secondhhrw

I took our '09 HHR, 37,000 miles in to check some things and was told that the front brakes were so rusty they could not be brought up to safety standards.

I've never heard of rusty brakes. My wife and I have been driving since 1970 and this is a first. The car is not garaged (Illinois), but it is not the first by any means. The braking effort seemed fine. No noise, except for a "rattle" either (which was what I was having checked. The front end was serviced last July. They fixed some things but nothing else was said at that time. Could someone explain?

I am having the old brakes put in the car when I pick it up - tomorrow or the next day.

Thanks

Don06

They must be talking about the rotors being rusty so they would have to be turned too thin to meet specs. I'm not a fan of resurfacing rotors. They can rust if the vehicle isn't driven for a few days after being driven on wet or salty roads.

BlackknighT

Seems to be the norm in buzz words for quick money - rusty rotors. They rust the second air & moisture hit them. Cheap a$$ steel. Most of the time the mechanic is looking for a full brake job out of you including rotors. Not to say your brakes may not be bad but I would have someone honest check them out. All rotors will rust, especially outside the area that the brake pads do not touch. The outside area will stay rusted but where your brake pads actually touch will clear any minor surface rust within a stop or two from using your car for the first time of the day.

Most of the time it has nothing to do with thickness-just scare you while saying the rust word. Again-go to someone honest to check them out. 37,000 miles on an 09 sound like lots of highway-you may not need brakes yet. My 09 has 23,000 and the brakes have about 2/3rds pad material left and my rotors are a little rusty. Inspections for a safety check deal with rotor thickness and pad thickness, not for having ugly rotors.

87silver

I just got mine out of the garage recently and the rotors all had surface rust on them. Been sitting for almost 2.5 months with all of the snow that's been going on outside. Simply drove it easy for a few miles without too much brake pressure so heat and pressure wouldn't embed rust particles into the pads. They're back to their shiny look again without issue...

843de

Once you get it back, take it somewhere else where they don't have a "Screw The Customer" policy and you'll be much happier.

secondhhrw

The light bulb just went on. It was parked outside in the snow during the February 2 blizzard. It took three or four days for us to dig the car out of our driveway. Snow was probably driven in there by the wind because the snow was not that high under the car. Nor was there any salt, though it might have picked some up from the road.

It has been driven - around town - normal braking effort - I did not see any rust, why didn't mine clean off? Oh, well.

Musicguy

my rear especially get a coating of rust almost every night, make noise almost every am. never had a car do this before.

whopper

They are not "cheap a$$" steel - they are made like any other production car's rotors. And yes they will rust - like any other rotor on production cars. The surface rust you see on the brake pad swept area is absolutely normal and is so minor that the brake pads clean it off with the first stop or two. Even "heavy" rust on the outside circumference of the rotors is normal after a few years - and even that does not make them inherently unsafe nor unusable.

If the shop refuses to put it all back together saying they won't do it as the brakes would be unsafe, tell them you will require a short note to that effect on the workorder, and that you will need the used parts back and pay by credit card not cash.

BlackknighT

I made a thread (or had added to one) about a year ago about cheap a$$ steel. There is such a thing and it has only been introduced as common place and not necessarily a choice within the past few years. Years ago you had a choice- Asian Steel (China) which is recycled (regurgatated) which was your lower end steel & inexpensive, then there was rotors made in the USA & Canada which was actual new or virgin steel thus more money, and NO they did not desintergrate right out of the box. Years ago when I was in Auto Parts (started in Parts in 1984 and did it part time for about 25 years) Companies like Raybestos got big money for their Rotors & Drums because it was US & Canadian Steel. I went into a store looking for rotors and found Raybestos Rotors at High prices yet stamped on the steel was "China". Unfortunately you are at the mercy of whatever the Companies want to hawk and get the most money for. If your cars rotor new is $64 and still made in China, yet you can buy an off brand (like Federated, Sure Stop, etc) for $29 and its also stamped China, you might as well buy the $29. There aren't too many steel factories in China that use "different formulas" of steel.

Don06

Probably 99% of the steel made anywhere is recycled. "Virgin steel" is a myth. Steel doesn't exist in nature. It's made from Iron ore which is basically rust that is dug out of the ground. It is processed into "pig iron" ingots. This iron is melted in huge furnaces and carbon and alloy metals are added to make steel. Recycled steel is also melted in huge furnaces and the necessary carbon and alloy metals are added. The carbon and alloy content determines the grade of the steel.

Steel rusts unless it is alloyed with a metal that doesn't rust, like nickel, making stainless steel which is quite costly. Stainless steel has different friction characteristics than regular steel so different friction material is required in brake pads.