Johan
Ex got M3 in the divorce, waiting for EU Model Y!
Much better. Now let's give this whole spelling thing a brake and focus on the breaks.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Much better. Now let's give this whole spelling thing a brake and focus on the breaks.
GlmnAlyAirCar
Active Member
Got it. Ok to use someone else's god's name in vain.
slyastro
Member
lolachampcar
Well-Known Member
Jez...... 
When it comes to brakes, different climates require different levels of love. If you live in one with high humidity and salt on the roads you need to have the brake fluid changed every year to prevent brake breakage If not, moisture accumulates in the fluid (it is hydroscopic which is why it always sucks all the moisture out of your skin when working with it) and will draw in ambient moisture. This moisture will attack the piston/wall interface in the caliper and drive the need for replacement.
WRT the rotors rusting away, all I can think of is to rinse the salt off on a somewhat regular basis. It is worth noting that there is nothing special about the rotors and thus they will likely show up in the secondary market very soon if they are not already available.
On the rear upper suspension arm side of things, Tesla went through several iterations on this link. They started with soft rubber bushings inside and outside then moved to the "P+" version of harder rubber bushings on both sides for all production. They now use a hard rubber bushing on the inside and a metal ball style joint on the outside for production these days. They are relatively easy to change out and can be done by any competent alignment shop provided the shop knows to lock down the rubber bushing side of the link with the arm in the neutral ride height position (so as not to load the bushing when the car is driving down the road).
When it comes to brakes, different climates require different levels of love. If you live in one with high humidity and salt on the roads you need to have the brake fluid changed every year to prevent brake breakage
If not, moisture accumulates in the fluid (it is hydroscopic which is why it always sucks all the moisture out of your skin when working with it) and will draw in ambient moisture. This moisture will attack the piston/wall interface in the caliper and drive the need for replacement.WRT the rotors rusting away, all I can think of is to rinse the salt off on a somewhat regular basis. It is worth noting that there is nothing special about the rotors and thus they will likely show up in the secondary market very soon if they are not already available.
On the rear upper suspension arm side of things, Tesla went through several iterations on this link. They started with soft rubber bushings inside and outside then moved to the "P+" version of harder rubber bushings on both sides for all production. They now use a hard rubber bushing on the inside and a metal ball style joint on the outside for production these days. They are relatively easy to change out and can be done by any competent alignment shop provided the shop knows to lock down the rubber bushing side of the link with the arm in the neutral ride height position (so as not to load the bushing when the car is driving down the road).
Last edited:
My question is why is none of this covered on the extended warranty? I have the extended warranty also and I'm about to go into extended warranty territory, so I'm curious why nothing is covered. The suspension piece, for example, is not wear and tear, that was a manufacturing decision, and I think likely one that required quite a few retrofits of a revised version of that part.
I've had all my brakes changed while on the original warranty (including rotors), is the extended warranty that different?
I've had all my brakes changed while on the original warranty (including rotors), is the extended warranty that different?
Adm
Active Member
Two questions;
1) Is it a performance version and if so, is it fair to compare the price with standard BMW 5 series breaks? (ducks and runs from the spelling police!)
2) How many miles have you driven with these brakes and how does that mileage compare with an ICE powered car?
1) Is it a performance version and if so, is it fair to compare the price with standard BMW 5 series breaks? (ducks and runs from the spelling police!
)2) How many miles have you driven with these brakes and how does that mileage compare with an ICE powered car?
gavine
Petrol Head turned EV Enthusiast
Jez......
When it comes to brakes, different climates require different levels of love. If you live in one with high humidity and salt on the roads you need to have the brake fluid changed every year to prevent brake breakage
+1 .... change your brake fluid!!!! Every 2 years at a minimum. So important and overlooked by most car owners. Then they complain when a routine brake job gets so expensive.
Is the Canadian "Extended Care Package" the same thing as the U.S. "Extended Service Agreement" aka extended warranty? Or is the ECP actually the Annual Service Plan that covers routine checkups only? And why doesn't Tesla call the ESA what it is, an extended warranty??
This is why I am very wary of picking a used, non-warrantied Tesla. 1 problem could result in thousands of dollars down the drain!
Hello I would like to chime in I have owned and operated an Independent repair shop for a long time. The reason the brakes can still work is that it has multiple piston calipers so if 1 sticks the others will stop the car. The prices here are insanely high but just like all dealers they usually are. While Brembo brake parts are very expensive they are a racing style of caliper and are easily rebuildable with plenty of resources to get the rebuild kits/parts to do this. They are designed with this in mind a rebuild kit probably costs 50 bucks plus the labor to do it. Also this is a normal braking system at the Hydraulic level meaning any reputable repair shop in your area could easily handle this repair for a fraction of the price you paid. It is very hard for me to believe that 3 calipers had stuck pistons all at once the odds of this are low these are high quality brake calipers not some junk. I realize you are in a harsh environment, I am willing to bet the slides for the pads were more the problem than the Caliper Pistons. If I were you I would ask for my old parts take them to an independent repair shop that you know and trust and ask them to check them out at worst you can have them rebuild them and resale them, used those calipers are about 300 each. As for the rotors being "pitted" I could totally see them being super rusty but if just the pad surface is pitted than why could it not be machined? In your environment I could totally see Rotors being worn out easily so that is understandable.
When did they start installing cold weather brake packages? I went in for my first annual service last month at the Ferrier service center and they didn't mention it. Would it have been installed at the factory on a December '14 car? Also I believe they flush the brake fluid every second visit as they didn't do it on the first one. I didn't insist as I had a brake pedal squeak a few months ago and they did it back then. If you have a brake pedal squeak it's probably a good idea to get it checked out as you probably have humidity in the system.
