Guest

I've searched the forum and haven't seen this discussed so here it goes. I noticed while cleaning my wheels over the weekend that there are grooves on both of my passenger side disc brakes that aren't on the driver side. I called my dealer and was told that he thought they should be there, but I found that odd. He said if there were something wrong then I would hear squealing, but he said I could swing by so they can compare it to other TL-Ss on the lot, but I thought I'd ask you experts first. I would think that grooves would mean there's a defect with the brake pad or maybe a rock got caught in between and is etching it as I drive although I don't hear any noise. Any help would be greatly appreciated since I'm not a mechanic. Thanks!

Guest

Would anyone be willing to look at their discs on both sides of the car and let me know if you notice any grooves/etchings? Please? I would really appreciate it before I take it to the dealer. Thanks!

bioyuki

Front or Rear?

bioyuki

Oh wait I can't check...its in the shop

rockinTLS

Or on the Acuras where I work. I checked the TL and CL out in the parking lot and they are no different. However, it's odd that you have them both front and rear.

How deep are the grooves? Do they look machined or do they look like they don't belong there? Are they centered on the surface?

Guest

Yes, it's on both front and rear on the passenger side of the car. They don't look like machined, but honestly I don't know if I could tell the difference. The front passenger has one groove that I if I scraped my fingernail over the groove, it would get caught. The rear one has two grooves that aren't as deep as the front and none of them appear centered. Like I said, I found it odd that the dealer said they should be there when they're not on the driver's side. Any thoughts or other observations on other TL-Ss?

rockinTLS

I'm sorry, I though the grooves were much deeper! (No disrespect intended.) In years past, some American car makers like GM used to machine a 1/8" wide/deep groove in the middle of the brake surface as a visual indicator of rotor wear.

It sounds like some crud has found it's way under your pads or the pads have a hard spot that wears the rotor differently. Although it is odd it is only on the RH side of the car, I wouldn't worry about it as long as your brakes work and sound OK. It is probably a short term situation. Normal disk brake wear does not create/maintain a perfectly flat surface which is why the rotors should be machined smooth (resurfaced) when the pads are replaced.

However, if the grooves get deeper or larger or the brakes begin making noise, definitely have the dealer look at it. It will be fixable under warranty.

LoveSick

One possibility of your symptom is that your brakes are wraped. This means you burnt the discs brake when applying them for a long period of time. Stock disc brakes are not as high quality as aftermarket because they are made to be lighter and cheaper. So they are not as dense as the after market performance discs and their heating capacity is very low. If your brakes are wraped, your steering will shake alot once you brake with teh brakes hot.