PSA: Bed in your brakes

[Imundo]

I took delivery of my Model Y in December. Overwhelmingly, I have been using regen for one-pedal driving so naturally, the brakes haven’t seen much use. So, imagine my surprise when I, using some of the Model Y’s many horsepowers, needed to use some brakes and she did NOT want to stop!

Basically, this was brand-new brake pads meeting new steel rotors for the first time. Without brake pad material embedded into them, rotors don’t stick to pads well. In ICE cars brake pad material is transferred onto the pads during normal driving and because ICE drivers usually “break-in” engines, hard braking is rarely done before the brakes are properly “bedded-in”.

With EVs, the brakes don’t see much use and can feel very ineffective when you need them in a pinch. Don’t be like me and scare the crap out of yourself, Perform a bedding-in procedure to transfer pad material to your rotors, preparing your brakes for use. You should also use the brakes occasionally to knock off surface corrosion and ensure the parts have not seized.

Happy motoring!

 

[2000prerunner]

Oh did you not take it right to the track on deliver day ? Lol


Yeah , good point on the break in process. For most of my other cars with performance breaks there was a few miles where the new pad dust needed to embed into the rotor to condition it .
Even on the 2008 Benz E class , the car would actively tap the breaks (unnoticed to driver) on long road trips to keep the pads and rotors warm in case of emergency stop was needed (cold breaks and pads stop a few feet longer)

 

[mrwug]

Kinda surprised that reduced regen in Iceland in December wouldn't have had you using the brakes enough to get them broken in.

 

[N2B8]

Be sure to turn off brake regen when you do this.

 

[MrJeep997]

I tried to bed them in right away but the Tesla won't let you use the gas and brake at the same time. Now that it's really cold and regen isn't really working most mornings the brakes have been properly bedded.

 

[N2B8]

I tried to bed them in right away but the Tesla won't let you use the gas and brake at the same time. Now that it's really cold and regen isn't really working most mornings the brakes have been properly bedded.

Re-read the instructions you're not doing it right. Gas to 60 mph then off gas and brake really hard to 5-10mph then back on gas to 60mph and repeat a dozen time. After the last time try to coast to cool down the brakes before coming to a full stop.

 

[Pianewman]

N2B8: No way to turn off regen.

 

[MrJeep997]

Re-read the instructions you're not doing it right. Gas to 60 mph then off gas and brake really hard to 5-10mph then back on gas to 60mph and repeat a dozen time. After the last time try to coast to cool down the brakes before coming to a full stop.

There are many different ways to bed in brakes. The method you state is very hard to do on congested roads, and not necessarily the safest. Applying gas and brakes a few times does the same thing, though it's not possible in the Tesla apparently. All you are doing is mating to surfaces by creating some friction and heat, how you do it doesn't matter as much as doing it.

 

[tm1v2]

I'm surprised to hear the Model Y isn't letting you use the accelerator and brake at the same time. My October 2021 build M3P lets me do that. It gives a warning as all S3XY Teslas do, but I can still accelerate against the partially held brake. I've done it to clear off the rotor surface when I'm not otherwise using the brakes much.

 

[andaconda]

IMHO I don't over think the problem bedding in the brakes on a new car. Sure a couple of good solid stops are fine, but think that only resurfaced rotors and new pads need this attention. If I want to clean the rotors on my Y - I find a good hill - put in neutral and coast to ~30 mph and then apply the brakes in a solid firm manor. Just my opinion -- YMMV




















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[N2B8]

N2B8: No way to turn off regen.

Sorry I meant set Regen Braking to Low

 

[N2B8]

There are many different ways to bed in brakes. The method you state is very hard to do on congested roads, and not necessarily the safest. Applying gas and brakes a few times does the same thing, though it's not possible in the Tesla apparently. All you are doing is mating to surfaces by creating some friction and heat, how you do it doesn't matter as much as doing it.

I'll do mine this weekend to see what the new Y allows me to do. And yes hard to do if you're on crowded road. I doubt most newer cars allow you to brake and "gas" at the same time for safety reasons. I bedded my brakes when I had other gas cars that squeak and squeal when braking. I didn't do it for my two model 3s since I've had no problem with braking noises. I think in general it's good practice. The brakes for an EV and gas car is no different.

 

[wwu123]

I'm surprised to hear the Model Y isn't letting you use the accelerator and brake at the same time. My October 2021 build M3P lets me do that. It gives a warning as all S3XY Teslas do, but I can still accelerate against the partially held brake. I've done it to clear off the rotor surface when I'm not otherwise using the brakes much.

Yeah, how would you parallel park a tight spot on a hill in San Francisco, like I had to do in my Model S over the weekend? Had to feather both pedals at the same time.

(The hill hold feature actually gave me fits, cause I had to kind of gun the accelerator a bit to get it to release, but have to let off the brakes completely so it jerks forward rather than creep forward...)

 

[Pianewman]

Sorry I meant set Regen Braking to Low

HAHA! Can't do that either!

 

[Percy]

If I bought a new car I would expect the brakes to work.
Silly me.

 

[Pianewman]

If I bought a new car I would expect the brakes to work.
Silly me.

Of COURSE they work. The discussion is about maximizing stopping efficiency of any disc/rotor braking system.

 

[Tha_Ape]

oooh, I never thought about that. might need to do some 80-20s...

PSA: If you plan on doing FSD Beta, do this PRIOR to mashing that beta button. I imagine it'll destroy your score

 

[CyberGus]

The computer should keep track of brake usage over time, and periodically apply them to keep the rotors fresh.

 

[Pianewman]

ah-HAH!!! I think CyberGus has finally solved the phantom braking issue!!! Way to go, GUS!!!!

 

[DanDi58]

I read somewhere (I think on a thread here) the if you have Hold mode on the car actually uses the brakes to bring the car to a full stop in the last few feet. It makes sense to me that it would do that, as that would remove any rust buildup on the rotors that naturally develops when not used. I also noticed quite a bit of brake dust on my wheels when I first removed my aero wheel covers a couple of months after I got the car.