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      11-01-2010, 07:07 PM   #1
Shipkiller
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Somewhat stupid queston: Z4M Rotor Cleaning. What Are Your Techniques?

Being my daily driver and after eight track days this year since I bought the car in Feb, I started to experience some front brake related vibration and excessive noise on Friday.

Did not figure the rotors were warped, just pad build up.
So I pulled the front rotors and completely cleaned my front brake system.

While doing all this, I noticed that 75% of all of the round rotor vent holes had a lot of pad dust residue. Not completely blocked but very noticeable.
So completely cleaned the holes and the internals (as much as I could get) of the rotors while I had them off.

I do wash the car a lot and I kinda figure that this is also contributing to this issue. eg, the water caking the dust in the vent holes then drying.

Never had a car with drilled rotors so is a common issue or should I put this on a regular maintenance schedule? I mean it would be very easy to just pull the wheel and run something through the holes to keep them clean.
I also do not run OEM pads. The Pad I am running currently are the Cool Carbons.

Scrubbing the rotors and then re-bedding the pads fixed the vibration issue....
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      11-01-2010, 08:52 PM   #2
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I use the end of a fine detailing brush (not the brush side) and just kind of poke through each of the holes to dislodge the dust. A chopstick would probably also work just as well. Just don't use compressed air. Tried a blast and just got dust everywhere!
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      11-01-2010, 08:55 PM   #3
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What did you scrub the rotors with? And dust buildup isnt really an issue, normal for the holes to have dust buildup, they clear themselves out. If you track though watch for big old rubber pieces getting stuck in there, I take out an ounce from each rotor every track weekend it seams.
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      11-02-2010, 06:37 AM   #4
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To clean the surface of the rotors, I use brake cleaner and a non-metallic pot/pan scrubber. It seems hard enough to clean the surface but soft enough not to scratch the surface of the rotor.

I have not had any tire worms or such in my rotors. I do get some between the ABS sensor assembly and the wall it is mounted on. Very thin things... weird...

I also had an issue with getting my right front rotor off the car. It would not come off.
Had to use PB Blaster on the hub and the three rotor dowels, and then a block of wood and a hammer to get the thing off. Now both hubs have a very light coating of high temp synthetic grease to keep this from happening again.

After re-bedding in, the front end is nice and smooth. No more vibration.. Plus I was bored an needed something to do for a couple of hours on Sunday.
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      11-02-2010, 10:57 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shipkiller View Post
To clean the surface of the rotors, I use brake cleaner and a non-metallic pot/pan scrubber.
exactly. brakleen and a scotchbrite pad. works great- i do this when i put my track pads on, and then do a bedding.
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      11-02-2010, 11:34 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shipkiller View Post
To clean the surface of the rotors, I use brake cleaner and a non-metallic pot/pan scrubber. It seems hard enough to clean the surface but soft enough not to scratch the surface of the rotor.

I have not had any tire worms or such in my rotors. I do get some between the ABS sensor assembly and the wall it is mounted on. Very thin things... weird...

I also had an issue with getting my right front rotor off the car. It would not come off.
Had to use PB Blaster on the hub and the three rotor dowels, and then a block of wood and a hammer to get the thing off. Now both hubs have a very light coating of high temp synthetic grease to keep this from happening again.

After re-bedding in, the front end is nice and smooth. No more vibration.. Plus I was bored an needed something to do for a couple of hours on Sunday.
Anti seize would have been better then grease. I put it on rotor to hub faces as well as the wheel hub itself for wheels as well as ball joint bolts (not the threads) whenever pulling them.
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