Warped Rotors Whats my options?

[aerodyne]

Reading this thread, I wonder how the wheels are being put on? With the conical lug nuts, you cannot torque with weight on the wheel, and expect a even torque. This can def warp rotors as prior poster mentioned.

Been to many tire shops and dealers, always re check lug nut torques when I get home. Usually one is way high.

 

[jeffdom1978]

Sucks, I am in this boat. I have 9,000 miles on my 2018 S and my rotors are warped like crazy. I cant think of one time I had to brake hard that could have done this. The only thing I did was swap out my summer and winter wheels/tires at Discount Tire, but my winter wheels are also Tesla wheels and same lug nuts. I dont know what to do, I guess I'll contact my service center and see what they say, but its an hour away and huge inconvenience.

Maybe the Polar Vortex back in January is to blame? I don't remember this happening before that. With -25 as a high a few days, maybe that cold did it?

 

[aerodyne]

Check the torque of the lugs nuts. If more than 130% of spec, take it up with Discount Tire.

 

[SSedan]

"warped rotors" are rarely actually that, more often pad deposits on the rotors causing uneven friction.

Many times can be resolved with some garnet sandpaper. Garnet is sharp but not hard enough to cut the rotor.

 

[aerodyne]

Possible, but I would say unlikely on a new car in normal use.

Check the rotor run-out with a dial indicator

 

[jeffdom1978]

"warped rotors" are rarely actually that, more often pad deposits on the rotors causing uneven friction.

Many times can be resolved with some garnet sandpaper. Garnet is sharp but not hard enough to cut the rotor.

Interesting you mention this, I've had warped rotors in the past on my Lexus after 40K miles and this feels same but different. I dont always feel the shaking when I hit the brakes, its more when i'm slowing down quickly at highway speeds or maybe going really slow where it feels like the brakes are grabbing and then letting go with same brake pressure.. Weird.

So time to Google this Garnet sand paper you speak of!

 

[SSedan]

Garnet is just the red-orange cheap woodworking sandpaper.

 

[whitex]

Drove my wife's 2018 MS recently, rotors feel warped (car shakes when mechanical brakes engage). This never happened on 2013, 2015, or (very early) 2017 Model S's, even though we put more miles on them than the current 2018. I wonder if Tesla switched to cheap rotors at some point, maybe some cost cutting passed on from the Model 3, like the cost optimized mirror assembly back in end of 2016 - early 2017 which wouldn't unfold mirrors properly.

 

[Gentilly7]

Drove my wife's 2018 MS recently, rotors feel warped (car shakes when mechanical brakes engage). This never happened on 2013, 2015, or (very early) 2017 Model S's, even though we put more miles on them than the current 2018. I wonder if Tesla switched to cheap rotors at some point, maybe some cost cutting passed on from the Model 3, like the cost optimized mirror assembly back in end of 2016 - early 2017 which wouldn't unfold mirrors properly.

Would you happen to have powder coated wheels?

 

[whitex]

Would you happen to have powder coated wheels?

Nope, stock wheels, car was less than a year old and less than 14K miles when I noticed it (my wife's car, she did not notice it much because she mostly uses regen driving the kids around).

 

[Gentilly7]

Nope, stock wheels, car was less than a year old and less than 14K miles when I noticed it (my wife's car, she did not notice it much because she mostly uses regen driving the kids around).

That’s a tough one. I have powder coated wheels but your not the first person to report this issue on factory wheels. Doesn’t seem like anyone has determined root cause.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Our '17 P100D is at the local Service Center today, towed in for a list of error codes which reduced power to about 50 kW; not good. Last night's call to Tech Support suggested it would require a tow, which they coordinated for this a.m.

While we were at the SC I asked for a review and replacement of the front rotors as they intermittently shudder under light braking when coming down from highway speeds. Despite this being our 7th Model S, one or two of which had new rotors while under warranty (without concern or comment), this time I was informed that these are potentially a "wear item."

This is very odd and disappointing.

I've not "worn out" the rotors--the car has under 10k miles in almost three years. The pads are also like new, and the Regen is set to normal. And no track time either.

Since when are material defects in brake rotors considered a customer pay item?

Please advise if you too have noticed Tesla's change in this, from warranty to supposedly customer pay, and how you resolved it to turn it back into a warranty item.

Thanks!

 

[whitex]

Our '17 P100D is at the local Service Center today, towed in for a list of error codes which reduced power to about 50 kW; not good. Last night's call to Tech Support suggested it would require a tow, which they coordinated for this a.m.

While we were at the SC I asked for a review and replacement of the front rotors as they intermittently shudder under light braking when coming down from highway speeds. Despite this being our 7th Model S, one or two of which had new rotors while under warranty (without concern or comment), this time I was informed that these are potentially a "wear item."

This is very odd and disappointing.

I've not "worn out" the rotors--the car has under 10k miles in almost three years. The pads are also like new, and the Regen is set to normal. And no track time either.

Since when are material defects in brake rotors considered a customer pay item?

