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Old 01-31-2006, 05:14 PM   #1
bmussatti
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Good Q&A About Plugged Rotors

Question:

Took my car in for an oil change and the invoice came back with the following note on it:
"Ownwer advised that the vehicle will be in need of replacement front and rear brake pads and wear sensors by next service. Also notified that drilled rotors are plugged with brake material and debris which need to be drilled and dressed."

My question does not concern the potential need for pad repalcement. I have the factory workshop manuals and they are very specific about required pad thickness. I am wondering about this "plugging" situation. The car has never been tracked or autocrossed. Is this something that is routinely seen, and what is the proscribed cure for it?

Answer:

The reason that the rotors are plugging is do to the temperature that the pads are heating up to. Your day to day driving habits must be fairly aggressive or you ride with your foot on the brake. This is often seen in cars that are brought to DE events and the stock pads are being used. What happens is the pads literally starts to soften to a point they become pliable on there surface contact to the rotor. This now allows the pad material to plug the holes in the rotors. You can clean out the holes as long as the rotors are not warped or under their minimum thickness, otherwise replace them.
Now as far as a cure you will either have to lighten up in your driving or go to a more aggressive pad. This will have an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage is that the filling of the rotors will be cut down or even stopped. The disadvantage is that the harder the pad the more time it takes to heat them up for normal street use. A stock pad is soft enough to stop the car immediately when applied. A race pad at the other end of the spectrum would most likely cause you to hit what you where trying to avoid until heated up.
Scott Slauson - PCA WebSite - 1/29/2006
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