Diagnose My Brakes

[GenesisGuy70]

This picture was taken today of the drivers side rear. The rotor surface is a bunch of ridges with rust present, it's obvious the pad is not making full contact. This car doesn't even have 10,000 miles on it yet. What the heck is going on? Part of me wants to take it in to the dealer and let them deal with it. The other part doesn't want the headache and wants to take them apart myself and fix it. However, if new rotors or pads are needed, I want Honda to eat that cost, not me. Is this something that would be covered under warranty? The passenger side isn't much better. It brakes great though, minus the ATS I had with Brembo's, this is the best stopping car I've owned. Probably guide pins but already? Just can't believe this is happening already.

 

[Donald]

What about the other 7 braking surfaces? Especially the flip side of this rotor?

I complained about brakes on a Subaru and said they should not need service at 20K miles. They finally covered it. But my issue was the rust belt related. You are in Florida? Unless you park on the beach I would not think salt and rust would be an issue.

 

[Gimpy1]

All rotors will rust (except CF rotors) especially in your area and is normal. As for the scoring, since the vehicle is under warranty just get the dealer to do the repairs. That way its documented and may save you $$$ down the road. If you start messing with it the dealer and Honda may deny the warranty claim. It could be that something got stuck between the rotor and the pad or something more serious. Besides why pay for something when the repair should be free. Oh and looking at the pic of the rotor there is a lot of rust on surrounding parts something's not jiving here

 

[atikovi]

Pads and rotors are wear items generally not covered under warranty but some dealers may do a goodwill repair. I assume the pad has worn into the grooves so there's no reduction in stopping power. Unless the pad or rotor is worn below specs, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[mk378]

Grooves less than 1mm deep are considered normal. Look at any car in a parking lot they all look about like that.

New car warranty unlikely to cover brake pads and rotors.

 

[The Critic]

Normal. The material on the rear pads is not aggressive enough to clean off the rust.

 

[dbias]

Rotors and brake pads are wear items and usually not covered under any warranty. However if one looks so much worse than the other three rotors there may be an issue with that caliper and or slide pins. When asking for a goodwill fix emphasize the difference btwn them.
The rotors on my Audi are smooth as glass at 58k miles so something is definitely going on with the grooving on your rotor.

 

[Lou_Boyle]

Grooves in disc brakes are common, but those look more like what I've encountered after about 75000 -100,000 miles worth of driving rather than 10,000. My son's truck has also developed premature grooving despite having been re-worked with the same brand parts I always use. The only factor I know is different in his case is that he had to drive through a muddy access road to get to work all winter long. Does your car sit outside without being driven for several days at a time giving the rotors a chance to rust between uses, or do you drive through gritty areas regularly? FWIW the mirror image of those grooves will be worn into the pads so you still get full friction contact and stopping power is not reduced according to the seat of my pants.

 

[FordBroncoVWJeta]

very normal

 

[GenesisGuy70]

I have to disagree with the majority opinion that this is all well and good. The fronts are smooth as glass (just like dbias). I have been around 4 wheel disc brake cars my whole life and I've never seen a rear set look like this on a car this new and not in the rust belt. I can understand they do less braking, less clamping force, etc. but this just isn't right for a car with less than 10,000 miles. I don't live on the beach and it was only in winter weather for a couple weeks in January. Guess I'll see what the dealer says, though I'd rather just disassemble and re-lube everything myself.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Do you use the parking brake?

 

[JLTD]

Everyone is saying "rotors and pads" are not covered. Rotors generally are, it's the pad (wear item) that is not.

OP, I'd take it in - even if might be normal for your vehicle.

 

[dbias]

Originally Posted by Throt
I have to disagree with the majority opinion that this is all well and good. The fronts are smooth as glass (just like dbias). I have been around 4 wheel disc brake cars my whole life and I've never seen a rear set look like this on a car this new and not in the rust belt. I can understand they do less braking, less clamping force, etc. but this just isn't right for a car with less than 10,000 miles. I don't live on the beach and it was only in winter weather for a couple weeks in January. Guess I'll see what the dealer says, though I'd rather just disassemble and re-lube everything myself.


Here is a picture of my Audi rotors, it looks like there are grooves but it is totally smooth as you can clearly see the back of the wheel reflected off of it.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by dbias
Originally Posted by Throt
I have to disagree with the majority opinion that this is all well and good. The fronts are smooth as glass (just like dbias). I have been around 4 wheel disc brake cars my whole life and I've never seen a rear set look like this on a car this new and not in the rust belt. I can understand they do less braking, less clamping force, etc. but this just isn't right for a car with less than 10,000 miles. I don't live on the beach and it was only in winter weather for a couple weeks in January. Guess I'll see what the dealer says, though I'd rather just disassemble and re-lube everything myself.


Here is a picture of my Audi rotors, it looks like there are grooves but it is totally smooth as you can clearly see the back of the wheel reflected off of it.

An Audi is a higher performance vehicle that uses a more aggressive pad compound. A Honda may not.

 

[KrisZ]

That looks pretty bad IMO. My rust belt brakes didn't look this bad until towards the end of pad life. This may very well be a "Honda thing", but I would still go to a dealer and see what they have to say. Are the brakes making any squealing noises? Any vibration at freeway speeds? this may help convince the dealer to change them, looks alone may not do it.

 

[92saturnsl2]

What exactly am I looking for here? Picture looks like that of a worn rotor. I don't see the rust everyone is complaining about.

All rotors rust and on the rears the rust will often accumulate and cause pitting / extra wear on the rotor surface because they pads don't clamp as strong as the fronts.

Are you saying that the rotor has worn quicker than it should on a 10k mile vehicle? If it brakes great, I don't see the problem or why the dealer should consider replacement. If you have 5 new vehicles lined up that were driven to 10k, all will have different rotor wear characteristics depending on vehicle usage, time spent sitting, strength of brake application and a hundred other variables. Just because one wears quicker than the others does not mean there is a warranty issue. The warranty should cover defects in materials and/or workmanship. Sorry, I just don't see that here. If you want perfect shiny new brakes, replace them. Brakes are cheap and you can often make an improvement in stopping power versus using the OEM stuff.

 

[eljefino]

I don't like those "phonographic grooves". They'll work fine, perhaps even better thanks to more friction area, but I wonder what in your pads is scrubbing it down like that.

Does Honda have an "adjustment warranty" for 1 year/ 12k miles? Or the dealer could good will it. If you don't ask, the answer is no for sure.

 

[andyd]

What does the other rear rotor look like? How worn are the pads? At 10k, I'd be taking in to the dlr Any signs of heat?

 

[Patrick0525]

Originally Posted by FordBroncoVWJeta
very normal


I just replaced my 2014 Venza OEM rear brakes at 86K mi. I had ridges too but it seems like the Akebono pads smoothed them out. Brakes felt fine before and after pad replacement.

 

[Eddie]

I believe that brake pads and rotors, wiper blades and door/window seals were normally covered for the first year or 12,000 miles. Subaru did this form me several years ago.Ed