Brake Pad Dust.......

Angel1989

Angel1989

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OK....I need some help. As most of you know I just purchased a 2014 Nissan Maxima. Today we were out most of the day and I noticed all down the side of my Pearl White new car is break dust. It went past the driver door to the passenger door. It wipes off very easily but I don't want to have to do that.

Hubby thinks I just need to let things settle in and this should stop.

Any ideas?
 
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Had a minor situation too when I bought my car two years ago. Dealer told me newer pads and rotors need a "bed-in" period, kind of like a shedding set-in thing. Once past that period, it should subside. :)
 
femme Fatale said:
Had a minor situation too when I bought my car two years ago. Dealer told me newer pads and rotors need a "bed-in" period, kind of like a shedding set-in thing. Once past that period, it should subside. :)
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This makes me feel a lot better. My husband thinks the same also. It's just that its a new pretty car and this dust spray is ticking me off. It didn't start until today but we drove the most miles today. I really hope that is it and it stops soon.

Mike the products you showed me just seem like a lot of work. Taking the tires off etc. If it comes down to that then we will do it then.

My last idea was maybe hanging small "mud flaps" if possible to prevent the brakes dust from going all over my car.
 
I'd probably put ceramic brake pads on it before putting mud flaps on, it could affect the appearance make it seem not as streamlined. Here's a chart for different brake pads and the pros/cons to each.

features-semi-metallic-brake-pads-premium.gif
 
Scott, do you think maybe this problem will eventually resolve itself? I would hate to have to put new break pads on a brand new car.
 
I honestly don't know. I've never seen brake pads get the dust on the side of a vehicle like that new but have had the brake pads smoke the wheels up pretty good during the entire life of the brake pads. Any new vehicle does have a break in period or anything with an engine for that matter so its worth a shot just to let them be for 500 - 600 miles like others said and then if it still does it you'll know its cheap pads. My truck has 4 wheel disc brakes and the rear pads were replaced just before I bought it (2008)and never smoked the rear wheels up but the front pads did ... I replaced the front 2 years and the new ones never smoked the wheels up at all even when new. Since its a new car maybe the dealership would install better pads at no charge?
 
ncff07 said:
I honestly don't know. I've never seen brake pads get the dust on the side of a vehicle like that new but have had the brake pads smoke the wheels up pretty good during the entire life of the brake pads. Any new vehicle does have a break in period or anything with an engine for that matter so its worth a shot just to let them be for 500 - 600 miles like others said and then if it still does it you'll know its cheap pads. My truck has 4 wheel disc brakes and the rear pads were replaced just before I bought it (2008)and never smoked the rear wheels up but the front pads did ... I replaced the front 2 years and the new ones never smoked the wheels up at all even when new. Since its a new car maybe the dealership would install better pads at no charge?
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Hopefully it will just work it self out. Years ago we bought a brand new Volvo I think the model was 750 Turbo. From day one those breaks squeaked really bad. It drove me crazy and I actually had a few people yell at me to "fix your stupid breaks". It took awhile to get it fixed but Volvo did fix the problem.

I really hope this ends up not being a big deal.

Thanks everyone for your advice, greatly appreciated.
 
Angel1989 said:
Hopefully it will just work it self out. Years ago we bought a brand new Volvo I think the model was 750 Turbo. From day one those breaks squeaked really bad. It drove me crazy and I actually had a few people yell at me to "fix your stupid breaks". It took awhile to get it fixed but Volvo did fix the problem.

I really hope this ends up not being a big deal.

Thanks everyone for your advice, greatly appreciated.
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All brakes are suppose to squeal when the pad is almost worn out there is a tab that when they thin out rubs the rotor when the brakes are applied. Its totally annoying lol but the rivets will make grooves in the rotor if it wears too thin. Hope it works out too that'd annoy me to no end a new car doing that :shock:
 
ncff07 said:
All brakes are suppose to squeal when the pad is almost worn out there is a tab that when they thin out rubs the rotor when the brakes are applied. Its totally annoying lol but the rivets will make grooves in the rotor if it wears too thin. Hope it works out too that'd annoy me to no end a new car doing that :shock:
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and once those rivits hit it goes from a $20 DIY to a $300 DIY....lol and depending on how long, can get upwards of $500-$700 DIY if needing calipers as well....ouch. My wife does that.





