Diagnosis Gurus?
 

I decided that winter is most likely over, even here in Chicago, so I put my summer wheels on this afternoon. While doing so, I gave each rotor a spin, and checked my brake pads.

I noticed that EVERY rotor has a spot where it grabs a bit, and slows down. I suppose it doesn't have to be the rotors, could be bearings, but that seems less likely to go on all 4 corners... More than just a little grab, it's fairly noticeable. You can hear it rubbing (presumably against the brake pads). Is this normal? I would have thought they'd spin a little more freely?

It almost sounds like a bit of metal on metal scraping at that point, but I can't be sure.

Taking her for a quick spin after putting the wheels on, I could definitely hear the noise rolling down the alley (can't say I was listening for it before, typically windows have been up so far this year, but I'm sure it was there before I changed the wheels).

Regardless, I'm probably stopping by the shop this week to have them give her a once over (I'm about due for new pads anyway, so I'll just have them to do that at the same time).

If you have any ideas of what I might be looking at, I'm all ears.

Slight rust spots where the pads have been in contact with the rotors. This is not uncommon when leaving the car for some time or with wet brakes.
I would bet that if you drive for a few miles with some good medium speed braking stops, the rotors will clean up.....

are the rotors rusty?

Yeah, it's been garaged for 2 weeks, I believe I did put her up wet, there is little bit of rust on the rotors. I did go for a spin to try to brake the rust off, but probably not long enough, or braking hard enough.

2 weeks isn't long- what we're talking about is radial runout, which is difficult to get 'perfect'. If ,after applying the brakes at highspeed (60 mph or greater) there is noticeable shake or vibration then you've got a problem. I think mechanics throw out a lot of perfectly good rotors and some believe they should do so whenever installing new pads. I'm no mechanic but come from the school of ' if it ainght broke, don't fix it'! The fact that you have the same 'problem' on all 4 rotors is significant.

Your brakes are just fine. Normal. I would only worry if you had really bad shaking, and even then it's just warped rotors. It won't effect stopping to any significant degree. The shaking can be bothersome so many get that fixed, but if you don't feel any vibration / shaking then it's fine.

Ok, managed to find a place to do some 60-0 hard braking, and after several runs at it, it seems to have scrubbed the rust off, and no more noise when rolling, or braking. Doesn't feel like there's any warping of the rotors, no shaking when braking or anything like that now. Thanks for the help guys.

Steve