Forum:
I have a 1.3 4Track Hatchback reg 04 At tne second MOT it had to have the front disks replaced due to excessive pitting corrosion a very costly exercise £270. Is this a common problem and if so what can be done to mitigate the effect and extend the lifre of the disks. Any suggestions welcome John
Slipped Disc
Main problems with corroding discs are a lack of use with the vehicle, most low mileage vehicles doing short runs can suffer.
Discs will start corroding overnight, and their working faces are cleaned by the disc pads rubbing on them and removing the rust, simply; using the vehicle cleans them.
If your vehicle is little used, or is only used on short journeys, it would be prudent to run it once a week on a dual carriageway and brake heavily from speed several times. Heat build up and the rubbing of the disc pads will remove the surface rust before it turns into pitting.
Other alternatives are to go to the good old fashioned engineering machine shop and have them skimmed in a lathe, this assumes this will not reduce their thickness below the minimum working thickness.
Disks
Yes lack of use will rapidly cause corrosion and the new brake lining materials wear the disks more rapidly than the old abestos type. The cost of yours seems high so I assume that included fitting. The cost of disks has come down rapidly since the abandonment of abestos and I would have thought a DIY solution to be in the order of £28 - 38 a pair.
Don't be tempted to spray the disks with WD40 to prevent the rust or any other oils . I may be trying to teach my Grannie to suck eggs but I have heard of things like that with dreadfull consequences.
OLDMINIMAN
M J Young