About six months ago when I was very broke my break pads had mostly worn out(screetchers making plenty of noise) I got a cheap set of pads and put them in myself. The rotors appearence didn’t impress me much so I figured they’d need to be replaced sometime when I had more money. From my understanding your supposed to rotate the rotors when you change pads? I didn’t do so.
Now I’m getting a grinding noise. More so on left turns. My guess is those rotors that should have been replaced already are the source.
I’m compitent technicaly but I’ve never been taught much in the way of auto repair. I have been around cars and can perform alot of basic repairs like changing starters, belts, gaskets and electrica work. I’ve never replaced rotors before. Is this something I have a chance of doing successfully on my own? I’m assuming I can do it in an afternoon.
Should I pay someone else to do it what is a ballpark figure to have it done?
Depending on how worn the rotors are and how deep any grooves that have been cut into it by the worn shoes, you might be able to take them to a local machine shop and have them resurfaced. Take them anyway, since the machinist will be able to tell you if they can be safely recut. In any case, when it comes time for them to be removed and replaced, it’s not a difficult job. I did it myself for the first time on one of my cars once. In my case, the surface damage was minimal, so they recut them. I’d recommend changing the pads at the same time; if you can afford it, go for the newer and more durable ceramic pads.
I’m pretty much an idiot back yard mechanic, and if I can change rotors, so can you.
If you haven’t done so already, go down to ye ol local auto parts store and get a repair manual for your car (Haynes or Chilton or some similar thing). It will show you exactly how to do the job for most repairs, though some books are better than others.
Every set of rotors I’ve ever replaced has been reasonably easy, but I’ve never touched a chevy malibu. The only difficulty I’ve ever run into was rusty bolts on a 20 year old pickup truck. You shouldn’t have that problem on a 6 year old car. As long as you don’t run into a bolt that is rusted in place so strongly that you break your strongest socket wrench trying to get it free (grumble grumble stupid 20 year old truck…) then you should be able to get it done in an afternoon, no problem.
A lot of rotors these days are manufactured with so little excess thickness that resurfacing often isn’t an option. But, as QED said, go ahead and take them in to the machinist. You are going to the auto parts store anyways, so you might as well bring the old rotors with you. Worst they can tell you is that they are too far gone to resurface.
I also second the recommendation for getting the good brake pads. On every car I’ve owned, the difference between the el cheapo brake pads and the good ones has always been about 5 bucks. It’s 5 bucks well spent, IMHO.
I haven’t PERSONALLY done them, but I know a kid that does my minor mechanic work, and he does it. I suppose if I looked up how to do it (and had the tools, which I don’t) I could do it as well.
What’s the point of doing this? I hate to sound like a dork, but don’t they rotate when the car moves so it doesn’t really matter where the rotors are. I also know that on my motorcycle you are supposed to put them back on in the exact same place, the manual tells you to number each bolt hole so they line up again. Or are they talking about moving them from one side to the other like tires?
The brake rotors for your Chevy are relatively cheap and very easy to replace. They are floating rotors, they are not bolted to the drive hub. With your car safely jacked and supported, remove the tire. Next, upbolt the brake caliper and set it off to the side, do not let it hang by the hose. You should then be able to take the rotor and slide it off the hub. The new rotor will slide back on. You will need to depress the brake caliper piston back into the caliper, a 6 inch C clamp works great. Install your new brake pads, reinstall the calipers and tires and your brakes should be good to go. Some folks recommend having new rotors turned prior to installation, I just clean the new rotor with some brake cleaning fluid and scuff the surface with a piece of emery cloth, just enough to remove the shine.
As a side note, never swap rotors from side to side. The rotors will develop a wear pattern as they are used, moving the rotor to the other side of a car can cause the rotor to shatter under heavy breaking. I did this on a Chevy Monte Carlo figure eight race car back in the 80’s, lucky for me the rotor shattered in a corner, not while entering the X. When I asked a representative from Raybestos about what happened a few months later, he gave me a look like I did something real stupid. I then received a free half hour of training on brake rotors, metallurgy, and how different brake pads affect brake rotors.
I’ve never heard of “rotating” the rotors. I did get told that my rotors were un-“turnable”, meaning they couldn’t be shaved down any more, so I bought a cheap impact screwdriver, that you hit with a hammer. This let me finally loosen the screws on the rotors, and I replaced them myself with new ones from the local parts shop. It probably took me 5 times as long as a real mechanic, but I wasn’t busy, and I saved the money.
Well that was stupidly easy. I didn’t relise the rotors didn’t have anything holding them there. So total project cost me a hundred bucks and 2 1/2 hours time. Everytime I finish a car project I wonder why I ever paid someone to do it for me (exept while I’m doing it thinking why didn’t I just pay someone to do this?)
Rotors cost me far less then I expected or had paid for in the past. They cost me 25 bucks each. I get a mechanics discount at the place I buy my stuff do to a ong time business conection.
One question I have is why isn’t there a mechanism(like a string) to keep the pads completely away from the rotors when you not braking? Seem like they can always touch the rotor when they aren’t in use. Granted the friction is minor but it’s still something wouldn’t a car be a tiny bit more efficient if they didn’t do that?
For rotating the rotors I was told on some cars the rotor is the same on the inside and outside so you can flip them 180 degrees. My car I found that wasn’t the case.
The seal that holds the piston in place is a square cut when looked in cross section. The outer portion of the seal is captured in a recess on the caliper, and cannot move. The inner portion of the seal is against the piston. When you step on the brakes, the piston moves forward and distorts the seal. When you take your foot of the brake the seal returns to it original shape. This retracts the pads just a hair. All that is needed. boytyperanma in over 35 years of working on caras I have never seen rotors that could be flipped. This incluedes American, European, Asian, and some race cars. I would need a cite for that.
Sorry no cite I don’t know of any cars that that might exist on. I’m only parroting information I’ve heard before. If I ever run across a set that is possible with I’ll let you know. I wouldn’t keep my fingers crossed.
Did replacing the rotors actually fix the grinding on left turns? Because, usually a grinding noise while turning in one direction is not caused by bad break rotors, but a cv joint or wheel bearing.
Yes. The outside pad had nothing left to it exept the backing plate. Some idiot changing when changing the pads in outside in febuary didn’t grease the pins on the calipers. The inside pad was still in good shape. I think the caliper was sticking.
This all reminds me of the time my brother and I were changing the pads on my Acura. “Wow, that bolt is tough! Ah, there we go, that really took some muscle. Wait, now it just spins!”
I had to go about 15 miles to a junkyard and get a caliper off a wreck because of that stripped threaded hole.