Brake discs warping/wearing out in no time

D13exile

I've had the front brake discs replaced on my Qashqai three times in the past 4 years. The last ones were put on during its service in December 2019. What with Covid and lockdowns (plus working from home since), I've only put 7,000 kms up on the car this year (when I'd normally do about 25,000kms). However the discs are warped as I can feel it through the brake pedal when I brake.

This is nuts as in my youth (long time ago), I only ever replaced brake discs once on a car. This Qashqai appears to eat through them, or else the discs being put on are complete sh1te. I went back to Nissan two years ago when the first of the three sets warped within 7 months and they replaced them free of charge but this latest set was put on by an independent mechanic and they've lasted just 7,000kms before warping. My driving is cross country and so I wouldn't be braking as often as city drivers.

Has anyone else noticed their discs warping so quickly?

colm_mcm

Where are you getting the discs and roughly how much are you paying?

bazz26

There is fundamentally something wrong there if the discs have been replaced 3 times in 4 years. I know discs are replaced in sets but were both discs warped or just one in question? Were the calipers on the axle checked? A sticking caliper can cause uneven disc wear too.

Seth Brundle

Further to what bazz asked - if it has been one disc warping each time (unlikely both would warp together), was it always on the same side?
If so, then as bazz mentioned, it's probably the caliper and your mechanic should have considered it when putting on the third set recently (assuming you mentioned the previous warpings).

tred

are the calipers sticking and over heating....the disc...are the discs showing a red heated colour...compared to back

D13exile

Thanks for the responses guys. The front discs were always replaced in pairs and I paid between €250-€300 each time for them. I was told by both Nissan and the independent mechanic I went to last year that both discs were warped and that "brake discs are ****e nowadays compared to years ago and I have a bin full of old brake discs over there to prove it". The left front caliper was replaced thwo years ago by Nissan.

However as I said in my original post, I only got discs replaced once on a car before I got this Qashqai, which I've owned since 2013. Yes it must be a problem causing this and I'm going to another mechanic shortly to get it sorted. I'll mention he calipers and ask that he look at them.

Cee-Jay-Cee

D13exile wrote: »

Thanks for the responses guys. The front discs were always replaced in pairs and I paid between €250-€300 each time for them. I was told by both Nissan and the independent mechanic I went to last year that both discs were warped and that "brake discs are ****e nowadays compared to years ago and I have a bin full of old brake discs over there to prove it". The left front caliper was replaced thwo years ago by Nissan.

However as I said in my original post, I only got discs replaced once on a car before I got this Qashqai, which I've owned since 2013. Yes it must be a problem causing this and I'm going to another mechanic shortly to get it sorted. I'll mention he calipers and ask that he look at them.

You have been robbed multiple times! Discs are cheap and by the sounds of it you have been getting cheap discs fitted. To pay €250-300 is extortionate. It’s a 1hr job to change discs at the very most and cheap discs are €50-60 max. even premium discs would only cost you €100-150 so you’ve been screwed over in labour costs by incompetent mechanics by the sounds of it!

bazz26

When the current discs come off, inspect them to see if one or both are warped. If a caliper was already replaced then there was obviously an issue with it and the one on the other side might have the same issue now too. However from what I have read, a dodgy caliper could cause either or both discs to warp on the same axle.

BrianD3

This page suggest a few reasons for "warped disks" e.g. over or under tightening wheel bolts.
https://www.mechanic.com.au/news/solved-the-mystery-of-warped-brake-rotors.

I don't buy the idea that brake disks are of poor quality. I've used several different brands including cheap ones and have never had any brake shudder issues. OTOH I know people who seem to have these symptoms every few months. Every time, their mechanic just fits new disks and blames the problem on crap quality disks.

Maybe the pad materials used these days are more likely to result in deposits. Or maybe tolerance are tighter these days and more care needed when fitting brakes than in the past?

i57dwun4yb1pt8

do you do a lot of calf raises ?

