2018 GT malfunction of the day - Brembo brakes

[saleen367]

OK, I'm throwing this out there to see if anyone has ever come across anything like this before.

2-3 weeks ago, I wash the car and back it into the garage and towel dry it out of the sun. Thought nothing of it, until I went to drive it about a week later. Fire it up, put the car in gear (M-82) and nothing ... try and again and it won't budge. Finally on my 3 attempt, the wheels break loose of the pads and I'm on my way, but I remember thinking how very strange that was. Reminded me of having frozen brakes in extreme cold.

August 30th, I do the same thing ... wash, back into the garage and towel dry. Left it sit till last night. Wanted to go out for a quick drive after taking in some football. Once again, fire it up, select 1st gear and no go. This time it was so bad, it would bog the engine and would have killed it even with giving it some RPM's. Finally after several tries I broke it loose and came to a stop in the driveway, only to hear this god awful noise from the drivers side brake.

Got out, checked the rotor, nothing noticeable. I pull out into the street, all is good. Hit the brakes at next intersection and once again this pounding noise from the front brake. I gingerly got the car back home and parked it back in the garage trying not to use the brakes.

Here's what I found after further inspection ... the brake pad seems to be rusting/adhering itself to the rotor so bad that a small piece of the brake pad is still stuck to the rotor ... check out the pics. The left rotor still has some surface rust from sitting (top pic), so I know something is not working properly with the caliper.

I'm taking it in Thursday, but the service advisor thought I was nuts when I told him what was going on.

Anyone ever seen this before?

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[BEASTMASTER15]

Ya gotta drive it after you wash it to dry things off...then park it.

 

[TruBlu16GT]

Constantly.

Welcome my young friend to the world of cheap steel.

 

[saleen367]

Driving it after washing makes no sense. Why would this not happen after driving in the rain and pulling into the garage ... same issue of wet rotors and pads.

 

[F1scamp]

Because after you drive it, the brakes are hot, and the heat dissipates the water........

 

[Jimmy G]

Pretty normal.

Take a spin around the block after you wash it....warm the rotors up and dry the brakes out.

 

[BlueThunder]

Wow....never seen anything like that. If you're washing it and leaving it for that long, get a blower and clean the water out of it, or like Beast said, take it for a drive after toweling it off and get the water out of everywhere else. Washing it and letting it sit is going to do that to your rotors which are developing a sheen of rust that's adhering to your brake pads. Nothing to do directly (I don't think) with the Brembos unless they naturally sit tighter to the rotor.

Brembo Sport brake discs are made from high-carbon cast iron for improved thermal and mechanical resistance.

Not sure if that has anything to do with it but the 2 might be reacting to each-other? I have 0 metallurgy knowledge. Just dry the things from now on.

 

[Fatguy]

Constantly.

Welcome my young friend to the world of cheap steel.

Love this line but the op’s “2018 GT malfunction of the day” actually had me laughing. But to the brakes; I never parked the car if I got the rotors wet after a wash. One time though I came back from a trip and the rotors must have been rusty because the first time I hit the breaks I almost nose dived into the steering wheel. Cheap steel indeed...

 

[saleen367]

I'll take all of your advice, but gotta admit, I've washed my cars like this for years and never had an issue. I can't imagine I've never run across this after all these years, but I'll change this up since i've never seen brakes do this before.

 

[BlueThunder]

I'll take all of your advice, but gotta admit, I've washed my cars like this for years and never had an issue. I can't imagine I've never run across this after all these years, but I'll change this up since i've never seen brakes do this before.

I've always seen rotors rust up, especially if they're left for a while after getting wet.

Only major difference that may be different for you is the size of the rotors and brakes? That and maybe the brake pad material is just more susceptible to sticking to the rust on the rotors, and given the significantly larger surface area of both the rotors and brakes, this just might be something people will need to be careful of if they're leaving the car garaged/undriven for any length of time.

 

[frank s]

What was your brake break-in routine? According to the after-market pad-makers, it's critcal that it be properly done, leaving a surface deposit of pad material on the disc. That might remove some of its potential for stuck brake syndrome.

(In the olden days it was common to have to use mechanical means to unlock rear brake shoes from their drums, especially for those that got wet after loading or unloading a boat trailer on a ramp. The mechanism that invariably worked was a blow to the face of the drum or end of the axle. It only has to move a thousandth of an inch to be unlocked.)

 

[Houston Kid]

I had this happen the first wash after upgrading to the Brembos on front. The car had been sitting for a while prior to wash so zero heat in the rotors or pads. It was not as bad as you describe but definitely a little hesitation and a bit more gas was needed then off I went. When applying the brakes the first time after rolling off, they did seem a little less grip on the front and a bit of noise. I've not repeated the exact same process so it has not happened again.

To the post above, I did the exact break in process as the manufacture suggested and have had zero issues with the brakes.

It's so damn humid here in Houston, rotors rust after sitting for only a day or two. But the pads don't get stuck like they did after the cold was and put away wet.

 

[saleen367]

The car has only 782 miles and about 220 was a day of spirited driving on some country roads with varying degrees of tight turns. I'm sure the pads were bedded, but just never thought this would be an issue. Didn't have Brembos on the `15, so the added surface area could be a factor here. I'm just shocked that sitting for 9 days would do this. I never use the E brake in the garage, since its a flat surface, but the weather has been humid and we did have 5" of rain last tues ... all a factor.

 

[saleen367]

I'm wondering if I should actually drive the car and use the brakes to try and remove that excess pad off the rotor, vs taking the car in for service. Not sure if the pad is damaged either and it might be worth the peace of mind having a tech look it over.

 

[sdiver68]

I switched rotors almost immediately, first time I've done so in a car. Between cars and Superbikes I've owned at least 50.

Why? These rotors rust fast. They might offer a performance advantage in composition but IMHO it's not worth the tradeoff. Dont know..I've had plenty of Brembos in the past so there must be something in the Ford spec.

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