Ok so I have a car with disc brakes in a wet/rainy environment (at times). What’s the best/proper way to “clean” them after the car has sat for a day or so and the rotors are rusty? Also how do you keep disc brakes from sticking at traffic lights when it’s wet outside?
I’m not sure about the sticking at traffic lights part. I’ve never noticed a car doing that.
But as for the rusting rotors: just drive. The surface rust is perfectly normal, and will happen to any brake rotor that sits unused for long enough. In dry areas, it may take ages. But after washing the car, or in moist environments, it can take minutes. It’s a natural consequence of having bare, untreated metal exposed to the atmosphere.
Once you apply the brakes the first time, it will rub off the surface rust in no time (like one revolution). That’s all there is to it. They do that by design, and it freaks some people out. The amount of material that oxidizes and is removed is negligible, so it’s not like it adds any appreciable wear to the rotor.
I quite agree with what audilover said.
In 30 years of professional auto repair, I’ve never heard of “disc brakes…sticking at traffic lights when it’s wet outside.” What, pray tell, are you talking about?