As to the OP, I strongly believe your repairs should be covered under warranty as those parts aren't wear items. It's my (limited) understanding only the pads and disks aren't covered. Let us know how it works out!
As to the OP, I strongly believe your repairs should be covered under warranty as those parts aren't wear items. It's my (limited) understanding only the pads and disks aren't covered. Let us know how it works out!
How to drive a Tesla:
1. Use the brakes at every opportunity, given that these opportunities are comparatively few and far between due to Regen 'doing it for you' so much of the time.
2. When you do apply brakes be as firm as possible, short of squealing or squirming the tire treads. Physical exercise!!
3. The idea is to move the pistons in & out to their maximum travel. This will not happen if the driver WEASELS the brakes. Go from FIRM ON to FULL RELEASE as quickly as possible each time. This is good for your brakes!!
4. This will also remove the surface crud from the rotors so they will be effective in an emergency stop. Take a peek at your rotors to see that they are kept bright and shiny.
--
1. Use the brakes at every opportunity, given that these opportunities are comparatively few and far between due to Regen 'doing it for you' so much of the time.
2. When you do apply brakes be as firm as possible, short of squealing or squirming the tire treads. Physical exercise!!
3. The idea is to move the pistons in & out to their maximum travel. This will not happen if the driver WEASELS the brakes. Go from FIRM ON to FULL RELEASE as quickly as possible each time. This is good for your brakes!!
4. This will also remove the surface crud from the rotors so they will be effective in an emergency stop. Take a peek at your rotors to see that they are kept bright and shiny.
--
Electricfan
Active Member
I agree with others - this should be covered by Tesla. No way a 2012 model car should fail in this manner unless it was abused. Did you have it serviced regularly? Thanks for posting this, as I will now be asking if my brake fluid was flushed next annual service.
DFibRL8R
Active Member
Sounds like this could have been done by an independent repair shop.
Tesla (Elon) has previously stated that service would not be a profit center for the company. While that may sound like out of warranty repairs would be reasonable, unfortunately it looks like instead it means all the free repairs done under warranty offset the high repair costs borne by us early adopters now out of warranty (like my $895.74 door handle replacement). Still not a net profit for Tesla per se. I would like to see more reasonable pricing from Tesla or more independent shops working on them especially for normal parts like brakes and suspension.
slyastro
Member
Yes I still have my S85 2013 and I keep it!
The P90DL will be traded in for my Founder's Model X P90DL!!
Skotty
2014 S P85 | 2023 F-150L
I drove a lot of jalopies in my early driving years, and brake problems are not that common. There were basically 3 things that would come up from time to time -- emergency brake cable failure (probably no longer applicable these days), cracked flexible brake fluid lines (they rarely if ever leak or fail, but they develop cracking at which point you are supposed to replace them), and damaged rotors from letting the pads run out. Never once was there a caliper or piston failure, and rotors generally were only a problem when scratched/etched by a completely worn pad. But even then you could sometimes just get the rotors turned.
Now there is legitimate concern over infrequent brake use causing problems. Things that don't get used for a long time on a car tend to like to seize up or wear in undesirable ways. So use your brakes from time to time just to exercise them. But in addition, I have to think Tesla (or the owner) is, at times, just being exceedingly picky and replacing parts that don't really need to be replaced just to get it back to a like new state. That doesn't necessarily mean service is trying to screw you over for money, they might just be trying to make it as good as possible and are not factoring cost (and efficiency; it is wasteful to replace stuff that doesn't really need replaced) into the equation as much as you might like.
So I would recommend exercising those brakes from time to time, and if you are doing that, if you ever get a service center saying you need practically your entire braking system replaced, go get a second opinion. Brakes are not that fragile, and if they are, some manufacturers need to go out of business. I'm no expert on Tesla's brake system, but from a casual observation, they look pretty high quality to me, so I wouldn't expect much trouble from them.
EDIT -- How often should one exercise the brakes? A good question. I don't have an experienced answer, but I would think shortly after driving in bad weather, and beyond that, maybe once every week or two use the brakes a few times as if you had no regen (easier if you temporarily turn regen to low in the settings).
Now there is legitimate concern over infrequent brake use causing problems. Things that don't get used for a long time on a car tend to like to seize up or wear in undesirable ways. So use your brakes from time to time just to exercise them. But in addition, I have to think Tesla (or the owner) is, at times, just being exceedingly picky and replacing parts that don't really need to be replaced just to get it back to a like new state. That doesn't necessarily mean service is trying to screw you over for money, they might just be trying to make it as good as possible and are not factoring cost (and efficiency; it is wasteful to replace stuff that doesn't really need replaced) into the equation as much as you might like.
So I would recommend exercising those brakes from time to time, and if you are doing that, if you ever get a service center saying you need practically your entire braking system replaced, go get a second opinion. Brakes are not that fragile, and if they are, some manufacturers need to go out of business. I'm no expert on Tesla's brake system, but from a casual observation, they look pretty high quality to me, so I wouldn't expect much trouble from them.
EDIT -- How often should one exercise the brakes? A good question. I don't have an experienced answer, but I would think shortly after driving in bad weather, and beyond that, maybe once every week or two use the brakes a few times as if you had no regen (easier if you temporarily turn regen to low in the settings).
Last edited:
This thread scares me.
Hopefully since brakes are something that can be electronically articulated, that Tesla will program in some regular "exercise" of the brakes to avoid this kind of thing going forward.
Hopefully since brakes are something that can be electronically articulated, that Tesla will program in some regular "exercise" of the brakes to avoid this kind of thing going forward.
Similar threads
