What's this stuff on Fiat 500's brake rotors?

[Tegger]

Seen on used-car lot: 2013 Fiat 500 with about 7,000 miles on it, and one previous owner. This is what the brakes look like, on ALL FOUR rotors:

That's not metal you see on the friction surfaces, but a baked-on coating that's black, lumpy, and rough, like what you get in the barrel of a black-powder gun if you don't clean it enough.

What on earth was the owner doing? Smoking the brakes and tires at every stop? Racing it on the weekends?

 

[Blinker]

looks like someone painted the rotors black to look cool.

 

[eljefino]

I've seen that on cars out in the elements not driving for a long time, like a year plus.

Also note the surface rust on the suspension piece behind.

Though light rust scrapes off with the first stop of the morning, heavy rust abrades the pads and "wins", and eventually soon you have metal-on-metal.

I'd be sort of leery: Why would a one-year old car be parked for a year? Go ahead and test drive it and see if it scrapes off.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Go ahead and test drive it and see if it scrapes off.

This stuff is baked on hard. I don't think you could scrape it off without an angle-grinder.

But your suggestion of lack of use and heavy rust sounds plausible. 7K miles in 2 years isn't much. And the interior was immaculate. Seats didn't even look they'd been sat in. Carpet was spotless, from what I could see.

 

[NHGUY]

CRC makes a silver colored rotor coating that supposibly helps to fill in grooves and low spots in rotors that cause noise.They should spray that stuff on,as it was meant to be scraped off by the pads later.

 

[901Memphis]

If it's a 2013 it could have been made anytime in 2012, making it possibly two years old. Two years with that low mileage would probably equal the extra rusting.

 

[DB_Cooper]

Looking at the slots in the rotors..that is a rusty brake rotor..and I mean very, very rusty. The corrosion will work into the brake pads and create the surfaces you see on the rotors.

That car may have been in some water up to the axles, for a while.

Don't buy the Fiat until you get it up on a lift and inspect the suspension and axles carefully.

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: Tegger

What on earth was the owner doing? Smoking the brakes and tires at every stop? Racing it on the weekends?


The owner parked it. It's oxide of iron and it's hard and it's brittle and it's pretty common when a car is left to sit out in damp weather for a few months at a time.

On a car lot, take it to mean that the car is stale and they should want to move the thing. Lowball them.

 

[SLATRON]

Don't you remember the Fiat commercials when they first came out, the cars drove over here from italy on the ocean floor right?
This must be one from the commercial.
But seriously, flood damage?
Is it being sold be Fiat dealer?
I'd Get it on a lift for good look with my mechanic, after drive if I were you.

 

[KitaCam]

Here in south Florida the rust is commonplace after a couple of days! It gets rubbed off at the 1st braking...

 

[KrisZ]

Looks like new rotors and pads are in order.

 

[901Memphis]

Do you guys see how its looks like the disc is thinner at the top too? Looking like it's broken off on the inside. Must be from the underwater commercial indeed.

 

[Donald]

I think its from the pads being on one area of the rotor for weeks or months. Vehicle not driven.

 

[4D-56]

As yonyon said, Its been parked for quite some time.

 

[dishdude]

IMO, That's from a salty brine mix that hit the rotors and was allowed to sit on the surface and rust. It was probably driven in a snow storm with recent salting and parked for a long time.

 

[CBR.worm]

Those were rusted worse and someone moved the car, taking off the high spots. The thin area at the top is from balancing.

We see this on cars that sit near the water a lot here.

 

[toneydoc]

Some type of metal oxide due to lack of use

 

[Andy636]

I wouldn't worry too much, applying the brakes a couple of times will return the rotors to a mirror finish by scraping the the oxide.

 

[michaelluscher]

That's a combo of meh quality rotors (not fiats fault, a lot of them suck now) and lack of use.

Get out there and give her the old Italian tune up......then slow down again, should get them back to a good finish.

 

[Hootbro]

What is that divot section on the edge of the rotor? Is that a wear replacement indicator? Notice the same thing on my son's F150 rotors.