Will these rotors be ok after some hard braking?

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....just jumpin' in to "vote".

If you're set on replacement and just want to stamp on the brakes and see what happens, you can.......
Take her out for an easy spin and apply the brakes "long and slow".
15 minutes of that will serve to point you in the right direction.

BUT the most thrifty course of action you could follow is disassemble and see how thick the pads are.
If there's lots of life left in 'em, reuse 'em. There's no sense in trashing pads in a rusty, crooked "experiment".
And if the rotors are thick enough, you could have 'em turned.
Clean and lube as you reassemble.
 
I would be more worried about greasing the caliper guide pins. I would probably just drive the car around a little using the brakes often, not exactly hard. I imagine they will be fine for basic driving at the least.
 
One more vote for "try it out easy first". That being said, if you're going to drive it much at all, you might want to save up for a brake job. I had an old beater truck that I parked for about 6 months. When I sold it, I had to put it in 4-Low just to get it to move. The front pads were rusted to the rotor. After a quick drive it cleared up some and you could stop, but the next owner had to replace the rotors and pads because the vibration never went away.

So, give it a go and post some pics!
 
Originally Posted By: wing0

2010 Subaru Forester with 30k km.
I didn't think the make/model actually affects the opinion of whether we can temporarily use the car to pass emission test that's 4km away from house.


Is there any particular reason why this vehicle is driven so very little, yet is insured and plated? Because, IMO, all this sitting is most likely doing more harm than good.
 
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Yikes! Those look... horrific.

If it were my car, I'd be hitting up RockAuto for a new set of rotors and pads. You can get kits for front and back for about US$175 plus shipping ($88 or so each front/back).

In my mind, that's just cheap insurance that something you CAN'T see hasn't failed... yet.
 
Buy new rotors. I actually had a car where the rotors rusted this badly, and I drove it. The brakes were almost useless for a few miles, but gradually got better as the rust was scraped off. However, there was a pretty bad pedal pulsation that remained long after the rust had cleared off. My guess is there were high spots on the rotors where the pads had been covering them while the car sat, since those areas didn't rust so badly. That pulsation made panic stops very sketchy. Just my own experience.
 
Originally Posted By: Oversteer
Buy new rotors. I actually had a car where the rotors rusted this badly, and I drove it. The brakes were almost useless for a few miles, but gradually got better as the rust was scraped off. However, there was a pretty bad pedal pulsation that remained long after the rust had cleared off. My guess is there were high spots on the rotors where the pads had been covering them while the car sat, since those areas didn't rust so badly. That pulsation made panic stops very sketchy. Just my own experience.


Yeah it will probably still vibrate under hard braking but it should clear up enough to drive around town.

You won't know until you try.
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Originally Posted By: wing0

2010 Subaru Forester with 30k km.
I didn't think the make/model actually affects the opinion of whether we can temporarily use the car to pass emission test that's 4km away from house.


Is there any particular reason why this vehicle is driven so very little, yet is insured and plated? Because, IMO, all this sitting is most likely doing more harm than good.


Like I mentioned, family matter...
It is my mother's car who is ill and unable to drive. She used to go to work that's close by so the car doesn't accumulate too many mileage.
It is plated, and insured for storage only.

I could switch the car and suspend mine, but because I do about 150km a day of driving to work, the forester does not make economical sense.
While my mother doesn't want to let go of the vehicle yet.

I am recharging the battery and will test out the brakes slowly over the weekend to determine how well they work.
The first hump is to get the emission test done and then I have more time to wait for rockauto shipment to do the brakes myself.
I do most car maintenance work for family and extended family.
The only reason I ask this question is because I don't have experience with leaving a car without usage for this long and whether I need to quickly do brakes to make it driveable. I'll just try and see...
 
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I can tell no one in this thread has ever used a disc brake trailer in salt water.

Start it up and move it to bust the pads free if stuck. Drive and give a few firm stops. You're done.

If you are satisfied with braking performance and the calipers don't stick, just rock on.
 
Started up the car after recharging the battery. Let it ran for about 15 mins or so.
I didn't have time this morning to try and move the car, but I just realize the emission system is not ready for the test after battery disconnection.
So it's not just a mere 4km drive to test centre, I have to get through enough drive cycles to get it ready.
 
If it is just going to sit again after inspection you will have the same problem .
Don't waste your money unless you are going to drive it.
 
After driving for about 30 mins with slow driving around neighbourhoods to ensure the brakes are working and then drove in some industrial area with no traffic to worry about.
This is what it looks like now, a little vibration at higher speed braking, but nothing heating excessively after highway run so I think they're ok till the emission test. I just need to get the ready state in the ECM now.

The rear is definitely bad, but it's a bit better after I drove the car at night again.
This'll give me some time to do online shopping for some good rotors/brake pads combo when I need to replace them.

20170211_154157.jpg


20170211_154226.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Take it out and do some hard braking like when you break in new pads.


x2 this will also help the readiness monitors as you stretch the engine's legs.
 
After driving about 100km. Everything was at ready state so I got the test done this morning and ordered renewal sticker.

Now I can begin shopping for parts and do brake service when I get some free time.
 
Glad you were able to get the car out and get it inspected. If the car is going to continue to sit new brakes are probably a waste as they'll look just like these in short time. Again, glad it worked out for you.
 
Originally Posted By: FlyNavyP3
Glad you were able to get the car out and get it inspected. If the car is going to continue to sit new brakes are probably a waste as they'll look just like these in short time. Again, glad it worked out for you.


Yes, I understand that they'll end up like this again if we leave the car unused.
I am hoping to run it on a weekly basis to keep everything moving somewhat.

For now, I will do a quick brake service on one of the upcoming weekends to see how thin the pads are(I remember the rear is worn down more) and lubricate moving parts.

Once we determine what to do with the car, then I will buy parts to replace.
 
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