« previous next »
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Brake Rotor Life?  (Read 1794 times)

Offline tortoise

  • Drunk on Fuel
  • ****
  • Location: Ottawa
  • Posts: 2679
  • Carma: +7/-4
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Brake Rotor Life?
« on: June 21, 2005, 06:08:29 pm »
Hi Everyone,  

I'm looking into a new-to-me used car. The vehicle at the top of the list is the mazda protege 5 (2002).  There is one for sale in the Autotrader with ~65000 km on it. The ad says that it has new brakes/rotors.  It seems to me that this is a little early to be replacing rotors. I'm worried that this car was driven hard and thus needed new brakes.  Now, I've read that the protege 5's can sometimes eat rear brakes, but the ad sounded like it was both front/rear.  

What do you think?
Logged
Only the slow and dim know where they're going in life, and seldom is it worth the trip. - Tom Robbins.

Offline johngenx

  • Car Crazy
  • *****
  • Location: A space inside my own head where there are only mountains and climbing days...
  • Posts: 10333
  • Carma: +62/-80
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Brake Rotor Life?
« Reply #1 on: June 21, 2005, 06:25:30 pm »
I never replace pads without replacing discs.  It's not much more work, discs aren't usually very much money, so I just do it.
Logged
No place I'd rather be...

Smainville

  • Guest
Brake Rotor Life?
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2005, 07:02:52 pm »
At 65,000km if it's all or mostly city driving, worn out or distorted rotors is not uncommon on some brands.  Driving habits is also a factor, some people are simply just hard on brakes.  It is a good habit to have disc brake service done annually, the technician will remove rust accumulation on the rotors, take the calipers apart, remove dust and rust and lubricate the sliders.  Ensuring that the calipers move freely  will prolong  the life of your brakes as well as saving fuel by reducing drag.  Rear disc service is even more critical than the front.  My 00 Echo has 148,000km on the original brakes!  I just serviced them myself this weekend and I estimate they will be good t'il 160,000km !!
Logged

Offline tenpenny

  • Car Crazy
  • *****
  • Posts: 3906
  • Carma: +5/-2
    • View Profile
Brake Rotor Life?
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2005, 09:07:53 pm »
I had an 87 Chev Celebrity for work; every 40,000km it needed new rotors.  The dealer claimed they were all like that.....
Logged

Online quadzilla

  • Car Crazy
  • *****
  • Location: Toronto
  • Posts: 6933
  • Carma: +12/-17
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Brake Rotor Life?
« Reply #4 on: June 21, 2005, 09:08:12 pm »
I use to have a 2002 P5 and I'd also agree that this  could be normal wear on the brakes.  Is it an auto or manual?  If its and auto plus all city driving that could be considered normal.

Just ask to see the service records for the car.  

Another thing you might want to check are the 'rear stabilizer links' as they tent to wear out also.  I had mine replaced at 85,000kms under the extended warranty.

The P5's are great little cars that are a lot of fun to drive.  
If you get it, I have some winter rims and a roof rack that I no longer need.
Logged
A subwoofer should only be noticed once it has been turned off.

Sterling

  • Guest
Brake Rotor Life?
« Reply #5 on: June 21, 2005, 11:58:17 pm »
The rotors on some cars come from the factory with no tolerance for machining. So where one car might get the original rotors machined, another may just get new rotors. I don't think new rotors at 65000 km is anything to worry about.
Logged

Offline AVToller

  • Car Crazy
  • *****
  • Location: At home in NS
  • Posts: 10170
  • Carma: +1/-0
  • Gender: Male
  • Going to the dogs
    • View Profile
Brake Rotor Life?
« Reply #6 on: June 22, 2005, 12:47:51 am »
My Golf ('94, manual) needed pads and rotors every 40k. My Forester ('01, auto) still had an estimated 85% left at 40k. Big difference considering that I drove the 'Ru harder and it was auto.
Logged
Retired, married, and loving it
Ross

Offline safristi

  • Car Crazy
  • *****
  • Location: Bethlehem
  • Posts: 40872
  • Carma: +141/-51
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Brake Rotor Life?
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2005, 12:44:29 pm »
Something "fishy"here...rotors..steel parts...wearing out as fast as brake pads...self sacrificing "asbestos" or whatever these days high friction inducing composites...Hmmm ...any Engineers care to STOP "BUY!!" and explain this anomoly...?????
Logged
THERE IS NO CURE FOR "LOTUS"......ONLY TREATMENT.....

Offline AVToller

  • Car Crazy
  • *****
  • Location: At home in NS
  • Posts: 10170
  • Carma: +1/-0
  • Gender: Male
  • Going to the dogs
    • View Profile
Brake Rotor Life?
« Reply #8 on: June 22, 2005, 01:01:59 pm »
I found it a bit odd - almost as if planned that way.
Logged

Offline barrie1

  • Car Crazy
  • *****
  • Location: London Ont Canada
  • Posts: 14832
  • Carma: +0/-0
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Brake Rotor Life?
« Reply #9 on: June 24, 2005, 01:54:05 pm »
Audi has announced a new type of brake system for its A8 which will have the Ceramic type of pads similar to Porsche. This is around a $11,400 option on their cars. Supposively good for up to 300,000 Klms before changing out any parts.
Logged

Sterling

  • Guest
Brake Rotor Life?
« Reply #10 on: June 24, 2005, 03:30:36 pm »
Rotors don't typically wear out because the steel gets ground off to the point of replacement. Typically what happens is that a process called material transfer occurs where brake pad material transfers to the rotor, and combined with heat, actually changes the chemical composition of the metal in the rotor. This leads to very hard areas on the rotor that wear at a different rate than the rest of the rotor. This leads to brake pulsation which is typically attributed to "warped" rotors. The severity of the high spots determines how much of the rotor needs to be machined in order to bring it back to specs.

One of the worst things you can do to encourage material transfer is holding the brakes on after very hard braking, say, braking hard down a long hill and then holding the brake on when stopped at the bottom.
Logged

Offline AVToller

  • Car Crazy
  • *****
  • Location: At home in NS
  • Posts: 10170
  • Carma: +1/-0
  • Gender: Male
  • Going to the dogs
    • View Profile
Brake Rotor Life?
« Reply #11 on: June 24, 2005, 04:30:52 pm »
I never experienced any pulsation with the Golf, but the rotors did become scored to an almost unbelievable degree. Same with each set of rotors.  

And yes, you certainly are correct about holding the brakes after severe useage.
Logged

Offline safristi

  • Car Crazy
  • *****
  • Location: Bethlehem
  • Posts: 40872
  • Carma: +141/-51
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Brake Rotor Life?
« Reply #12 on: June 25, 2005, 09:50:45 am »
Av no Pulsations wif GOLF...yer not swingin' hard enuf on the downswing,and walk the course man,no sissy fart_carts...!!!..
   Why the  variablity amongst Rotor
"Rooters???" life and necessity? to "turn" them..is it a scam,a bad rotor or a built in cheapness in some cars???? anyone!!!?????

 Yeah $11,000 fer Ceramics...hell a Hummel or Dalton figurine is cheaper and deserves ta be squeezed between a rock and a hard place...what a
crockery!!!!!
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
« previous next »