Rust on brakes in new Accord

Hi,

I just bought a new 2005 Accord coupe EX V6 (manual transmission) and
noticed that there's rust all over the rims of the brakes as well as a
couple of other components in that area (but not on the brake surfaces
themselves). Needless to say, I'm not very happy about this. Does
anybody have any opinion on this? Is that normal or expected?
Thanks,
Mike

 

it's normal & expected. getting owners all wound up about it is a great
way for dealers to make money though.

in case you were wondering, brakes get hot and need to dissipate that
heat. paint doesn't help heap transfer & tends to burn off. stainless
steel doesn't conduct heat very well. so, being as disks generally wear
faster than they rust anyway, they're regarded as an expendable item.
high quality brembo disks are $30-$40 each.

 

Yes it's normal. How could you protect the rim of a brake rotor from
rust? It can't be painted or oiled because it gets damn hot.

The rest of the brake assembly you can paint if you want to go to the
trouble. Use a high temperature paint and take care not to get any
where it's not wanted like the rotors, the pads or the exposed part of
the pistons. Most people don't bother.

 

It's normal. You'll see quite a lot more after the winter's over.

This past summer has been wetter and cooler than usual, and I'm seeing a
lot more rust than usual on recently installed parts.

 

Jim (and the others who replied),

Thank you very much. Makes a lot of sense when you put it this way.
I'm definitely calmer now, and a bit smarter

Mike

 

The rotors are iron. They rust.

If you let the car sit in damp conditions for a couple days, then go
drive it with the window open, you'll hear the brakes "grind" until the
rust is ground off.

As for the other surfaces, is that rust or is that brake pad dust?

 

Sounds quite normal. The iron parts of a disk brake are open to the
elements and quickly develop surface rust.

John

 

Thanks for the reply.

Regarding the other surfaces (and forgive my ignorance on their
function):
there are two components just above and behind the rear brakes. The one
towards the front of the car looks like a black cap on top of a small
metal plate, and the rim of that plate looks rusty. The other component
looks like a couple of large bolts that are connected to the
suspension, and they too have some rusty areas. Both seem to actually
be rusty rather than dusted from the brake pad, but I'm less concerned
now that I understand this is normal.

Regards,
Mike

 

That's normal. The rust will be burned off after driving a few miles.

Just leave your car outside for a few days of rain and you'll notice
the discs rusting very quickly. I noticed this when I upgraded to
alloy wheels where rust would start forming in the matter of 8 hours
of work...I'd return to my car and the discs would be covered in rust.

 

Not to mention your car won't stop until the oil/paint is worn. Not a
good thing.

 

No, he's not talking about the braking surface. Notice he says "the
rims of the brakes"? The rims of the rotors do get rusty pretty quick,
and would probably dissipate heat better if they didn't, but nobody
has figured out how to keep them rust free on a street machine.

 

it's easy to keep them free of rust - use a non-rusting material. the
trouble is increased cost and often inferior properties. so there's no
point.