Rusted brake rotors

[Coqui258]

Hey guys... when I bought my black 03 P5 in March, i noticed that the rotors were all rusty, but not just the part where the brakes meet, but also the part that the wheels meet. It's very noticeable since our stock rims have large openings, but the dealer said it was because the car sat for a couple of months at another dealer.

Now it might be getting a lil worse, and when I come out to the car in the morning, the whole rotor is rusted until I drive the car.

Should I bitch and complain to the dealer to give me new rotors? It's very unpleasant to look at and sucks ass. Do your rotors rust up too, or is it just me? What do you guys and gals think?

BTW, the car has less then 6k miles on it too.

[SnowSerpent]

I'm glad you started a thread on this. I just called Mazda Service, and they said that there isn't any recalls on rusty rotors.

[Coqui258]

So what does that mean for me? I should have made them change the rotors before I bought the car. Now that I see the rust all over my rotors, I get mad cause it looks like crap. I'm gonna go out and take a picture now to show you all what they look like. It won't be a good pic, cause it's from my cell phone camera.

[BlueMP5Dave]

There is a old Service bulletin on this it is in the Protege FAQ. If you would use the search button this has been posted like a million times. Service bulletins are just away of not recalling a product but finding a way fix the condition to make it satisfactory. Your Mazda dealer should be able to pull these service bulletins. If you want you can go to the Protege FAQ pull the number and Stuff it in your dealers face. A while back most dealers were just applying silver paint so as to act as a rust inhibitior.

[Coqui258]

Here are some low quality pics that I took from my cell phone camera... I read in the Protege FAQ and saw about the rotors being rusted there, so does that mean I just go into the dealer and tell them to fix it right?

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze3gfxw/brake1.jpg
back rotor

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze3gfxw/brake3.jpg
back again

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze3gfxw/brake2.jpg
front rotor

[drumsbeloud]

with regards to the TSB (technical service bulletin), that thread says the "warranty" for repairing the rotors is only good for 12,000 mi or 12 months. it seems to me that it shouldn't be a time factor...unless the metal wears down over that time in which case, it should be covered under warranty. i've got a 02 P5 and my rotors are pretty badly rusted...but i've had it for over a year and much over 12,000 mi. i'm gonna look into this.

[Coqui258]

Yeah, you definitely should. I guess I'm "lucky" because my car has less then 6k on it. Can I go into any Mazda dealer or do I have to go to the one that I bought it from? And, how long do they usually take to work on the car?

[nocar]

my entire wheel rusted in one day i left it out in the sun...along with all 4 rotors , yes my racing harts are red

[MadBiker]

Good luck on getting the dealerships to do something about it. If you're lucky they'll take care of you. I've complained to my dealership where I bought it but they did didley squat, those bastards. There is a tsb (technical service bulletin) on it but you'd be better off just painting it yourself.

do a search on like "rotor" "rust" "hub" "tsb" and there's many threads on it. some guys have done a really nice job of painting the rotor hubs themselves, and if you do it yourself you get to paint it a nice color of your choosing.

[Coqui258]

So you're saying that if I take it into Mazda, they will paint them, or replace the whole rotor? If they only paint them, I might just paint them myself, but if they replace them, i will definitely take them in.

[cbcbd]

Originally posted by Coqui258
So you're saying that if I take it into Mazda, they will paint them, or replace the whole rotor? If they only paint them, I might just paint them myself, but if they replace them, i will definitely take them in.
1. Remove rust from hub(s) by sanding.
2. Clean/prep hub surface for primer.
3. Mask off brake rotor area.
4. Apply primer around entire hub area.
5. Once primer dries, apply a heat type silver paint to the affected area to repair the vehicle.

Note: Replace the hub(s) if the affected area cannot be repaired enough to satisfy the customer.



I doubt that they would ever get to a point where they would admit to you needing a replacement - unless it's rusting through or something.

[Coqui258]

Well it looks like crap... either they repaint it nicely or I'll have to force them to give me new rotors! (I sound all tough, don't I :D) I would like to paint them myself, but i don't know yet... new rotors sounds better!

[Natey]

I just dealt with it myself...it was pretty easy, but if you don't mind going to the dealer, I'm sure there IS a TSB about it.
http://protege5.com/vbb225/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20979

[ARD MP5]

I got slotted rotors for mine and they are all ready have rust resistant coating on them. Contact me if you're looking for some relatively inexpensive replacements that won't give you that kind of problem.

Rishie

[BlueMP5Dave]

Rishie to the rescue:D

[Coqui258]

Good looking out! I'm just still deciding if I'm gonna give my lil Mazda dealer a call tomorrow to see if they can paint them. Never had to get anything done from them, so I'm hesitant to see.

[MadBiker]

Like I wrote before, good luck!! But don't be disappointed if they treat like you dirt. Rather, expect to be treated that way so you will be pleasantly surprised if they say, "Yeah, let's paint it up a nice silver for you".

If they don't do it for you, paint it yourself. It's not that hard. Just take the rust off with a sander and then brush away! Have fun!

[Coqui258]

Yeah, I painted my calipers, so I'm pretty sure this will be WAY easier. My dealer was really nice, so let's see how they are in a situation like this! The reason why they MIGHT do it is because I'm taking the car in for a pulsation when I brake, so I can tell them about the rust too while I'm there. How long is service gonna take? If more then a day, I get a loaner right?

