# Screech, screech! Brake rust ridge.



## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

After work this afternoon, my Eco started making an awful screeching noise. I pulled into a parking lot, and noted it went away as soon as the car stopped moving. It also went away when the brakes were pressed. Luckily, I had time to kill and a dealer was 1/4 mile away. So I carefully drive the car over there, folks giving me funny looks since my Eco sounded like it was on its deathbed. I got checked in, declined the recall (they asked, and I told them that shield helped sway me to getting the car, which is true. Shield is verified intact.), and proceeded to wait. 

Halfway through Motor Trend, they tell me my car's ready. They described the problem as a rust ridge on the driver's side rotor hitting the side of the pad, and causing noise. Sure enough, the outer area of the rotor shows slight grind marks where a tech filed it down. That's what I would have done myself, so I'm fine with it. There's plenty of meat left on both the pads and rotors. No weird vibrations or noises happened on the highway drive back home. 

So, if the brakes start making noise like they need pads, except you know they don't need pads, check the rotors. It's possible that even a fairly meaty rotor might have a tiny ridge that needs to be taken down. 

Now if the rust ridge is more than a few millimeters deep, have the rotors turned or replaced. Mine didn't need to be since they are barely worn.


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## OnlyTaurus (Mar 20, 2012)

Good to know Sciphi.

Sorry you encountered that, but thanks for the heads up nonetheless. :thumbup:

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using AutoGuide.Com Free App


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

sciphi said:


> After work this afternoon, my Eco started making an awful screeching noise. I pulled into a parking lot, and noted it went away as soon as the car stopped moving. It also went away when the brakes were pressed. Luckily, I had time to kill and a dealer was 1/4 mile away. So I carefully drive the car over there, folks giving me funny looks since my Eco sounded like it was on its deathbed. I got checked in, declined the recall (they asked, and I told them that shield helped sway me to getting the car, which is true. Shield is verified intact.), and proceeded to wait.
> 
> Halfway through Motor Trend, they tell me my car's ready. They described the problem as a rust ridge on the driver's side rotor hitting the side of the pad, and causing noise. Sure enough, the outer area of the rotor shows slight grind marks where a tech filed it down. That's what I would have done myself, so I'm fine with it. There's plenty of meat left on both the pads and rotors. No weird vibrations or noises happened on the highway drive back home.
> 
> ...




sciphi,
I would like to apologize for the issues that you have experienced with your Cruze. I am very happy to hear that you were able to get this issue fixed in a timely manner. Thank you for sharing this!! If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me anytime. 
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Stacy, this is more the fault of NY putting so much salt on the roads more than anything. Stuff like this happens. I appreciate your concern!


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## Cleck (Dec 5, 2011)

Also remember that if you guys get the 15/30/60k services, your rotors should have this done when they do the brake service. Some people don't take the time to properly get the rust ridge off the rotor when they service them and then the customer comes back with a squeal/screech complaint. You see this more on older cars though, where rust has had plenty of time to accumulate to the rotor.


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## UpstateNYBill (Jan 14, 2012)

Interesting that you had a rust ridge already. I've had that before on other cars, but only after multiple brake pad changes first.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

It's NY and all the salt they put onto the roads. My winter wheels are also fairly open, so the salt has an easy path to the rotors. Most of my driving is highway, so the brakes get a good workout slowing the car from 60 mph to 0 at some of the stop signs and lights in the darndest places out in the sticks.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

This is one reason I hate road salt. I'm glad it wasn't something serious.


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