Paddy@CIRL

It's very, very difficult to actually warp a disc but it's a normal descriptor for a vibration through the brake pedal.

More often, it can be an uneven build up of pad material on the disc. If you have a tendency to lightly brake for long distances before coming to a stop with your foot on the brake, this can transfer material to the disc in a non-uniform way. Try getting the discs skimmed at a local machine shop for a fraction of the price of replacement discs.

Other times, the face of the hub isn't cleaned properly before the new discs are mounted which will result in a vibration but I would think in this situation it's a pad transfer issue.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Paddy@CIRL wrote: »

Try getting the discs skimmed at a local machine shop for a fraction of the price of replacement discs.
.

With the price of new discs it really isn't worth getting disks skimmed any more unless theyre very expensive brakes. By the time you would remove the discs and bring them to a shop, have them skimmed and paid for and then refitted to the car, it'd be quicker and probably cheaper just to fit new disks however that doesn't cure the problem or explain why they are warping in the first place.

colm_mcm

We used to have a machine that would skim them on the car, back in the day.
But yeah once you factor in the labour (it took quite a while to do a disc) it was close to the cost of discs.
Think they were got for a specific model of Hyundai that had an issue with discs, solution was to skim them rather than replace.

Will a machine shop usually take on this type of work? They just put them on a lathe or something?

colm_mcm

Just did a bit of Googling and they’re doing it in Dublin for €25 a side on the car these days and in way less time than it used to take.

Whocare

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

You have been robbed multiple times! Discs are cheap and by the sounds of it you have been getting cheap discs fitted. To pay €250-300 is extortionate. It’s a 1hr job to change discs at the very most and cheap discs are €50-60 max. even premium discs would only cost you €100-150 so you’ve been screwed over in labour costs by incompetent mechanics by the sounds of it!

Discs and pads in garage with there marked up could up to 200 marked plus labour don't think 250 to 300 is overly expensive . Obviously if you could fitted them yourself good quality pads and discs be like 150€ but that life not everyone know how to change them.

D13exile

My mother just had the discs and pads done on her Clio and she was charged €220 plus VAT. So I guess I've been done as I was charged more than that for discs alone.

The vibration through the brake pedal is getting worrying now and it'll have to be done soon even though I'm doing feck all driving lately.

Paddy@CIRL

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

With the price of new discs it really isn't worth getting disks skimmed any more unless theyre very expensive brakes. By the time you would remove the discs and bring them to a shop, have them skimmed and paid for and then refitted to the car, it'd be quicker and probably cheaper just to fit new disks however that doesn't cure the problem or explain why they are warping in the first place.

They can be skimmed on the car, but I removed mine and brought them to a shop to have them done. To be fair, those discs were almost £1,000 per pair so was worth skimming them after destroying them at a trackday.

OP: It might be worth finding a nice quiet road somewhere and doing a couple of heavy stops to see if it cleans the discs up somewhat, just make sure there are no other cars around or behind you. Even 100km/h to 50km/h three or four times in succession and then drive for a while ideally without touching the brakes for a bit to let them cool, and see if it makes any difference.

emeldc

D13exile wrote: »

My mother just had the discs and pads done on her Clio and she was charged €220 plus VAT. So I guess I've been done as I was charged more than that for discs alone.

The vibration through the brake pedal is getting worrying now and it'll have to be done soon even though I'm doing feck all driving lately.

Vibration like that wont be doing your ball joints any favours either. Get them checked while you're at it.

greasepalm

We had a volvo in for a hoppy pedal when hot,with wheels off i put lines on discs inside to outside 6 or 7 on each one got the customer to take car for a run down the dual carriageway and back and you can see some lines removed by braking and others not-Warped discs again .Piston and sliders were free as kept checking them every time car was in with issue.

3rd set of discs cured it and a different make all done under warranty.Big discs are known for issues and this lad was a fast driver and heavy breaker.

kona

First thing is first, get the run out measured by a garage who can do it.