few times. But it could have been just a bad resurface.

Click to expand...

I got new rotors. I would hope nobody would not know if they're getting new or resurfaced parts. I like to know what I'm paying for at least.

Bobby_M said:

It's pretty common to just replace the rotors on cars these days when they're $40 each and paper thin. Is the car pulling left or right on braking? Check to see if the rotors are smooth or if there's a gouge starting.

Click to expand...

The car is not pulling one way or another.

My machanice gave me a call yesterday about an hour before we were heading home and eased my mind. He said to bring it out tonight and he'll look at it just incase for me but not to worry about bringing a checkbook. If anything parts poor labor wise is bad it will be taken care of.

He said the rough noise was most likely the brake pad seating. They put a rougher coating on the pads I used to help them seat faster and it can sound like that. It made the sound of 3 consecutive breaking sand then never again so I can believe that explanation.
For the smell, he said they put a coating on the rotors for shipping to prevent rusting. They give them a chemical bath to remove as much as they can before putting it on the car but it doesn't remove it all. He described the burning smell to the T before I mentioned what it was like. He said "You should have smelled it when we first took it out after putting them on" It must have just heated up enough going through the mountains to burn off any residual left. Taking it out there tonight to be looked at tomorrow, but everything seems normal. No issues or concerns during the drive back yesterday.
Thanks for everyone's comments to get me by until my mechanic was reachable.

Don't forget to report back with the diagnosis. All us wrench monkeys need to know now.

Well I forgot to call him yesterday and won't have a chance to take it out till possibly Friday. It's not really a concern any longer but I will take it out. The car does not really get driven through the week right now since my wife is on summer break (freakin teachers) and she pretty much stays home with the bean and takes him swimming across the street everyday.

IrregularPulse said:

Well I forgot to call him yesterday and won't have a chance to take it out till possibly Friday. It's not really a concern any longer but I will take it out. The car does not really get driven through the week right now since my wife is on summer break (freakin teachers) and she pretty much stays home with the bean and takes him swimming across the street everyday.

Click to expand...

She swims him across the street? Brutal!

Glad you got back alright.

We want to make sure he gets the motions down before we actually put him him the water. We removed the stop sign from in front of our house to help his speed too. He's become quite the pavement swimmer. We're thinking water next year !!