[Cmayer31]

Went to have my rotors turned and found out there is no meat left on them. Guy said I'm luky they didn't crack as I guess they're known to do. Anyhow new rotors and new pads are on and I do smell a slight burning but from searching and word of mouth this is normal as the new pads get worked in. I did notice today after some not so hard driving that when parked the truck there was smoke coming off the brakes and rising up out of the wheel openings. Is this also just part of breaking in the new brakes?
Thanks,
Craig

 

[Cmayer31]

No rear wheel smoke. Had new shoes put in the rear and have a working parking brake now..Only the front has the smoking. Didn't do the actual brake part myself so will have to see if the guide pins were lubed. I haven't noticed any drag, but will pull the wheels tomorrow and take a closer look.

 

[miesk5]

the odor may be brake cleaner (if they used it); check the bearing torque while you're in there.

 

[godless]

Seeing that you have a 95 it most likely is grease or something of that nature.
In order to change out the rotors they would have had to remove your hubs, wheel beaings, etc. and that involves a lot of greasey parts.
The grease monkey who did the job is probably pissed that he has to go to all that work just to replace a damn rotor so he didnt clean the pads and there is left over grease on them, or other fluid.

 

[Vancopbs]

Oh no!

OK for the record, smoke coming from brakes is never ever a breaking in process. It means someone screwed up. Now it's possible if you bleed your system and brake fluid got on something that gets hots you'll get smoke (say getting fluid on your exaust when filling your master). But never smoke from your actual brakes. If your pads actually get hot enough where they do smoke then those pads are ruined and should not be re-used.

I can't stress enough this is a bad situation. If it's just brake fluid that was spilt fine, if not this is something to worry about.

It sounds like you paid someone to install your brakes. Take the vehicle back and tell them what's happening and demand they repiar it.

 

[Tunedup]

I work in a shop and I do alteast 3 or 4 brake jobs a day. Brand new rotors come with a greasy oily type coating that will smoke and stink if it isnt removed. That along with greasy finger prints on the rotors will cause smoke after it was just done. What probably happend is the guy didnt clearn off the coating from between the cooling fins and he probably didnt drive it very far cause this will normaly finish smokeing after a good 2 mile drive and a few mins of sitting.

 

[Miketnf150]

Get you some brake cleaner and clean the rotors. Spray on and wipe of with a good clean towel.

 

[Blaze]

Re: Oh no!

If your pads actually get hot enough where they do smoke then those pads are ruined and should not be re-used.

I'm not sure but maybe some "mountain folk" will chime in..I went to the mountains just ridin' and kinda checking out the leaf change and enjoying the mountain air (God I love the fall) anyway coming off one of the mountains my brakes were smoking and so was everyone elses in the traffic I was in (prolly 5 cars or so). Does that mean that those pads are ruined (they seem to work ok to me) and if so, then if I lived on the top of that mountain, would I have to drop my car off at the shop for new brakes everytime I came into town???:shrug

 

[bigblackbitch]

jUST WHAT TUNEDUP SAID

I think tunedup is on the right course, I myself such as he have done many brake jobs and that coating that they put on the rotors at the factory which stops them from rusting on the self while they are waiting to be sold. You MUST clean that chit off if not they will smoke and smoke bad they will especially if you were driving it hard. You need to make sure that the new pads are also "seating" themselfs good ,the only way I can discribe that to you is to do a ton of brake jobs and just get usedm to the feel that the petal has. You agree tunedup?

 

[Cmayer31]

After driving it around for a week I am pretty comfortable in saying it was just the coating on the calipers and it only smoked for the first day. I did however use brake cleaner on everyting to make sure it was clean. They did squeal for a little bit the other day and then went away, I'm assuming that since I was in the fire area here that it was ash or something built up that was causing the squeal and they seem to work great now. Can't belive the difference new brakes made...it always stopped before but now it just feels more secure.

 

[Tunedup]

Re: Re: Oh no!

I'm not sure but maybe some "mountain folk" will chime in..I went to the mountains just ridin' and kinda checking out the leaf change and enjoying the mountain air (God I love the fall) anyway coming off one of the mountains my brakes were smoking and so was everyone elses in the traffic I was in (prolly 5 cars or so). Does that mean that those pads are ruined (they seem to work ok to me) and if so, then if I lived on the top of that mountain, would I have to drop my car off at the shop for new brakes everytime I came into town???:shrug

Well hes right and hes wrong. Pads can get so hot they will develp cracks or hard spots. Just cause they smoke doesnt mean there junk. Blaze if I were you I would check the adjustment of the rear brakes if the rears arent doing there fair share cause of missadjustment it will cause the front brakes to over heat.



Yes there is an "auto adjuster" on rear brakes but, its mainly for keeping the pedal at an aceptable height as the rear shoes wear down. A good maintence thing to do is every time you rotate your tires adjust the brakes up a couple clicks. You will be amazed how much this helps the braking.



As for the brakes seating in. Yes you can defenatly feel when its happening befor they are seated you can get sqeals groans etc. Normaly seating in will occure within the first 10 stops but, sometimes with cheapy pads it will take up to 250 miles.