Brake Routers rusted out after only 11 months? One winter??

A few questions - who is "they"? Is your car 11 months old and has 46K miles? If so, I would not expect the rotors to be very rusty on the surface where the pads contact.

Do you have pictures of the rotors which show the pad contact surfaces?

 

With 4~5 posts you'll be able to post some pictures. Would really help.

You're in Gatineau, Quebec, in the vicinity of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, heavily salted roads through winter I'd surmise.

Is this your first brake inspection? Anybody worked on them before? Was it front, rear, or both that "they're" reporting as rusted.

 

welcome!
your routers are fine. rust builds up on the non operating outer circumference of the router.

the only 'cleaning' will be your wallet.

 

Would be nice to see actual pictures before coming to this conclusion...

 

for you, yes. experience tells me what i need to know. 15 years, never seen a rusty router

 

I can't believe the swept area (area swept by the pads) is rusted. You'd have major grinding noise when applying brakes. Is there any grinding when you apply the brakes? Maybe the outer edges and center hubs, but I wouldn't worry about that...they are simply trying to sell you new rotors by using fear. If in doubt, get a second opinion.

 

I had rear rotors rusted up, and it was my fault: at reassembly I had the caliper piston mis-rotated, caused about 50% of the inside face of rotor to have no brake pad contact, and subequently they got as rusty as heck.

6 months later I discovered the mess. I replaced the pads (they had bevelled wear), but the rotors I just took off and abrasive cleaned the rust zone. They "looked" good when I put it all back togerther, but sounded like hell.

A day or two later the noise had subsided, was barely noticeable. A month later, the rotors were like new.

 

The front rotors on our Dodge minivan rusted so badly (on the pad surfaces) that the pads were frozen to them. The rotors were flaking off chunks. Replaced under aftermarket warranty.

The rotors on my VW Jetta rusted so badly on the pad surfaces after the car sat for two months that I had to sand them to get the car to stop.

You may not have seen this type of thing in 15 years. Once we see the pictures, then we'll know exactly what OP's rotors look like.

 

sorry, i am unable to provide pictures.

i gave up on chrysler and vdumb years ago

 

Rotors are pretty cheap too, if it comes to that.

FWIW, 4th gen rotor specs in the attached:

 

and labor is nothing

 

Of what? Are you having brake problems as well?

 

For the OP - being a new user you may not be able to post pictures so we can see the actual condition of your rotors. But, for comparison purposes only here are some pictures of typical rotors - original front rotor on a 2010 Subaru with almost 90,000 miles on it, and a rotor from a Honda Accord we used to own.

It is normal to have rust around the circumference of the rotor and on the hats as well. On the rotor surface where the pads contact the rotor, the pads typically scour off any surface rust that develops. If the car has been sitting for a bit, you can build up quite a lot of surface rust where the pads contact the rotor - this will produce some loud sounds when you first drive the car. In very infrequent cases, the surface rust on the rotor can become so bad that the pads can't scour away the rust and then the rotors either need to be cleaned off with abrasives, or replaced.

 

Did you keep your car undriven for a long time during winter or immediately after the winter? In our heavily salted area, surface rust appears on rotor almost over night. If you keep driving daily and using brake, it cleans itself, but if you keep the car undriven for some times, then rust can built up and spread. How bad depends on how much salt got on the rotor and how long you kept the car undriven, but I never had to replace the rotor because of the rust.

 

Heated garages can be bad too, IF you drive the car frequently in snowy conditions with salted roads.

OP needs to check for himself, fill in some blanks and post some pics. Might be anti-climatic. Hopefully.

 

I presume you're talking about rotors - I'm not aware of a router which can rust.

Sounds like the dealer is taking you for a profit-making ride. They should last the life of the car.

A lot of new cars are going through brake pads and rotors very quickly these days - due to Traction Control and Stability Control (etc) using brakes to control other aspects of the car other than braking - unlike in days past. Particularly for drivers who drive a bit harder. There have been a few cases on PriusChat - and it's happened with friends too - where the dealer's mechanic thinks "ahh - 40k miles, a full brake job".

My last car at 60,000km I asked for the fixed price quote of a service, they quoted me a figure and said "but it'll probably need a full brake rotor and pad change". I went outside, and with a flashlight could see that the pads weren't quite half worn. They just hope for a profit

 

@Dave Renaud

 

If the OP is in Gatineau, the problem might be climatic.

I took a brief stroll along the Gatineau side of the river, ten days ago. It was pleasant then.

If you think about it, the ABS actuator is pretty much a brake router.

 

11 months= 330days
46,000/330= 140mi/day
average peed 30mph
4.5 hrs on the road daily.
will grind off every bit of rust
i would orry about none moving parts more than the rotors