drw

Is it normal for your brakes to act a little weird when you drive the car after washing it? I have noticed this on all of my cars over the years from time to time, not just my 2004 TL (20,000 miles). Its hard to describe, but it kind of makes a loud noise and it feels like the brakes are “bumping” or “thumping”, if that makes any sense (it is hard to describe, but you can feel it, not just hear it)

It is not the normal ABS check that happens, this is a lot more noticeable- you can feel it big time.

I washed my 04 TL on Saturday, and did not drive it again until Monday morning, and sure enough it did it again- and this time, when it was in drive it acted like it was struggling to go forward- it kind of felt like I was trying to drive with the parking brake on. I put it back in drive, waited about 15 seconds, and then everything was fine.

Like I said, I have noticed something similar to this at times on all my cars over the years, not just my TL, and it only happens the first time I drive the car after washing, and lasts only for about 20-30 seconds. Never had any problem whatsoever after that. I drove my TL again a few minutes ago, and everything is back to 100% normal.

I wish I could describe what happens better, but does anyone have any thoughts on this? I was thinking it maybe had something to do with the water getting inside the wheels/brakes? The fact that this happens only after washing
the car and that it has happened on other cars makes me HOPE that nothing is wrong, but if anyone has any thoughts on this I would appreciate it.


Thanks very much

ITL

yep, if you'll notice, you've probably got a coating of rust on the rotors a few minutes after washing the car...if not then it's just because the brakes are wet. This is common and has happened on every car that I've ever had. Different compounds used in different brake pads will show different, though often similar symptoms. This is NOT a problem and you shouldn't worry about it. If still not convinced, I'm sure other people's posts will be supportive of this and better yet- talk to a service manager at a dealer.

Dennis in NH

How long have you been doing this? Oh gods, please forgive him. I'm totally kidding. :-)

Anyway, after I wash a car (esp. the ones with open disc brakes -- all of my cars for a while now), I always take the car for a short drive to wiggle it and get the excess water out of the cracks, crevices etc. and especially to get the rust off the rotors.

For those special cars, after I park it in the garage, and wait about an hour, I will move the car back a few inches or so -- so that a different part of the brakes are exposed to air to help them dry. For most cars, you can just do this by hand (i.e., no need to turn the engine on). If I do not do this, the brakes are litterally stuck and must be forced off and the sound is horrible.

In the Winter, if I don't want the car to get dirty after washing, I will drive up/down my driveway to clean the brake discs off (I have about 150ft driveway). Of course, I keep my driveway plowed and clear in Winter.

This is beneficial for brakes and also for engine because starting the engine and pulling out of the garage, washing, then starting the engine again and pulling into the garage is bad -- not sure why but short start stop is not so good. So, you drive around until the oil is kind of warm and them put it back in.

OT: For Boxsters, if you do the above, start, pullout, stop, start, pull in, stop, you will get smoke on your next startup -- not particularly harmful but not good either. If I can, I will push the car out of the garage just to avoid one more short start.

Dennis

A-Spec Guy

Yep...sounds like typical "after wash" brake symptoms....I wouldnt worry about it unless it keeps doing it after a minute of driving or so.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, it'll dry off. Nothing to worry about.

mbwmn

are u using a tire dressing (Armorall?)? getting some overspray on the discs (rotors) perhaps?