 
She really laid a hurting on that car :shock:
 
ncff07 said:
She really laid a hurting on that car :shock:
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My god if she had a brain, started grinding on her way home, I asked when it started squeeking, she said about 2 months ago..WTF? how long it been grinding? She said about a month.... well she said she didn't have time for me to work on it so since one went, the other was doing all the work and guess what happened.... Oh Yeah!!!!! This was the good side pictured here, lol.
She said she didn't think it was so bad except the anti-stop breaks kept kicking in and it was aggravating her so she finally had me fix....this.
She was pissed it cost almost $1000 to fix all this, I told her next time when it squeeks, the very first squeak, will only cost her $20 for the pads... her rotors and calipers are expensive.... not to mention $250 a pop for wheel bearings.
Its funny there was no backing plates, she ate those away too ( that's how the caliper got shoved into the rotor there and shattered, its ceramic, not a steel piston. (noticed the green)
 
Is there any indication of this wear other than sound, which is useless to some of us.
 
Jane B. said:
Is there any indication of this wear other than sound, which is useless to some of us.
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when you feel a vibration through the steering wheel its a done deal, but usually with newer cars once the pads wear down drastically the anti lock brakes will start skipping during stops as pressure isn't applied evenly and the wheels will lock up (usually rears) since they last longer therefore letting the front wheels turn and causing the ABS to engage.
 
Jane B. said:
Is there any indication of this wear other than sound, which is useless to some of us.
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There are no worries if you are the kind of person who takes the car into the shop on a regular basis....
 
Jane B. said:
Is there any indication of this wear other than sound, which is useless to some of us.
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usually the brake pedal pulsates when the rotors and or pads are bad. You guys really should be taking the tires off once a year to look at the pads and scoring of the rotors. This includes the girls too.
For those who are afraid to look , its easy to con a guy to look for you right?:giggle:

anyways sonocativo - I feel bad for you. that is a really bad wearing down the pads.

I have used all kinds of pads from cheap stuff to ceramics. I think semi-metallic is a bit better since it doesnt hurt rotors as much. I can replace pads 2-4 times before rotors needs returning or replaced with semi-metallic where with ceramics- I replace the rotors every 2-3 times and cant seem to get them turned. I hate ceramics on drilled rotors. they rust out prematurely after few years.
 
radioman said:
usually the brake pedal pulsates when the rotors and or pads are bad. You guys really should be taking the tires off once a year to look at the pads and scoring of the rotors. This includes the girls too.
For those who are afraid to look , its easy to con a guy to look for you right?:giggle:

anyways sonocativo - I feel bad for you. that is a really bad wearing down the pads.

I have used all kinds of pads from cheap stuff to ceramics. I think semi-metallic is a bit better since it doesnt hurt rotors as much. I can replace pads 2-4 times before rotors needs returning or replaced with semi-metallic where with ceramics- I replace the rotors every 2-3 times and cant seem to get them turned. I hate ceramics on drilled rotors. they rust out prematurely after few years.
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yeah, she was involved in a minor fender bender and was claiming it on the insurance and waiting....waiting....waiting, then grinding and grinding... just because she didn't want to pay for $20 brake pads. I told her I would change them out and she didn't want to listen and submit the bill later...
Turned out the other person didn't have insurance and she only had liability so she ended up kicking herself in the ass for it later as we can see.
ah well, whats a guy to do?
 
Tousi said:
There are no worries if you are the kind of person who takes the car into the shop on a regular basis....
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I rotate my tires every 3,000 miles the brakes pads can be checked then for wear.
 
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