Major Rust on Rotors in a few hours ?

[Zas]

On a wet rainy day, my car was parked outside for about 8 hours when i came out to go home i saw this..

Looks pretty bad !

But after a 15 min drive.. they looked like this

I am wondering if any of you are seeing the same amount of rust after just a few hours.. and if this has any long term effects on the Rotors ? solutions ?

 

[Stoneymonster]

Pretty normal as far as I know. All my cars have done this. The polished rotor surface is really really good at oxidizing quickly. Just do some hard braking and it comes off.

 

[agentsmith1612]

These problem arrived at any EV that I have seen until today.

The rotors will rust much faster because the surface is not so often used as in an ICE car.
The case is that in every EV you will use the mechanical brake much less.

In the end you will replace the rotor not because they are too thin you will replace it because they are to rusty.
If the rust thickness become to thick, it will be affect your baking in an emergency situation.


A solution can be that the car take on the brakes very slighty to clean the rust off every second ride for one oder two miles ?

I know from the past, Mercedes has taken a automatic drying program in the E-Klasse when the brakes get wet. The brake take on automatically wo dry the rotors for best braking.
A little bit rediculous but that was selled as an advanced technology.

 

[bhuwan]

I popped by the service center and saw two brand new model S (been sitting there for weeks) with the same scenario - obviously it's unrelated to teslsa.

My current car has the same problem.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

Common complaint on BMW and Audi forums as well:

rotors rust when car is out in rain for few hours

Perfectly normal and not a problem.

 

[wstuff]

Zas what you are seeing is very normal for rotors, this will happen on all cars when the rotors get wet and the humidity level allows oxidation before evaporation. Use of brakes will naturally clean this surface rust off the rotor, just like when you learn to drive you should be taught to ride your brake a bit after going thru a substantial puddle to dry your rotors and pads so they will be ready in a panic situation. Nothing wrong here.

 

[Doug_G]

Most cars do this. Roadster is way worse than the S.

 

[jerry33]

As long as you brake often enough so that the pads always have a clean and smooth area to swipe it's not a problem. The rust occurring outside the swept area is appearance only. (Some Prius dealers have talked people into replacing the rotors because of that--I don't expect this to be a problem at a Tesla service centre. Just one more reason to avoid car dealers.)

 

[Zas]

thanks to all you, I feel better now... Absolutely LOVE the car !

 

[NigelM]

That's normal....but it's a great excuse to find some quiet road and have some fun cleaning the rotors off! :biggrin:

(Stay safe though!)

 

[deonb]

Your breaks will also likely squeak until the rust comes off. Also not a problem.

A good way to stop that is to do 5 or so emergency stops from 65 mph (hard enough that the ABS engages).

Make sure that:
a) You do this on a wide, dry road.
b) Nobody is behind you.
c) You don't have stuff lying around inside the car / trunk / frunk.

The breaking power of the MS is quite impressive...

 

[FalconNinetyD]

I wish Tesla/Brembo would do something like Chevy did with the Volt:

GM Creates Recipe for Brakes That Shine

 

[mknox]

In the cold, wet weather we've been having, I have also been finding that my brakes are "sticking" to the rotors when parked. Several times I've put the car in gear and had to give it a bit of power until it kind of "snaps" free. Never experienced that on past cars before...

 

[ToddRLockwood]

Rotor rust is a minor problem, until it gets imbedded into the brake pads. From there, it can get burned into the rotor surface under hard braking, resulting in pulsing brakes. I had terrible problems with this on a couple of Audi cars until I upgraded to high zinc content rotors. I wish Tesla would do the same.

 

[JakeP]

In the cold, wet weather we've been having, I have also been finding that my brakes are "sticking" to the rotors when parked. Several times I've put the car in gear and had to give it a bit of power until it kind of "snaps" free. Never experienced that on past cars before...

I experience this stickiness also. Rotors get a light rust coating after I wash the car, but shine right up after some braking, just like on my other cars.

 

[wkdc6]

I've seen this on a lot of German cars also, it's no biggie.

 

[Kaivball]

These problem arrived at any EV that I have seen until today.

The rotors will rust much faster because the surface is not so often used as in an ICE car.
The case is that in every EV you will use the mechanical brake much less.

In the end you will replace the rotor not because they are too thin you will replace it because they are to rusty.
If the rust thickness become to thick, it will be affect your baking in an emergency situation.


A solution can be that the car take on the brakes very slighty to clean the rust off every second ride for one oder two miles ?

I know from the past, Mercedes has taken a automatic drying program in the E-Klasse when the brakes get wet. The brake take on automatically wo dry the rotors for best braking.
A little bit rediculous but that was selled as an advanced technology.

???

I have never seen anybody replace rotors because they are too rusty.

Even in the S you end up using the bakes a little bit when you drive.

They will never get to a point where they "rust through" and must be replaced because of that.


Have you ever had that happen to you?

 

[Sunfishsolar.ca]

Are the rotors from a specific different car, BMW, like the bolt pattern, I'm wondering if we could get after market rotors by ordering for a BMW. Brembo most likely makes treated or coated rotors. Carbon? (lighter, no rust). Alloy of aluminum. Thoughts?

 

[Zapped]

In the cold, wet weather we've been having, I have also been finding that my brakes are "sticking" to the rotors when parked. Several times I've put the car in gear and had to give it a bit of power until it kind of "snaps" free. Never experienced that on past cars before...

I've had a similar situation after washing my car and leaving overnight
Haven't figured out how to leave the car in neutral.
Brakes keep getting applied after I lock the doors

 

[J in MN]

I wish Tesla/Brembo would do something like Chevy did with the Volt.

Agreed! After two year the rotors on my Volt still looks like they did the day it rolled out the factory. Compared to the total cost of the Model S, this should be insignificant, but add a lot to the perceived quality of the car.