My parents purchased a new Honda Accord in October 2002 and the discs are now displaying signs of rusts. They took it back to the main dealer and were informed that this is quite usual. The car is used for short journeys only and is kept in a garage during the day and night so this does not seem usual to me. Can anyone comment as to whether this is normal and if not make any recommendations as to how they should deal with this.
Thanks.
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Simple answer is the brakes aren't being used enough or applied hard enough.
Check out this previous thread www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=91...4
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Thanks for your feedback Dynamic Dave, I'll pass this on to my parents. As they live in a town and use the car 2/3 times a week I suspect it is a case that they are not being applied hard enough rather than being used enough. I recall them mentioning that the brakes are quite sharp so it sounds like they are not applying sufficient pressure.
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Keeping a wet car in a garage is also a sure way of encouraging rust. I'm happy to leave my cars outside, although I would prefer a car port (roofed but open on three sides) if I had the option. That would protect the car from the most serious chemical attack of all -- bird droppings -- which I wipe off at the earliest opportunity. I had an Audi 100 for ten years from new; when I sold it, the only blemishes on the paintwork had been caused by bird droppings.
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I believe normal brake discs are made of mild steel, which will develop a surface rust film in hours in damp conditions - to observe this, try hosing the front wheels and look at them after an hour or two. The rust will be felt the next day until the first few brake applications have worn it away. The important thing is to make sure the pads have full contact across the whole disc surface - e.g. they are not impeded by tight guides, or giving uneven pressure.
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The other thing that destroys discs and calipers is alloy wheel cleaner-if you must use it,take the wheels off the car.
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I believe normal brake discs are made of mild steel....
I thought they were made from cast iron.
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Borrow the car once a week. Find a quiet road and brake hard from about 50mph a few times. Also pull the handbrake on a few times from about 30mph. Both these procedures will clear any 'gunge' from the disks/drums and also check that the car is pulling up in a straight line. It will also check that the handbrake is working equally on both back brakes.
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Brake drums and disks seem to have become more and more regarded as expendable items in recent times.
In 'the old days' they lasted indefinitely, unless maltreated by having the shoes/pads worn down to the metal. My Volvo disks are 10 years old and have done 275,000 miles. They look shiny new and the thickness is still within original tolerance.
My Triumph 2000 drums and disks have only done 90,000 miles, but are 39 years old. I certainly don't go out of my way to give them a hard clean up, but try to drive touching the brakes as lightly as possible.
Pads on the other hand have quite a short life - about 40,000 miles a set.
Am I doing something wrong - ought they to be worn out or rusted up?
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Are the friction materials on the Triumph still asbestos-based? IIRC Asbestos brake pads were soft enough to work without wearing the disk surface. Now the pad manufacturers are banned from using asbestos the pads are much more aggressive to the disks, I get through one set of front disks per 4 sets of brake pads.
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DD - you may be right, but I wouldn't have thought welding a pair to make a ventilated disk would be too clever in cast iron?
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I used to do a 4 mile commute for five years in a Renault 5 and it needed new disks about every 18 months, pads never wore. Not enough use is the problem. Garaging makes it worse if it's put to bed wet.
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Andrew-T, trawling around google; vented discs aren't made by welding 2 discs together, they are also cast. Not necessarily just made from cast iron; all different materials can be used in the manufacturer - alloys, carbon, for example.
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correct DD - except for expensive ones that is.
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My Triumph 2000 did 140,000 miles before I sold it as the clutch was going. Never changed the disks. Great car. Lovely engine. Smooth as you like. Much better than the 2,500 PI. Laycock de Normanville overdrive on 3rd and 4th!
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