Dartmouth

I'm sure others have this happen. What's the deal with the rotors getting a rust color after washing the car and wheels and what do you do to prevent it....if anything? Wiping them with a towel (covering the towel with brown color rust like stain) isn't the answer I'm looking for. What do you do?

Mojo31

Drive.

Leader

What he said.

cviles

That rust colored film is....rust. Brake rotors are usually made from cast iron and they'll oxidize quickly when exposed to water. As others have said, the solution is to drive the car and normal wear will scrub away the oxidation layer. Or you can wipe them down. Or spend the big bucks for ceramic brakes.

One note if you do your own brake work: The OEM replacement part is partially painted to prevent rusting on non-wearing surfaces. You can buy cheaper rotors on the web, but sometimes these are not painted at all and the hubs will rust and stay ugly. Not such an issue for a track car, but you'll want to spend a couple extra bucks to keep a street car looking nice.

mdrums

Is this really a serious question?

Dartmouth

yea it is a serious question. Maybe you can't tolerate questions below your intelligence. Sorry it wasn't meant for you.

mdrums

Dart the rotors are iron...ok...iron will rust when it gets wet...all rotors do this...drive the car and the rust goes away...easy enough.

Edgy01

Sadly, the iron rotors are highly vulnerable to moisture--even simple stuff like condensation from outside overnight parking. There is no real simple, inexpensive, solution to this problem. I notice it on a lot of nice photos of Rennlisters' car which are generally shot immediately after their cars are washed--wrong! One thing that you can do to slow it way down is to use a leaf blower concentrated on the wheels to blow the moisture (from a recent washing) from the rotors--remember, these things are cross-drilled and have many places to trap water. Second, drive the car a little bit. Getting the rotors warmed up after a wash is the single, simplest way to ward off rust. Personally, I think the mild iron used in today's rotors is much more susceptible to rusting than the ones I remember from the 3.0 and 3.2 Porsche days. Perhaps it's the harsher pads that we are forced to use as asbestos was banned from pads. I believe that Porsche's work with the ceramic brake producers was very active as they sought a solution to a big complaint about rust. Even in low corrosion areas (e.g., Southern California) rust develops. In high corrosion areas (e.g., the "Rust Belt" like Detroit and Boston) these components rust out way before they should. I know this is a silly answer--chose PCCBs, but this issue was a substantial issue for me when I was ordering my car. Frankly, I decided that I was getting too old to clean wheels, and since I generally hold on to cars for a long time, the front-loaded cost of PCCBs gets amortized over the long haul in reduced brake maintenance costs.

McCulla

It's truly amazing, I'd like to get a videomicrography study done on this, just to watch it happen. No joke, these rotors will rust in literally minutes when washing. I don't worry about it, just do a couple of zips up/back the driveway before I put it away.

gota911

To minimize the rust after washing the car, use a leaf blower on your wheels to get rid of most of the water. This will also help get rid of water in the lug bolt holes. Blow dry then wipe the wheels down with a towel. There will be some rust, but it will be gone the first time you drive the car and apply the brakes.

utkinpol

drive a bit or use leaf blowers to dry up rotors after wash.

Skibum

I feel your pain...

if you get your brakes a bit warm before doing them, the effect can be minimized as they will dry a lot faster. Also, wash by hand using a towel and bucket trying to avoid contact with the rotor. While you are there make sure to get that little bit of dirt that collects behind the bleeder valve cover and those corners nearby.

No HTwo O

Leaf blower. Been doing this for years with great success. Not sure the neighbors truly understand!

Zeus993

Go for the PCCB. No rust. No dust. No fuss. And they stop real good too.

Skibum

Do they come in red??? LOL