Brake disc maintenance

[Dragon]

Last winter was harsh working around Brighton/Hove area, the amount of salts they put on the road surprised me. I always thought Brighton being on the south coast should be warmer and there shouldn't be any frost.

Put car off the road since March this year, took it out yesterday in preparation for the winter motoring. Surprised broken sheets of rusty metal on the floor. Worried about where it came from. Checked all brakes and whether all the brake pads were damaged. Prising the rear inner pad was a problem as the rim of the rusted brake disc obstructed removal. Gave it a tug damaged the outer rim of the brake pad. Left it as it was might had prevented damage. It looked like the brake pads also rusted with flaky pieces. Now I know where the flaky pieces came from-the rusty brake disc self cleaned by the brake pads during braking.

How do you avoid this after the winters?

Flushed it with more water or manually clean it with spirits in the summer?

 

[nigel cross]

It sounds from your post, that you haven't used the car since March. Any car if it hasn't been used for six months would have started to rust up on the brake discs, as they are not protected from rusting.

 

[Dragon]

It sounds from your post, that you haven't used the car since March. Any car if it hasn't been used for six months would have started to rust up on the brake discs, as they are not protected from rusting.

But it was in the garage away from the rain. Surprised to see it continue to rust. Did greased the underside and it still look like new, obviously you cannot grease the brake disks and pads.

Lost about a mm or more of the brake disks.

 

[portzy]

Your best bet if you are going to store for a few months, amongst other things, is to give the brakes a really hard time just before it goes to bed. If it was wet or you had washed it prior to storage then the discs would have been wet and prone to rust from scratch.

Keep an eye on humidity in your garage also, a small heater of sorts might be an idea.

Portzy.

 

[Dragon]

Your best bet if you are going to store for a few months, amongst other things, is to give the brakes a really hard time just before it goes to bed. If it was wet or you had washed it prior to storage then the discs would have been wet and prone to rust from scratch.

Keep an eye on humidity in your garage also, a small heater of sorts might be an idea.

Portzy.

I did washed the brake disks before storage, it won't work and seized up the brakes. The solution I believe is to clean it with spirit before storage.

 

[Dieselman]

Wash them a few days before storage, drive it hard, park it dry, lever the pads back away from the disks and spray with rustproofing oil, then clean with spirit before use.

 

[Corrado]

Lost about a mm or more of the brake disks.

The garage wasn't tidal was it? I laid a car up in Feb and May in an unheated garage, each time for a couple of months - about a mile from the seafront - and there was nothing more than a surface coating on the discs which disappeared within a few applications of the brakes.

 

[Dragon]

The garage wasn't tidal was it? I laid a car up in Feb and May in an unheated garage, each time for a couple of months - about a mile from the seafront - and there was nothing more than a surface coating on the discs which disappeared within a few applications of the brakes.

I live 5 miles inland from the coast.