[waxfigure]

I had my rear rotors/pads replaced back in October and drove the car about 2,000 miles since. About half on the freeway, the other half locally.

I can't feel anything wrong with the car when I am driving but the rear rotors look like they are not wearing out at all. I know that most of the stopping is done by the front brakes but is this normal after 2,000 miles? It almost looks the same as the day I got it... I sent the pictures to the shop and they think it's normal... The first picture is the front rotor and the second picture is the rear rotor.

[overcoil]

do you own an infra-red digital temperature gauge ?

if you do there are two things you can try.

On the freeway, brake from a highish speed to a guck stop on the shoulder, don't engage parking brake. Get out and shoot the temps of the rear discs (then front discs) at 1/2 way radius.

Or in a parking lot, reveres to a complete stop from highish speeds quickly, a few times and w/o applying emergency brake shoot some temps.

take some base temps with the car over a few days, parked in the sun, after you take and drive and park as normal with emergency brake on.

Compare the readings and get a sense if your braking events created heat.

I was going to suggest using a marker pen and draw a line and see if the ink gets deteriorated, but I'm a little worried the ink will contaminate your surfaces and pads.

Also after you wash your car and wheels, don't drive it, let it sit, the brake dust should create an orange rust film. See if your getting the rust on your rear brakes. Contrary, don't wash your car for a few hundred (600) miles and test for a film of brake dust on the wheels.

Those discs do look extremely cleans particularly the hat region. But califiornis weather and if you drive it like a limo driver.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by waxfigure

I had my rear rotors/pads replaced back in October and drove the car about 2,000 miles since. About half on the freeway, the other half locally.

I can't feel anything wrong with the car when I am driving but the rear rotors look like they are not wearing out at all. I know that most of the stopping is done by the front brakes but is this normal after 2,000 miles? It almost looks the same as the day I got it... I sent the pictures to the shop and they think it's normal... The first picture is the front rotor and the second picture is the rear rotor.

The front looks normal; I don't recognize the look of the rear.

It's just a thought, but you might try making a line on both rear rotors with a wide marker, and then see if the the pads erase them after a couple of hard stops from something like 50-0 or 60-0 mph (i.e., high enough to ensure that you're forcefully engaging all of the brake pistons).

[TrboMike]

You dont need a marker or a thermometer. When your brakes are all cold, go out and do 3 or 4 very hard stops, pull over.

You should feel a LOT of heat coming off your front rotors (dont touch them, duh). If you dont feel a similar amount of heat at the rear, something is wrong. If the rears are COLD, something very wrong.

[nioh_lbbm2]

Or just spray it with a bit of water wait for it to slightly rust and then take it out for a spin. If it's working the orange rust will be gone

[TrboMike]

Even barely working brakes will scrape off some surface rust. Mechanical brakes turn friction into heat. Heat will show they're stopping the car.

[XutvJet]

Why would all four pistons fail simultaneously?

How could someone screw up all four brake pads at once?

What would someone do to cause a total failure of the rear brakes on a pad and rotor install?

If something is installed wrong, it's usually damn hard to get things to fit back like normal. If you succeed with an incorrect install, things typically bind.

If the rear brakes weren't working, you'd know it as you'd be missing 30% braking power.

Lastly, you can see sweep marks on the rear rotors. They're working fine.

[overcoil]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

Why would all four pistons fail simultaneously?

How could someone screw up all four brake pads at once?

What would someone do to cause a total failure of the rear brakes on a pad and rotor install?

If something is installed wrong, it's usually damn hard to get things to fit back like normal. If you succeed with an incorrect install, things typically bind.

If the rear brakes weren't working, you'd know it as you'd be missing 30% braking power.

Lastly, you can see sweep marks on the rear rotors. They're working fine.

The bottom rear rotors picture surface doesn’t show the same circumferential groves as the top front picture.

Could be a crimp or hydraulic issue up near the reservoir or master cylinder. There is a redundancy line to the back and abs self diagnosing so it does seem unlikely.