Please advise if you too have noticed Tesla's change in this, from warranty to supposedly customer pay, and how you resolved it to turn it back into a warranty item.

Thanks!

Wow, that is new (I had a rotor replaced earlier this year). If even the displays (MCU & IC) are now considered a wear item, what on that car is not a wear item?

Is this Elon's ultimate service experience (he is officially the president of service at Tesla)? If the car is not working as designed, blame it on software and tell the customer to wait for an over-the-air update. If physical something breaks, tell them it's a wear item.

 

[kkillebrew]

Coming down Pikes Peak, park rangers use a light gun to check people's rotor temps, and if they are too hot they tell you pull over. So they stopped me once coming down on regen in my MS and laughed, saying that they never stop Tesla's but they had made a bet on what temp mine would be, and informed me my front left rotor was an ambient 71 degrees, whereas other cars are generally in the 200's

Point being It is unlikely that they ever get hot enough to warp.

 

[Huachipato]

Purchased my car with about 60K miles on it. No warranty obviously, but did note a lip on the edge of the front rotors and vibration when applying brakes - especially at speed. You can say it's brake material build up or whatever instead of actually warped rotors - but it felt like warped rotors to me.

Recently at about 66K miles the front brakes started to make noise. A visual confirmation did reveal that my pads were down to the squealers, and the time to actually have the repair completed needed to happen sooner rather than later.

New pads and rotors up front resolved both issues. This system doesn't seem hard to work on at all and Brembo sells the parts directly. I bought the parts and had a local mechanic shop do to the work though since I haven't figured out a way to get the Tesla safely on jack stands yet. I would have done this job myself otherwise.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Tesla warranty excludes obvious wear items, as indicated here:

Vehicle Warranty

However, brake rotors are not listed as excluded (Page 7).

I have a text from my Service Center adviser advising that my front rotors are warped on our 2017 P100D with under 10k miles. He's asking me to approve an estimate of some $600+ for replacement; I have to have them replaced to correct a mild braking vibration. I balk at paying for this repair as I've never had to do so with any of our BMW's (some 3 or 4 of them), nor any previous Model S (seven of those, so far).

Reasons:

1. The rotors (and pads) are NOT worn out (in fact, they're barely worn at all). They are warped--that is a material defect.

2. I have NO issue with replacing pads and/or rotors if they were worn out, but these are not.

3. Car has never been tracked.

Have requested a call from the SC manager if they persist in wanting to charge me for this warranty repair.

Any thoughts from others that have had rotors replaced by Tesla under warranty (as we have had on 1 or 2 of our previous Model S's)?

Thanks!

 

[SSedan]

THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT WARPED BRAKE ROTORS..

Google "warped rotor myth" or "warped rotor or pad deposits".

Warped rotors diagnosis allows more parts sales and does correct the issue, kind of like buying new plates because you got them dirty at dinner. It is an effective solution but maybe not a good one.

 

[Gentilly7]

Tesla warranty excludes obvious wear items, as indicated here:

Vehicle Warranty

However, brake rotors are not listed as excluded (Page 7).

I have a text from my Service Center adviser advising that my front rotors are warped on our 2017 P100D with under 10k miles. He's asking me to approve an estimate of some $600+ for replacement; I have to have them replaced to correct a mild braking vibration. I balk at paying for this repair as I've never had to do so with any of our BMW's (some 3 or 4 of them), nor any previous Model S (seven of those, so far).

Reasons:

1. The rotors (and pads) are NOT worn out (in fact, they're barely worn at all). They are warped--that is a material defect.

2. I have NO issue with replacing pads and/or rotors if they were worn out, but these are not.

3. Car has never been tracked.

Have requested a call from the SC manager if they persist in wanting to charge me for this warranty repair.

Any thoughts from others that have had rotors replaced by Tesla under warranty (as we have had on 1 or 2 of our previous Model S's)?

Thanks!

With only 10k miles your rotors really should be covered under warranty. Do you have original wheels and tires? Have you had your calipers painter. Have your wheels been powder coated?

If you had any aftermarket work done this can complicate things. So far, there is a lot of warped rotor cases from people that have powder coated their factory wheels, myself included. Though this has not been confirmed as a cause. If I were you I would definitely escalate your warranty denial.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

With only 10k miles your rotors really should be covered under warranty. Do you have original wheels and tires? Have you had your calipers painter. Have your wheels been powder coated?

If you had any aftermarket work done this can complicate things. So far, there is a lot of warped rotor cases from people that have powder coated their factory wheels, myself included. Though this has not been confirmed as a cause. If I were you I would definitely escalate your warranty denial.

Nope, no work except for their installation of the 21" Arachnids (not powder-coated or otherwise modified).

p.s. Not a materials scientist of physics professor, but as for the powder-coating as a reason for warped rotors . . . a novel theory but I've never read or seen any evidence to suggest the wheel is much of heat sink for brake energy.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

And no painted calipers either, except for the red paint that Brembo put on there for Tesla's use on P100D's . . . and if that was their excuse for denying rotor replacement under warranty I'd be blowing a gasket!