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corroded discs

nm1002

New member
I bought a 4s as an ex demo.six months ago, the car had done 5k miles. It was fully checked by the dealer. Six months later with 11k on the clock the brakes grind. Apparently they are corroded, which means that this must have happened since the official dealer sold it to me. (I traded in a prefectly good Carrera for this as well !) The dealer and porsche head office say sorry its not their problem. In addition the sports pack exhaust system smells very badly of burning oil, sufficient for pedestrians to suggest the car is burning. The dealer and porsche say its normal. I have a 1988 Carrera SSE, in my garage from new, with never a problem. Neither have i had a problem with the three Boxster S (apart from rotting wheels) or the previous Carrera.
Any ideas anyone.
Its looking like the last Porsche i will buy !!
 
Why not get an AA/RAC engineer to look at the car and then present the report to the garage for their explanation?

Or approach the Telegraph, Sunday Times, What Car or Top Gear for their observations.
 
Don't let these small hiccups put you off. A day at the track / some serious braking will probably sort the brakes out - they all corrode (particularly on the inside face) if not used much / heavily or left standing for long periods.

Mine often smells hot too - have a look underneath and you'll see why. If there are no oil leaks I would forget it. Ever smelt a Ferrari after even a short run?

 
PS the modern discs corrode much quicker than the ones on your older 911 - presumably because of the metal used - but then they work much better too. Another option is to replace with Alcons which are more corrosion resistant, and seemingly last for ever in road use and a couple of years on the track too for most users. Of course the warranty will go south ....
 
I have a 06 Boxster and had to replace the rear disc as they where rusted at 22k mls this is not my first Porsche so was not overly surprised ...but the quality of Porsche parts is poor compared to other prestige cars There are numerous post about people having to replace disc and is a common complaint when cars are in for service the phone call ( your pads and discs could do with replacing ) also when you wash the car do not just leave it, brake dry the brakes before you put it away ...look at your discs after a few days and you will see rust on then I agree this is shocking with a car this age but my opinion of the level off service you receive from OPC is poor and one would exspect better from a premium brand
 
It is common, and not just on Porsches, and most often affects cars that do low mileages, get cleaned, then put in the garage with wet discs. Think it's covered in the handbook.

It would be an MOT failure, but can often be resolved by skimming if the discs are thick enough.
 
Firstly the exhaust smell does seem to be fairly normal. My 997S does it when very hot. I have got into the habit of taking things easy for the last few miles before parking up if I can. This seems to work. My view is that it is more like bits of rubber dust, road material getting on the exhaust rather than oil.

As for the brakes, IMO it is absolutely essential to not put the car away with wet brakes. After washing I have a run around and make sure the brakes are good and hot before the car is parked up. Luckily my car is always garaged and the discs don't rust in my experience.

Any make of car's discs will rust if wet. The nature of the cast steel, always exposed because it is regularly cleaned of contaminants by the pads makes that a no brainer. If left outside they will lightly rust too.



 
Funnily enough,I was going to start a new post later on what discs to get!

I have a 996 C2 and the inner surfaces of the front discs look bloody awful! However, the car just flew through its MOT and I had reason to slam the brakes on the other day - and they work brilliantly.[&:] But to look at them you'd think that they were shot to pieces.

I definitely caused this myself through NOT drying the brakes off after washing the car + the fact the the steel that Porsche have used is about as hard as Gouda!

My car also has the slight oily smell from the back - but only if I give it the beans. Its done it since I've had it and nothing (clutches, etc) have worn out...? I wouldn't worry too much unless it's really unbearable and there's a guy from environmental health running after your car holding some sort of smell-o-meter![;)]

So here's the question: what make replacement discs and pads do I get? I don't fancy going for OEM due to a) cost and b) crapness.

Any suggestions...?
 
I have had the same problem - 5k miles after buying from OPC. I have always dried brakes, and look after the car very well! Went into the OPC with a 'grinding' noise. Told them how I look after the car and have recieved a healthy goodwill contribution. Keep trying?
 
Why does it always seem to be the inner face? Why would the outer face not be similarly affetced?

 
The pads brake more on the outer face , due to the rear pad being slighty clogged with brake dust within the caliper, however when the brakes are applied firmly the rear pistons do work, but on normal use IE light braking the outer
pistons brake first , so the rear face of the disc is allways poor.

Correction is take out the pads and clean the caliper brake slides and lightly copper grease the slides and I mean lightly, if you cover the slides with copper grease more brake dust sticks and you are back to square one in weeks..

And never put the car away for weeks with wet brakes .
 
pal of mine has a c4s 997 and complained of the same and was told to brake harder a bit more often. sorted the problem straight away. i notice my oxidide within 15mins when washed so i always run it up and down the drive after cleaning gently applying the brakes. they will corrode badly if u dont do it
 
ORIGINAL: barrysmith

The pads brake more on the outer face , due to the rear pad being slighty clogged with brake dust within the caliper, however when the brakes are applied firmly the rear pistons do work, but on normal use IE light braking the outer
pistons brake first , so the rear face of the disc is allways poor.

Correction is take out the pads and clean the caliper brake slides and lightly copper grease the slides and I mean lightly, if you cover the slides with copper grease more brake dust sticks and you are back to square one in weeks..

And never put the car away for weeks with wet brakes .

Really!? I'll take your word for that but it seems very odd. They aren't floating calipers are they? Does that meant that the inner pad will not wear as quickly as the outer?

 
None floating, clean out and brake firmly and the problem will go away, but no one brakes firmly when light braking is required, and the outer pad will wear down more than the inner.
 
ORIGINAL: davidcross
. . . i always run it up and down the drive after cleaning gently applying the brakes. they will corrode badly if u dont do it

David, please forgive my partial disagreement, but I think you need to get the brakes really hot after washing to make sure that any remaining moisture inside the rotor cavities and cross drillings is completely driven off, I usually give mine several emergency type stops from 60mph - and before anyone else mentions it I do make sure beforehand that no one is following.
 
ORIGINAL: snarf

ORIGINAL: davidcross
. . . i always run it up and down the drive after cleaning gently applying the brakes. they will corrode badly if u dont do it




David, please forgive my partial disagreement, but I think you need to get the brakes really hot after washing to make sure that any remaining moisture inside the rotor cavities and cross drillings is completely driven off, I usually give mine several emergency type stops from 60mph - and before anyone else mentions it I do make sure beforehand that no one is following.

Would agree with that. I always go for a 8/10 mile drive after washing.
 
I agree with most that is being posted but it still poor that a car off this quality needs all this carry on to dry off brakes after washing etc ..my other car after I wash it i just put it away and have no problems with discs and pads and i am still on the original rears after 88k mls Porsche are really having a laugh at our expense
 

ORIGINAL: DSM

Why does it always seem to be the inner face? Why would the outer face not be similarly affetced?

Its moisture and muck. The airflow created by the road wheels tends to dissipate debris etc. on the outer brake surfaces but it collects more readily on inner surfaces. [8|]

Regards,

Clive
 
Hi snarf, I had heard of someone that uses a hair dryer on the disks after washing but emergency stops from 60mph is a new one on me. I've had the car two yrs and I don't know how often u r expected to replace disks but I've done 9k miles in that time and the next service isn't for another 18mnths so I won't b touching them till then. It Is poor show that they will corrode and perish so easily I agree.
 

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