[MadBiker]

A loaner car might be pushing it - that would be for like "real" warranty issues but you never know. They might make you wait for while they do it, I have no idea how long it takes - the paints gotta dry you know? If they do all this stuff for you then your dealership is really good.

[DBR]

i complained to the dealership. showed them the service bulletin. they called in the local mazda rep. told me the bulletin had no official status and told me to get lost.

[Coqui258]

wow are you serious? You should definitely take some action against them! I haven't called my dealer yet, but I'm scared that I'll end up cursing him out! Wish me luck early next week!

[rookie]

You are not the only one, and P5 is not alone with this problem...

Over in Nissan Altima forums, many people have complained about the same. Seems like the way to handle it is to simply brush it off with a wire brush here and there and that is it.

You can't really put anything onto them to prevent oxidation without messing with your braking and it would burn off anyway.
Probably does not help you but at least U know Mazda is not alone...

[drumsbeloud]

fyi....apparently the hub rust tsb does not apply to Mazda Canada (or at least that's what my dealership told me).

[KYMP5]

you could have them cadmium plated

[bazooka joe]

mine are getting painted as i write. the car is in the body shop and my contact said he paint up for me. mine were pretty bad!

[KYMP5]

i had my factory one s painted but ive got cross drilled and slotted on there now and the are cadmium plated.

[Karl Marx]

fyi....apparently the hub rust tsb does not apply to Mazda Canada (or at least that's what my dealership told me).


This is dumb. I guess in Canada there's no chance that our Rotor's will rust with all that salt on the roads during that season called winter.

I'll ask for this TSB when i go pick up my new head unit, at least they changed THAT without pissing me off.

My cat looks less clueless than someone from Mazda Canada, and my cat is pretty dumb i can attest to that. :)

Mazda Canada are fucktards. They mark up part prices 30% too...

Sorry, really pissed at Mazda lately.

[drumsbeloud]

Karl....i feel your pain man. i guess canada and the us use different numbering systems for the tsb's. he said that he had never "heard" of a tsb for the rust problem, so that doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't exist. go raise some sh*t!!

[wyldone4]

Good advice. Mine are the same way and I bought my PR5 at the end of June. Even my wheel weights have rust on them.

[Reitrof]

I used 1200 degree paint, no primer. I sanded down the hubs with a wire wheel on a drill. Used a sponge brush to put it on.

After many washes and rain, no rust so far. If I have to do it once a year, no big deal. cheaper than putting on 4 new rotors.

[Natey]

Before:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid64/p853a4822e76e189c287c10b4071e5522/fc01d3ad.jpg

After:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid64/pe8d8fc9f5388eb6718f05d671b595d73/fc01d319.jpg

Total time: 3 hours for all four corners.
Cost: $5.75 for some Duplicolor High Heat and a Big Gulp cup to spray it into.

I just sprayed the paint into the cup, then brushed it on. That way I didn't have to tape everything off. ;)

[wyldone4]

Thanks for the info Natey. 100% improvement.

[Blappo]

Do you need to worry about getting paint on the rotor if you are not taping it off? I know the brake pads would scrape off anything they come in contact with. But wouldn't there be a small section of the rotor painted where the pads don't touch?

[drumsbeloud]

Originally posted by Blappo
Do you need to worry about getting paint on the rotor if you are not taping it off? I know the brake pads would scrape off anything they come in contact with. But wouldn't there be a small section of the rotor painted where the pads don't touch?

you're right, the brake pads would rub off most of it...and the rest would stay put, but wouldn't harm anything. you don't want to get it on your pads though.

welcome to the site....if you do a search there's tonnes of info on painting calipers...in fact, i was just doing a search about that just before i read your post....weird.

[Blappo]

Thanks for the welcome. I used the search to find this thread.

My hubs look like Natey's before picture. I was curious how he got such a clean edge between the painted hub and the metal rotor. I would have thought the pads might leave a rough edge as they scrape away the paint, and a small section of the rotor between the hub and the pads would still have paint.

[Subghetto]

Natey I was wondering what kind of Paint brand/ Paint color
and how much grit sandpaper did you use? Also did you primer
and clearcoat and how much coats of paint did you apply?
Anyway the finish product looks awsome I plan on painting the
hubs, the rotors I'am not so worried about since I will prob buy
the ractive ones. Personally I would'nt even bother going to my
dealership their assholes they would'nt even acknowledge
that I had an appointment for an oil change and they made me
wait 2 extra hours to do it.

[MadBiker]

Natey, good job! Makes the car much nicer to look at!

[Natey]

Thanks you guys! :)

Subghetto: I used Duplicolor high heat spray paint in silver. To clean the rotors, I used a wirebrush bit for my cordless drill and some rubbung alcohol. It took about 10 minutes to clean each rotor. Make sure they're nice and shiney before you start painting.

Blappo: I used a sponge brush to brush the paint on. Spray the paint onto a big, disposable cup(Big Gulp works great, DO NOT use styrofoam;)), let it sit for about 15 minutes--this will thicken the paint, then carefully brush the paint on. If a little paint runs down the rotor, wipe it with some alcohol but don't really worry about it too much. The calipers will make a nice, clean edge for you the first time you step on the brakes.

FYI: I never felt any ill effects from the small amount of paint that ran down my rotors...and I was really paying attention to it because someone warned me that the paint would f-ck up my brake pads....Nope. They were/are fine.