Rotor/Brake Job Question

Resurfacing is usually a false economy. Resurfacing without changing pads is OK if you accept you may need new rotors next year, but its not ideal expecially as your brakes wont be as effective for a while. Is it a toyota dealer or a car sales place? Its common for aftermarket pads to not wear but chew up the rotors.

Wow...some interesting questions today.

When you did the brakes, did you use Toyota parts, or did Meineke or Midas do it. Meienke and Midas are profit oriented, so they probably used Chinese rotors unless you specified others. If you resurfaced them and are getting a pulsing through the brake pedal, this is an indication the rotors are warped. Don't resurface them, chances are the warping will be back in a few hundred miles.

If this is a TOYOTA dealer quoting $169, ask them how much for new rotors, and the TOYOTA ones, not the aftermarket ones. Chinese rotora and pads are fine for an '85 Celica with 254,000 miles on it if you do your own work :), but for an '03 Camry with 60K, I'd pony up either for better rotors and pads elsewhere, or have Toyota do it with the OEM spec parts.

The job was done by a Toyota dealer. This is the same dealer wanting me to have the same work performed again. I may see what the cost would be to get new rotors installed. Again, could (or should) this be done without changing the pads. Since it was a Toyota dealer that did the work, they should be Toyota pads.

Thanks

Am I understanding that the steering wheel shake started after the dealer resurface the rotors? If so, they did not have the rotor chucked in the lathe perfectly. They resurfaced them to a warped condition. It's easy to do if you are in a hurry. Take it back to the dealer and they should remedy this. Usually if you disassemble the brakes enough to remove the rotor, changing to new pads is only a few minutes of additional work. Make certain that they clean and lube the slider pins and surfaces so that the caliper works as designed. If you are experiencing wear only on one side of the rotor (which may be why they said you need resurfacing but the pads were OK) the calipers are frozen and not sliding when the brakes are applied. It could be that the piston in the caliper is not retracting when the brakes are released and is "dragging" just slightly. It doesn't take much. Not to be accusing you of it, but make sure you don't drive with two feet and keep one foot "resting" ever so slightly on the brake pedal. I'm just trying to think of all possibilities. Check the brake fluid for a dark color discoloration (when new it's clear), it's a sign that it needs to be changed. Brake fluid absorbs moisture and slowly begins to oxidize (rust) components. A really good diagnosis for a brake job entails much more than replacing pads and rotors. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. The determination was made that the rotors were the culprit yesterday during the 60k service. Brake fluid, etc. were checked during the 60k inspections (or should have been). The dealer is not willing to do any repairs for free since the last brake job was done exactly 1 year and 1 week ago. If I had brought the car in a week earlier, they probably would have covered it. I think they should have remedied it yesterday free of charge personally. I could try calling the service manager directly and see where that gets me because in the end they will be losing my business and I have been a loyal customer up until now. I think I should get way more than 1 year and 12,000+ miles out of a brake job.

I am generally pretty easy on my brakes...I think that's why I got 48k miles out of my first set of pads. Probably could have gotten even more life out of them, but didn't want to push it.

And Toyota is a non-profit.

In my experience, I've found that resurfaced rotors almost always give shuddering or pulsing in a year to 18 months so I am not a fan of resurfacing rotors. If you get all of your service performed at the dealership, see if the service department will give you a break (no pun intended) where you pay for new rotors and they provide the labor.

Another possibility is for you to change the rotors yourself. If you have a jack, jack stands, a large C-clamp, 14 and 17 mm wrenches, a can of brake cleaner, and some anti-seize or wheel bearing grease, you should be able to do the job yourself fairly easily. To change the rotors:

Jack up the end of the car you are working on and place on jack stands. NEVER work under the car supported only by the jack!

If you are working on the front brakes, turn the wheels towards the side you are working on, ie., turn the wheel all the way to the left if you are working on the left side.

Remove the 2 14 MM bolts that hold the caliper in place. Being careful to not wise or pinch the brake hose, rest it on top of the rotor and backing plate or hold it in place with a coathanger wire.

Remove the 2 17 mm bolts (I think that is the size) that hold the caliper bracket in place and remove the caliper bracket.

The rotor will now slide off. Wash the replacement rotor with the brake cleaner and place it on the hub.

Replace the caliper bracket.

Using the C-clamp, retract the caliper piston by squeezing between the inboard side of the caliper and the brake pad. To avoid damaging the pad, use a piece of wood or old brake pad if you have one laying around. Replace the pad if necessary and replace the caliper.

Grab each sleeve where the caliper bolt passes through and make sure you can push-pull the sleeve in and out to the extent allowed by the rubber boot. If it does not slide easily, pull the sleeve all the way out and clean it up and coat with anti-seize or wheel bearing or caliper grease.

Clean off the caliper bolts and coat with anti-seize, wheel bearing grease, or caliper grease and replace.

turn the steering wheel to the opposite side and repeat on the other side.

Believe it or not... Worn tires that do not get rotated could be the cause also. If it is the cause rotating them to the rear would make real obvious right away.

While I realize that technically you're out of warranty on the brake job, if the dealer had the sense God gave geese, he'd do the resurface for little or no cost to maintain your good will, or give you a really fine deal on the replacement rotors. I'm with Ray O about resurfacing rotors, in that if they remove too much 'meat' from the rotors, they'll be out of minimum specs, and will tend to warp even faster. But unless you live in a steep mountain community with lots of braking on downgrades, in the course of normal events you shouldn't be even halfway through a brake replacement in 14 K miles. (I had a Honda Accord '77 that went for 95 K before the front discs needed redoing. But I didn't live in the mountains.)

I meant the mark-up on parts, Wise Ass...

My cost for parts was only dollars less than your cost for parts. At best I got a 25% discount.

Nah, don't resurface them again. Go with new rotors, if you can afford it. I mean, they could be resurfaced, but as someone else mentioned, this will remove even more meat and cause further warping. But what REALLY surprizes me is they even offered to resurface them! Where is this dealer...I want to bring my car there!!!!

Rotors are (were) about $55 each from Toyota, and pads are about $30. Too bad you haven't mentioned doing the job yourself, if you can. They're really easy. Toyota brake design is really good, and easy to work on.

And, I'd ask if they had lifetime on the pads (Ray?) sometimes pads are warranteed for life.

I am intrigued by your brake problems. I have a 2003 Camry SE with

67,000 mi. At last oil change (65,000) the brakes still looked great and they perform as new. The SE has discs both front and rear and I don't know if they differ from LE's or XLE's.

We live in the mountains of Siskiyou County in far northern California, so our brakes get a pretty good workout. I had significant problems with disc warpage on a previous 91 Ford Contour, but have been very happy with the Camry.

Anyone have any related thoughts?

Incidentally, our Camry has seen the inside of a Toyota dealership only to have an inxplicably shattered moonroof replaced under warranty and to purchase an exorbitantly priced replacement remote entry transducer that I lost.

I am not in a mountainous area. I am in Atlanta and the dealer is Sandy Springs Toyota. I might try calling Toyota and explaining the situation...14k miles and just over 1 year and having problems. They will issue a case number and call the service director who might be willing to work something out. Thanks for all of the responses.

Good Luck! Let us know how you make out.

I think everyone has missed another explanation for the wheel bounce when you brake. Your bearings may be worn. it happened on my 4Runner, I had the rotors turned twice and the problem came back quickly. New rotors also didn't solve the problem. But replacing the tapered wheel bearings and the inner and outer races did the trick. Bearings cost about $100 at Kragen (they beat other part store prices, get them to call AUto Zone or somewhere).

I would be really surprised if the wheel bearing were the cause of the OP's vibrations.