Brakes smoking after brake job

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I put new rotors and pads on the front and rear of my girlfriend's 2003 Accord today. I used Duralast organic pads and rotors from Autozone (to get the rewards points).

Everything went just fine, Hondas are really easy to do brakes on, but after I test drove maybe 5 miles when I came to a stop there was light smoke from the front wheels and the wheels are hot to the touch.

I washed all 4 rotors in hot soapy water for 10 minutes each before I installed them and I cleaned them on the car with brake cleaner and a rag. Car stops perfectly, doesn't pull to the left or right at all and the pedal feels good with no puslation or vibration.

What causes the smoking brakes? Is there something in the pads or do they just smoke until they wear in, or did I do something wrong? I had no trouble at all with the brake job.

Thanks for any help here.
 
Are the wheels free moving? If nothing is hung up then that is just from new brake parts. It should go away after a few more stops.
 
It is totally normal for them to smoke until the they are totally bedded in. Nothing to worry about, just normal mating process. I normally go out and make about (10) 30-0 stops without completely stopping and without sitting stopped keeping the pads against the rotor. After that I then make about 2 40 or 50mph harder stops, again, not keeping my foot on the brake at a stop. And then park the car and let it sit for a little while.

But again, nothing to worry about with your smoking, it will go away in a minute.
 
Likely normal. I got the then-new pads on my Buick smoking after a lot of hard stops. Nothing else after that, and the car stopped great.
 
Thanks for the replies. Al 4 wheels spin freely, nothing is binding or hanging up. I thought maybe I got some grease on the rotors during reassembly. I remember when I put new rotors and pads on my Dakota it did the same thing, but I had not washed the rotors on it. I just cleaned them with brake cleaner. They smoked pretty bad for a few dtops and I had people pointing it out to me in traffic.

Thanks again. I appreciate yuor help.
 
We drove the car out to dinner tonight and then to the grocery store, none of the wheels or brakes were smoking by the time we got to the restaurant. Along the way I did some more stops and slowing down like you suggested and that cleared it all up. The wheels were still hot to the touch, but that's normal for July in Florida I guess. They were not nearly as hot as when I got back home from my first test drive.

The car stops perfectly now. It had some bad pulsation from warped front rotors and the rear pads were worn down so far that the squealers started making noise a few days ago. These Duralast rotors and pads look like they are pretty good quality. Will see how they hold up.

Thanks again.
 
did you clean the rotors with brake clean? the come with a coating to protect them from rusting while on the shelf, if you did not clean it off it will smoke for awhile.
 
Can be normal.
Stuff is burning off. Bonding agents in the pads with new rough rotors will do this often.
They can actually run hotter than normal, because there is less braking, and more heat produced until things seat in.
 
I washed all 4 rotors in hot soapy water with dishwashing soap, each one for about 10 minutes. I scrubbed them with an old kitchen sponge that has the bristle type scrubbing surface on the bottom. I thought I got all the anti-rust coating off the rotors but maybe I missed a spot. I sprayed both sides of all 4 rotors with brake cleaner on the car. It wasn't smoking after we got to the restaurant last night and the wheels were hot but a normal temperature. The 'hot brake" smell was gone too.

I think everything is OK now. I checked my AZ rewards card online and have a $20.00 gift card on it now too. Thanks for the replies here.
 
Quote:
Never be afraid of anything smaller than you.


Most women are smaller than me. So are rattle snakes. You'd be nuts to approach either without caution (aka fear).
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