Scarf Face

iTrader: (1)

About two months ago, my right front brake started making a grinding sound when I was braking - a pretty obvious sign of a warped rotor. I take it to the dealer, they check it out, and are pretty surprised by it, since they did the 1-year service on the car about a month before that, and the brakes seemed fine. They replace the front rotors under warranty. Me = happy.

Fast-forward 3 weeks later. I start hearing a faint grinding noise fron the front right. It can't be, I thought; they're friggin' 3 weeks old. I take it to the dealer again, and they're stumped. It's warped, and looks like it has been overheating. I drive to work and back about 12 km in stop and go traffic, and it has been pretty hot outside in the past while, but 3 weeks to kill a rotor? Anyway, they asked me to bring it in next week, when the Mitsu area representative or something will be there, they want him to look at the car.

I was wondering if anyone else here had this problem. I don't race, or rarely even drive the car hard. I use the brake early, which might actually be a problem, but it shouldn't warp the rotor by itself. I have no mods and don't carry any loads. Any ideas on what could be causing this?

wiretap

iTrader: (2)

Don't tighten the wheels on with an impact gun.. use a torque wrench. Impact guns cause rotors to warp due to it being tight and slamming down all in one motion. The evo specs for 5 lug are 100ft/lb and the regular lancer 4 lug is 80ft/lb.. I'd go with 100ft/lb. Remember to tighten in a star pattern, gradually getting tighter so they don't get torqued down 100% one at a time. Tighten all about 50%, then go back and do them to 100%. Also, going thru water while braking causes rotors to warp/crack. Careful in water when your brakes get hot.

edit: BTW.. stock rotors do suck. I'd upgrade and get powerslot rotors. I had those on my talon.. they were sweet. Never warped, I could stop like 10x faster, and harder.

Myszkewicz

iTrader: (2)

Correct.

Straight from the service manual:
Wheel nut 73 ± 7 ft-lb

You can also warp rotors by overtightening by hand.

Correct again.

They might also not be warping at all. It might *feel* like it's warped, pulsing brake pedal and noise, etc. Quite often, that's not a warped rotor but rather just a spot on it that's got brake pad material transferred onto it, making it thicker than the rest of the rotor. If you are going freeway speed, and take a short exit ramp with a stoplight at the bottom, you could easily get your pads hot enough to transfer material. If you them stop at the light and hold the brake while you wait for the light to change, your pads will transfer some material to the rotors, making that thicker spot. When you go again, everything cools off, and feels fine until you have to get on the brakes again. Then you feel the pulsing and/or hear the noise.

CF-Ninja

iTrader: (2)

They will probably blame it on you and void your waranty for stoping to much

ev-slo

iTrader: (1)

when your doing 90, try not to slam on your brakes to make your passanger hit his face on the windsheild, it would help not to warp your rotors.

captain150

Rotors warp from uneven temperature changes. Either from water or from a hard brake then stopping (either warpage or material transfer like mentioned). Do you happen to have aftermarket rims? 17+ rims are harder on brakes than stock wheels (usually). Warped rotors usually just cause shaking when you are braking (if the front rotors, the steering wheel shakes). A grinding noise would mean something on the rotors or worn down pads (sticking caliper?)

Scarf Face

iTrader: (1)

From what I understand, rotors warp from repeated heat stress, meaning hot/cold or cold/hot many times over; hence I wa surprised to see them go after such a short time.

No upgrades in terms of rims/tires.

The dealership does all the work, so I expect them to know how to torque the lug nuts properly, and how to make sure that it is actually the rotors and not the calipers. But then again, you never know.

Thanks for the responses so far. I'll let you guys know how this progresses.

wiretap

iTrader: (2)

Oh.. I was just looking on tirerack's chart for lug specs.. always look in the service manual. Good call.

Myszkewicz

iTrader: (2)

My dealer replaced the rear lower control arms a while back. At the time, I had 25k miles on my tires, and they were wearing just fine. 10k miles later, the inside edge of the rear tires is gone. I think they just threw it together and sent it out without aligning it.

I'm going to try to get my Progress springs in this weekend. If I can do that, I'll get a new set of tires and get the car aligned, too.

Scarf Face

iTrader: (1)

News so far: took it to the dealer, but when they road-tested it, the noise was gone. I come to pick it up, we talk about it, and agree that maybe it was some freak occurrance, and I'll keep an eye on it. I drive away, no noise whatsoever. 3 days later, it comes back again, and it's as bad as it's ever been. Now I'm trying to figure out if it appears under certain circumstances or something. I really have no idea where to go from here. If the noise stays there constantly, I will just take it to the dealer when the noise is there, so they can check it out. But for now... I don't know, I'm pretty much hoping it'll go away by itself.

Ralli04Art

iTrader: (6)

my RA is a month old and whenever i back out of my garage and brake as i turn to leave my brakes squeel like a dying mouse. but it never squeels when i bakre going fowards, just reverse....any ideas why????

AdamRA

iTrader: (2)

All it is, is the rotors get wet and rust a bit then when your creeping with your foot on the brakes in reverse you get squealing.

Scarf Face

iTrader: (1)

Grr, alright.... I am now on my THIRD brake set, and they're making the same noise again. I am in Canada, so as far as I know, I cannot file any sort of lemon law claim. I will talk to the service manager and ask him what he plans to do, since replacing my front brakes every month will not work, for me or for him. For now I just want to know if this happened to anyone else, and if anyone possibly found the problem.

otter

iTrader: (14)

I don't think they've actually found the source of your problem yet. Grinding noises are caused by metal to metal contact, not by warped rotors. Something metal is hitting your rotor. Check your brakes yourself, if you're capable, and make sure they're doing what they say they're doing.

mirspeed

what causes shaking in the stirring wheel while driving over 60 mph+?