warped rotors after 3K!!
 

I put new pads and rotors on my 124.602 3000 miles ago and the darn rotors are warped already!! I got the parts from Fastlane - whatever Phil recommended. I know I did everything by the book. In the 3K I did no emergency braking or decents down mountain sides. Actually, my driving was mostly highway - previous rotors lasted 65,000 miles without even needing to be ground.

Were these junk parts?
Should I ask for a refund?

What make of rotors are they ?

Did you torque the wheel bolts properly? Over-torquing will cause the discs to warp.

Did you drive into a puddle with hot-hot brakes? I've seen folks warp discs that way. Maybe hit a car wash with hot brakes?

Just throwing out ideas...

Blackmercedes,

I did not torque the bolts. But I did check them and they were all 75 to 85 ft/lbs. Do you know the correct torque? Would Mercedes use rotors that are this tempermental? Why havn't I had this problem before?

Sorry to whine - this is just a bit frustrating

Correct torque is 80 ft/lbs.

I believe Mercedes casts thier own OEM rotors, the rotors on the internet are OEM quality aftermarket. I use ATE rotors and have never had a problem with them.

***** happens. But, there often is a reason for it. Find the rotor that is warped with a dial indicator and be sure the calipers and flex hoses are functioning properly. Check to be sure the wheel flange is clean beneath the rotor.

I can tell you from thousands of rotor installs, that every once in a while one does this. Send it back, I'm sure they will stand up for it.

Steve,

Thanks for the thoughts. I have never needed to send a defective product back to fastlane before. Is there a warrenty period on rotors?

WARP????
 

hi slo

first thing is who said they were warped? and second what is actually happening to make you think they are warped?

so.... answer the first 2 questions to your satisfaction. then have the service guy (or yourself) spin it on it's axle to see the rotor roll. if you want you could even use a dial gauge and measure the hi and lo's of the rotor.

a few places to look might be the wheel bearing. did it get installed properly too tight or too loose?? did you catch the wheel a bit wrong and not have it sitting true?? so far we've only discussed the symptoms. we need to find the disease.

i got a set of front rotors once and they went south in about 1000 miles. the cause was hard spots on the faces of the rotors. bad castings due to improper cooling or their load was not at a proper poor temp or it sat too long in the pot.

the type of driving you describe makes me believe that the rotors couldn't get hot enough to warp.

good luck and keep us posted

Craig,

"first thing is who said they were warped? and second what is actually happening to make you think they are warped?"

First: I say they are warped

Second: because of 1) brake pulsations and 2) the fact that I removed the front wheels and could see with my own eyes the highs and lows of the rotors next to the brake pads as I turn the assembly.

I emailed Factlane last night with a copy of my order information dated Jan 24 2003. I have yet to hear a response.

Here is the response from Phil:

"Hello Dan,
We realize the value of our customers and will do everything in our
power to solve problems however, rotors do not warp by themselves. I have
seen some that have been rinsed after driving while hot warp. I will forward
this E-mail to our vendors and see what they can do for us.

Thank you
Phil
1.888.333.4642"

Suggestions, anyone?

This just does not seem right to me. I have driven many hundreds-of-thousands of miles and have been replacing brakes and rotors for years. I know when I am at fault. This is not one of those times.

Of course warrantee is between you and the seller. I do not have anything to do with fastlane so I can't tell you their policy.

Brakes are a perishable commodity and situations like yours arise for all installers. Mostly the discs are exchanged, some shops cut the discs to true them on the car. You need to have numbers for the problem. How much are they out and is there runout in the flange?

Could his calipers or proportioning valve be bad, and if so could they cause warping? How do you check these things?

Sounds to me the he received the cheapest set of rotors someone could send him.

Was the question of who made them ever ordered?

I would sure like to know the brand as I am fixing to do the same project!

Slowmoe says he can see the warp when he rotates the rotors by hand.

Is the rotor is mounted flush with the bearing hub flange? Is there any discoloration (bluing) on the wear surface? Bearing axial play set correctly? If all this checks out, I agree that he got a bad rotor.

Manufacturing rotors isn't rocket science. They're made of cast gray iron. But a few things can go wrong... too hard, too soft, hardness may be variable within the rotor, poor control of graphite flake size, casting porosity, or poor machining as manufactured.

One common installation problem that causes warping is mis-seating due to an improperly cleaned hub. The old rotor can leave deposits and rust on areas of the hub that will cause poor alignment when the new rotor is torqued on. Distortion at the hub attachment will cause stresses in the rotor body that allow warpage to develop when the rotor heats up. I always brush the hub area thoroughly with a wire brush and solvent, and examine contact minutely before applying full torque.

I have also seen problems develop due to calipers that were not properly inspected and maintained during the brake job. They may have functioned fine with the old pads/rotors, but not after being compressed to fit the new ones. Dragging brakes will excessively heat the rotors even without applying the brakes, and set you up for warpage.

And, these are just a few of the things that can go wrong...

Steve