Why is this rotor being chewed up?

JeffP1167

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 21, 2009
Messages
2,727
Location
Yucaipa, CA.
97 camaro with what looks like pbr rear calipers

At first I thought this was due to going metal to metal. Rotor and pads were then changed on both sides of the car, the passenger side does not do this ... I thought the problem was fixed however now at about 1500 miles the surface of my drivers side rotor is again chewed up. When things were apart I didn't notice any signs that the caliper was touching the rotor however it very well could be the culprit. I also havent looked at the inside of the rotor since the brake job was done but prior I don't recall it being all chewed up like the surface was.

Around about the time this first started I had service abs light on along with low traction light periodically coming on. Could this be the issue why my abs is really giving me issues as well?

Sometimes the service abs light stays off for awhile but then after about a few miles it comes back on however the brakes work fine on the car.

I don't see anything touching the rotors surface and at one point thought the 90 corvette rims might have been the issue as well however it now has 17x11 ZR1 rims on the back so I can visually see things and still see nothing wrong. This seems to affect almost the whole braking surface of the rotor and again no other rotors are doing this.

I don't have any pictures at this time to show you the damage that is being done but will later today, basically it is creating grooves all over the rotors surface and if memory serves me right at last brake change the outside pad was metal to metal yet all other pads still had plenty of life in them.

After brake pad and rotor change it seemed to start doing it again immediately. however now it is really bad and worse then the last rotor. Could my abs be activating this caliper for some unknown reason causing massive brake pad wear?
 
check the caliper abutment, some 4th gens have issues with the rotors rubbing the abutmen, there are rotor shims to resolve it.
 
Single piston caliper?? not sliding back and forth the way it has to and or the piston not returning.....check the brake has about the same drag as the other side, you should be able to turn it just slightly without engaging the diffy, a little gear slop in there, if it's much tighter, loosen the bleeder and see if it spurts fluid, if it does, you just released pressure and the ABS maybe screwed up....bet it spurts and releases is my guess....
 
did you replace the hoses ?

No, dealer said they are fine.


No way they can tell by just looking at them LOL

How old are they? There's a good chance the hose is deterioating inside and now it's like a check valve .... The caliper might remain pressurized.

Easy way to check if this is the case: get that wheel off the ground, press the brake pedal a few times, see if the wheel turns easy
 
did you replace the hoses ?

No, dealer said they are fine.


No way they can tell by just looking at them LOL

How old are they? There's a good chance the hose is deterioating inside and now it's like a check valve .... The caliper might remain pressurized.

Easy way to check if this is the case: get that wheel off the ground, press the brake pedal a few times, see if the wheel turns easy

In neutral after the brake pedal is depressed both rear tires spin easily and the parking brake works perfectly as well.

I also have no brake smell indicating a overheating brake. The car has posi so it is hard to tell which turns easier but I stuck a feeler gauge between the pads and there is clearance.
 
Marck .. Where do you get the shims from? My abutment is touching the rotor , The passenger side is close as well. How much space should they have between them and the rotor surface?
 
The rotor should be centered in the abutment, it's pretty close but you can eyeball if it's sitting on center by the gap on each side.
Forgot where I saw the shims. Rockauto only has the runout shims so it wasn't them. Might want to doa search on ls1 tech or something

If yours are touching on the OUTSIDE you need to either shim the abutment or the backing plate. You can use some hardened washers for that. The special shims are needed when the abutment touches the inside of the rotor
 
if you have an abs light coming on i'm willing to bet you have play in your wheel bearing which is making your rotor push off center with the car weighted on the ground causing your damage. the wheel bearing will also control how close the reluctor ring is to the sensor. when there is play it will usually start touching the sensor until it takes it out.
 
if you have an abs light coming on i'm willing to bet you have play in your wheel bearing which is making your rotor push off center with the car weighted on the ground causing your damage. the wheel bearing will also control how close the reluctor ring is to the sensor. when there is play it will usually start touching the sensor until it takes it out.

X2 with fastcompany2...with the ABS light in the mix I'd check axle end play something just don't sound right.
 
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