Issue After Brake Rotor & Pad Replacement

[RET423]

To diagnose the brake hose, apply the brake very hard in the driveway for a few seconds, then release the pedal

Jump out & loosen the flexible brake line at the caliper (not the hard line) and see if it squirts brake fluid like it's under pressure, it should just leak a little; if it squirts the flexible line is restricted & needs to be replaced, if it doesn't then your caliper pistons are hanging up

Good luck!

 

[EddieC]

To diagnose the brake hose, apply the brake very hard in the driveway for a few seconds, then release the pedal

Jump out & loosen the flexible brake line at the caliper (not the hard line) and see if it squirts brake fluid like it's under pressure, it should just leak a little; if it squirts the flexible line is restricted & needs to be replaced, if it doesn't then your caliper pistons are hanging up

Good luck!

Interesting.

when breaking in new pads/rotors you don't need to and should not go crazy with it. multiple 40-down to-20 "easy" braking over several blocks is all it takes. vary it up a little after that. 50-to-15, etc a few times. no full stops until you have done the above multiple times and when you do the full stop go easy. brakes get hot fast.
I would not go out and be going full throttle and then slamming on the brakes that just results in pad material getting dumped on the new rotors
a slight burning smell is not unusual for a few days depending on how much you drive, if you get that smell at break in time you over did it.

When first installed and written about I had done the 40 to 20 routine for 5 times or so, firmly but not standing on the brakes.

Since that I have been just driving normally and the brakes feel great. Pedal is high, response is impressive and there is no abnormal pedal feedback.

The odor has passed, so, as noted before, I suspect it was about the rotor coating and perhaps ceramic pads.
The coating is off of the wear surfaces now so that might also point to the coating regarding previous odor and none now.

The one hot wheel initially observed is unexplained but has not reoccurred since day one. Perhaps the manipulating of the hose caused an issue that worked out. New oem hoses are in hand now. (It was an adventure tracking down the copper sealing washers at a reasonable price and surprisingly the Chevy dealer price by far the best.)

The rotor temps (all) now are about 115 degrees immediately after normal driving/braking and only the fronts were replaced so all being alike might imply normal.

 

[Doubeleive]

I always use brake clean on new rotors, It "supposedly" removes any coating they put on them to prevent rust while stored on the shelf. it's invisible so hard to say.

 

[EddieC]

I always use brake clean on new rotors, It "supposedly" removes any coating they put on them to prevent rust while stored on the shelf. it's invisible so hard to say.

I generally do too but these rotors have a silver coating all over for "severe" climate protection and no visible bare metal. (POWER STOP AR8654EVC)

 

[West 1]

All the factory rotor suppliers recommend washing the rotors with warm soapy water before install. The machining process on rotors creates a magnatisim that hold micro metal particles to the rotor surface. Warm soapy water will remove any particles still on the rotors and rinsing them in clean water helps break the magnetism. One engineer I knew explained it. Said it was similar to putting a boat in a lake vs a river. In a river with running water you need to add sacrificial anodes to keep the water from eating your outdrive and prop. In a lake the boat can sit for years and never have the same issue.

The test to see if the rotor is clean is to wipe it with a clean white cotton cloth. If the rotor is clean the cloth comes away clean. If it still has metal particles in it the cloth comes away gray in color. The gray is machining dust from the manufacture work.

Brake clean is used by most shops for this job because it is fast, it does not break the magnetism or get all the machining dust off. Remaining machining dust is known to create squeaky brakes.

The same concept applies when rebuilding an engine. Once all machining is done on the block the next step is to wash it in warm soapy water. The engineers say to take a toilet brush and wash the cylinders to remove machining dust. Use a rifle brush to clean all the oil galleries in the block and in the crankshaft while using warm soapy water with a final clean water rinse. Once done of course you need to blow it dry quickly and apply something like WD40 or a light oil to the surfaces to keep rust from forming.

We had one piston ring engineer that would get called out to shops to help them solve Oil burning issues. His first step would be to find a block they had ready to assemble. He would take his white handkerchief out, put a little WD40 on it and wipe the cylinder wall, it it came away gray in color he would find the shop owner and tell them to clean the blocks better and explain how it should be done. He could also go into fine detail on how to properly hone to meet OEM oil consumption standards. Some of these Shops were OK if an engine used a quart of oil in 1,000 miles. He taught how to try for 1 quart in 20,000 miles.

Since the OP here has rotors that are coated, there must have been a cleaning done before the coating? Maybe they are fine for install.

Your hands will often transfer grease to the rotors and brake pads as you install the rotors. Any grease left on the rotor or the new brake pads will cause problems with your pads seating to the rotor. They both have to be clean. Brake Clean does a very good job of getting grease off on this final install step.