Be careful of those coated rotors!

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I did a quick simple brake job on my Accord during the week and bought new rotors from Autozone. I bought the 3 year warranty rotors that are fully coated with a black paint even on the rotor to pad surface.
Obviously the idea is that the pad will wear off the paint where it makes contact and the edges will be left with black paint and prevent it from rust. Long story short the paint got embedded into the brake pads and was causing the pad to skip across the rotor while braking. The knocking noise was awful sounding.
I took the pads off the car and sanded them with some 80 grit paper to remove the embedded paint and all is good now
 
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Not exactly a nice experience after all that work!

I would suggest you contact Autozone to give them feedback - if they don't hear your comments they will assume all is fine.
 
I didn't think coating the braking surface with paint is a good idea. It seems to me a cost cutting compromise to finishing off coated rotors, they save a few pennies not masking off the braking surface prior to painting them.
 
I have EBC rotors and they came with a black paint coating. After the brake job, I drove around the block to test the system and all the paint came off. I took the caliper off again to see and none of the pads were coated/clogged with the paint.
 
Don't know what type of coating AZ rotors use but I've never had any issues with NAPA's fully coated rotors.
 
It seems like Bosch/ATE/Zimmermann, BPI(Napa/Raybestos) and EBC use a different coating like Geomet or a proprietary Al/Zn coating or an electrophoretic coating that won't interfere with the pads. Whoever supplied AutoZone probably used standard paint or a cheaper coating.
 
Most of the coated rotors I've ever used were Zinc/Aluminum coated and had no issues, the ones that were painted weren't painted on the pad/rotor interface.
 
Pop the pads off, lightly sand them, reinstall, then to some hard stops.

I always use coated rotors and the only time I've had an issue is if I don't properly burnish the pads. I do back to back hard, but not locking the wheels up 50-10mph stops until I get brake fade, then drive the thing for 4-5 miles to let everything cool, avoiding stops longer than a few seconds
 
Originally Posted by SnowDrifter
Pop the pads off, lightly sand them, reinstall, then to some hard stops.

I always use coated rotors and the only time I've had an issue is if I don't properly burnish the pads. I do back to back hard, but not locking the wheels up 50-10mph stops until I get brake fade, then drive the thing for 4-5 miles to let everything cool, avoiding stops longer than a few seconds


Yep, this is how to do it. Take your kids with you, they love it. At least mine do.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted by dan_erickson
I did a quick simple brake job on my Accord during the week and bought new rotors from Autozone. I bought the 3 year warranty rotors that are fully coated with a black paint even on the rotor to pad surface.

I am guessing these would be the Duralast Gold? https://www.autozone.com/brakes-and...ast-gold-brake-rotor/818588_195255_2708#
That would be "Z-Clad"
https://www.autozone.com/landing/page.jsp?name=duralast-gold-rotors
https://youtu.be/9s_elN7lR84?t=76

According to the video and the text, it's just supposed to wear off.
Originally Posted by dan_erickson
The knocking noise was awful sounding.

I'm trying to figure out how a coating on a pad makes a "knocking noise".
 
A painted coating sounds like a really bad idea for a brake component that can reach over 400°F while also undergoing constant heat cycling. Look for plated coatings.
 
Originally Posted by dan_erickson
I did a quick simple brake job on my Accord during the week and bought new rotors from Autozone. I bought the 3 year warranty rotors that are fully coated with a black paint even on the rotor to pad surface.
Obviously the idea is that the pad will wear off the paint where it makes contact and the edges will be left with black paint and prevent it from rust. Long story short the paint got embedded into the brake pads and was causing the pad to skip across the rotor while braking. The knocking noise was awful sounding.
I took the pads off the car and sanded them with some 80 grit paper to remove the embedded paint and all is good now

Just put these, coating was gone after three light braking.
[Linked Image]
 
Originally Posted by HangFire
Originally Posted by dan_erickson
I did a quick simple brake job on my Accord during the week and bought new rotors from Autozone. I bought the 3 year warranty rotors that are fully coated with a black paint even on the rotor to pad surface.

I am guessing these would be the Duralast Gold? https://www.autozone.com/brakes-and...ast-gold-brake-rotor/818588_195255_2708#
That would be "Z-Clad"
https://www.autozone.com/landing/page.jsp?name=duralast-gold-rotors
https://youtu.be/9s_elN7lR84?t=76

According to the video and the text, it's just supposed to wear off.
Originally Posted by dan_erickson
The knocking noise was awful sounding.

I'm trying to figure out how a coating on a pad makes a "knocking noise".

Originally Posted by HangFire
Originally Posted by dan_erickson
I did a quick simple brake job on my Accord during the week and bought new rotors from Autozone. I bought the 3 year warranty rotors that are fully coated with a black paint even on the rotor to pad surface.

I am guessing these would be the Duralast Gold? https://www.autozone.com/brakes-and...ast-gold-brake-rotor/818588_195255_2708#
That would be "Z-Clad"
https://www.autozone.com/landing/page.jsp?name=duralast-gold-rotors
https://youtu.be/9s_elN7lR84?t=76

According to the video and the text, it's just supposed to wear off.
Originally Posted by dan_erickson
The knocking noise was awful sounding.

I'm trying to figure out how a coating on a pad makes a "knocking noise".

Originally Posted by HangFire
Originally Posted by dan_erickson
I did a quick simple brake job on my Accord during the week and bought new rotors from Autozone. I bought the 3 year warranty rotors that are fully coated with a black paint even on the rotor to pad surface.

I am guessing these would be the Duralast Gold? https://www.autozone.com/brakes-and...ast-gold-brake-rotor/818588_195255_2708#
That would be "Z-Clad"
https://www.autozone.com/landing/page.jsp?name=duralast-gold-rotors
https://youtu.be/9s_elN7lR84?t=76

According to the video and the text, it's just supposed to wear off.
Originally Posted by dan_erickson
The knocking noise was awful sounding.

I'm trying to figure out how a coating on a pad makes a "knocking noise".


The paint was heated and embedded into the pads. The next time I drove the car the pads were grabbing and then skipping across the rotor surface. It's the best way I can explain it. When I took the pad off to clean them the pad surface looked like a mirror.
 
Originally Posted by dan_erickson
The paint was heated and embedded into the pads. The next time I drove the car the pads were grabbing and then skipping across the rotor surface. It's the best way I can explain it. When I took the pad off to clean them the pad surface looked like a mirror.

I see, thanks for the explanation.
 
No similar issue(s) with the Raybestos RPT fully coated installed on an Accord last October. However it's a silver/grey colored coating, comes off as designed and stated. Still working great btw. Topic anecdote makes it seem as though could be a specific AZ fully coated rotor design issue?

[Linked Image]
 
Originally Posted by 2strokeNorthstar
Probably the terrible Duralast pads. I used the "painted" Duralast rotors with no issues.


I've never had a problem with the Duralast Gold or Duralast Max pads. Anyways, I do not have Duralast pads at this time on my Honda so that's not true
 
Originally Posted by Sayjac
No similar issue(s) with the Raybestos RPT fully coated installed on an Accord last October. However it's a silver/grey colored coating, comes off as designed and stated. Still working great btw. Topic anecdote makes it seem as though could be a specific AZ fully coated rotor design issue?

[Linked Image]


That's what I am thinking because I have also used fully coated rotors in the past with out issue. This was my first time using Autozone coated rotors
 
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