Glazed rotors
 

Just got back from y 24 k service (i have 22k on the car). I was told I need to replace front AND back brake pads and rotors. The rotors are glazed. Since about 10k I brought the car in twice to 2 different dealerships complaining about the brakes. (They felt funny). Both times I was told everything is alright, its probably just condensation.

Now I'm being told the rotors are glazed. I don't drive in traffic, I don't ride the brake, what could cause them to wear so prematurely?

I went 60,000k on my camry before having to replace the brake pads. Never had to do anything with the rotors. My driving habits haven't changed since then.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

BTW, not covered under warranty because its a wear and tear part.

On my last car ('97 Sunfire) I had terrible problems with my breaks / rotors.

At 10,000 miles I complained to my dealer, and they told me it was my driving habit and charged my around $300 to turn the rotors and "fix" the problem. Afterwards they felt really good, for about 2000 miles.

Well, I suffered with the problem until I hit 20,000 miles and took it to another dealer. They replace everything: rotors and pads, cleaned everything and adjusted a few other things. I was expecting the worst as far as cost, but they told me it was all covered under warrently, and never had another issue with the breaks till I traded the car in (130,000 miles)

I never did go back to my dealer to have them work on my car.

Im no expert but needing brake rotors at 24k kms sound ridiculous to me. When you say they felt funny, was it a sort of pulsing feeling on the foot pedal? That would normally mean the rotors are warped. I dont know how well you like the service at your dealership but you could maybe go into another and see what they think. Personally I don't like the service at mine but theres no one else to go to. Anyways, best of luck!

Actually the pedal felt hard -like it woudln't go down.

Lots of vibration at high speeds as well but I thought that was due to my springs.

Why not have the rotors refaced?

http://members.rogers.com/sondra1978/rotors.html

Some pics of the rotors.

Its hard to tell, they look a little scored near the outside but maybe its not too bad. I dont even know, what do glazes rotors mean???

If you havent already maybe go into another dealership and see what they think??

I think to tell if it's glazed you should use your nail and feel the rotor from the center to the outside. Don't do it if you just ran your car, btw. =)

If your pedal is hard to push, that most likely is not the rotors...

a bind in the linkage or faulty master cylinder could cause that. Are you leaking/using brake fluid? Or if a pad that has lost its retainer clip could be binding in the caliper. The glazed surface can cause pedal pulsation or chattering, a spongy feel until you press the pedal hard enough. Which did you mean? The pedal is physically hard to push or the pedal needs to be pushed harder to get decent braking?

It is different depending on who you talk to. Technically a glazed rotor occurs when pad material burns unevenly onto the rotor surface. Most of the time a shop will mis diagnos this by saying the rotor is "warped". a glazed rotor will cause pedal bumping, making if feel like it is out of round, but it usually isn't (ok technically it is out of round, but simply becuase of the pad material on the surface, not the rotor material being bent). This is why you can have a rotor cut (a.k.a turned, resurfaced, machined) Honestly I have never seen a warped rotor. A rotor will crack more than warp when it is subjected to ridiculous temperature changes, which is when a shop will tell you "You warped your rotors becuase you use them too hard"

i just spent $780 cdn on a break job they had to replace all 4 break pads and rotors...said that they couldn't machine the font rotors cause they where too badly worn, and the back ones they will only replace, not reserface

i knew my front rotors where bad though, cause i could see an imprint of my caliper on the right front rotor

moral of the story....if they say you have less then 15% of your brakes left, get them replaced emediatly!!!

I have 60-70% left on the brake pads but its useless because they are hardened/burnt. (or so they tell me).

I will try my best to describe what I meant by a hard pedal... When your braking there is usually a stopping point where the pedal doesn't won't go down any further.....sometimes that stopping point is like an inch sometimes halfway to the floor. It feels quite odd when you barely touch the brake and it won't go down any further...the car is able to stop whether the pedal wants to go down halfway or only an inch.

I would be willing to bet you have some hydraulic issues as well. Air in the brake lines, or again the master cylinder may be binding in some way. burned pads and glazed rotors should only affect pedal feel and initial brake "bite" and performance, but not so much pedal travel itself...

Also your calipers could be having problems. The calipers could be sticking allowing dickhead amounts of heat to burn the rotor and pads when you are moving, which could also cause lack of pedal travel...

Thanks Install
 

Thank You Install. I will make sure the mechanic checks that out next time my car goes in.

Would air in the brake lines or master cylinder problems cause premature brake and rotor wear? (its a given that my rotors and pads need to be replaced.....just not sure why so early).

Also, if the calipers were sticking or seized, would it affect all 4 corners of the car?

What about "brake drag". Not exactly sure what that is.....but I'm wondering if I had brake drag would that affect my fuel consumption? I'm only getting about 350-375KMS/tank. (everyone else seems to be getting 450-550...)