New Rotors are already rusted

I'm a new motorhead so I don't know much about maintenance shops but I brought my 240sx in to get the brakes fixed a couple months ago, and they had to install new rotors. I took the wheel off and noticed a lot of rust and I'm wondering just how new the rotors are. It wasn't cheap either so i'm very dissatisfied. I'm looking to upgrade to bigger brakes all around but I always thought that brakes are always supposed to look nice. How are they supposed to if they rust two months in? My dad said aftermarket rotors don't rust because of a special coating...why don't shops use coated rotors when they replace the old ones?? Doesn't rust kill the brake's performance? I'm too confused about all of this, thanks.

If you wash the car or let them sit for any length of time they will rust.
One or two brake applications will clear the working surface nicely. the rest of the rotor will still be rusty (unless they have been cad plated).
Don't worry about it.

If you wash the car or let them sit for any length of time they will rust.
One or two brake applications will clear the working surface nicely. the rest of the rotor will still be rusty (unless they have been cad plated).
Don't worry about it.

what do you mean by the working surface?

that would be the area where the pads make contact with the disk.

OEM brakes will rust, unless they come with a zinc coating which is probably only on high performance cars.

I would guess a 240SX doesnt come with zinc washed rotors.

Significant rust occurs on the bare iron casting in very short order. Even if they are zinc washed or painted, the intense heat they get will cause the zinc to flake off and delaminate from the rotor, even in places other than the places affected by pad friction.

Significant rust occurs on the bare iron casting in very short order. Even if they are zinc washed or painted, the intense heat they get will cause the zinc to flake off and delaminate from the rotor, even in places other than the places affected by pad friction.

This will be a general question instead of specific, If I bought a vented fender, do you think that would help cool the brakes at all? The wheels I use rightnow need hubcaps, or else they look like they took a bath in motor oil. Eventually i'll buy nice rims with wide open spaces for more air.

Wow this thread has helped a lot, more than I thought it would.

^^ No.

the intense heat they get will cause the zinc to flake off and delaminate from the rotor, even in places other than the places affected by pad friction.
Which may be one of the reasons why NONE of the truly upscale (racing) iron brakes have any sort of coating on them at all. Cad or zinc coatings are for poseurs or semi-poseurs ;P ...apparently.
Real men let their brakes rust.

This will be a general question instead of specific, If I bought a vented fender, do you think that would help cool the brakes at all?

If it truly vents the rotors it will help cool them when the brakes aren't applied, but it won't reduce peak temps while under braking.

Swapping to aluminum wheels can help wick heat away from the rotors, but unless you're racing its really a non-issue.

Which may be one of the reasons why NONE of the truly upscale (racing) iron brakes have any sort of coating on them at all. Cad or zinc coatings are for poseurs or semi-poseurs ;P ...apparently.
Real men let their brakes rust.

Then I just have two questions for you...

Do you have the budget to afford new rotors every day you drive to work? like an F1 garage?

Or can you just not afford zinc/cad rotors? :evillol:

how do prices vary between rotors and coated rotors? Is everyone with nice brakes a poser? lol the answer is maybe since we're mostly not race car drivers, but doesn't mean we DON'T drive like real ones do. we just don't have the added insurance that it will work on our car.

There's different types of posers...in any case

Then I just have two questions for you...

Do you have the budget to afford new rotors every day you drive to work? like an F1 garage?

Or can you just not afford zinc/cad rotors? :evillol:

how do prices vary between rotors and coated rotors? Is everyone with nice brakes a poser? lol the answer is maybe since we're mostly not race car drivers, but doesn't mean we DON'T drive like real ones do. we just don't have the added insurance that it will work on our car.

There's different types of posers...in any case

Lay off the crack, thats the stupidest post I'v read in a long time.

I have Brembo Slotted rotors and they rust sometimes. its normal.

i shouldnt say they rust, but they get a layer of oxidation on the surface that goes away as soon as you drive the car.

I have Brembo Slotted rotors and they rust sometimes. its normal.

i shouldnt say they rust, but they get a layer of oxidation on the surface that goes away as soon as you drive the car.

Yeah, thats how my Baer's are. It only rusts where the pad meets the rotor since the zinc coating has been worn off. Everywhere else looks brand new.

Lay off the crack, thats the stupidest post I'v read in a long time.

I WAS BORN WITH THIS NATURAL HIGH!!!!!

You can tell, i'm leaning toward aftermarket rotors and now my front end needs new brakes. I'll leave the back ones on for now, since i don't have time/money to replace all 4 at once, and from what everyone's said, they work. Brembo sound nice but it's not like they'll be porsche quality..then again i've been researching chevy parts for 2 months so I forgot what they offer for imports :grinno: .

unless you're going to do some sort of racing or something, save your money. There's no reason to get aftermarket rotors unless you want to show off or you're using them for racing. My :2cents:

if you actually want stronger brakes youre either going to have to get new rotors pads(minimal increase, depending on how your brakes are now) or larger diameter rotors, or a new booster and lines.

Then I just have two questions for you...


Or can you just not afford zinc/cad rotors? :evillol:

how do prices vary between rotors and coated rotors? Is everyone with nice brakes a poser? lol the answer is maybe since we're mostly not race car drivers, but doesn't mean we DON'T drive like real ones do. we just don't have the added insurance that it will work on our car.

There's different types of posers...in any case
"Or can you just not afford zinc/cad rotors? :evillol:"
Fair questions-- yes I can afford coated rotors. The big rotors I have on my car came in a hard-to-get kit from England. They are AP Racing two piece units. The calipers are AP Racing 4 pots. Since these people only make serious hardware, none of their rotors come coated.
I purchased these because I had a real problem on my favorite twisty mountain road. After 45 miles, the stock rotors would overheat, turn funny colors, and the car wouldn't stop. So I got good brakes for it.
The car stops now.
"Is everyone with nice brakes a poser?"
Of course not.
But people who are anal about how their brakes LOOK, and the impression that these brakes make on other people-- are.
It's kind of a given, don't you think?

"Or can you just not afford zinc/cad rotors? :evillol:"
Fair questions-- yes I can afford coated rotors. The big rotors I have on my car came in a hard-to-get kit from England. They are AP Racing two piece units. The calipers are AP Racing 4 pots. Since these people only make serious hardware, none of their rotors come coated.
I purchased these because I had a real problem on my favorite twisty mountain road. After 45 miles, the stock rotors would overheat, turn funny colors, and the car wouldn't stop. So I got good brakes for it.
The car stops now.
"Is everyone with nice brakes a poser?"
Of course not.
But people who are anal about how their brakes LOOK, and the impression that these brakes make on other people-- are.
It's kind of a given, don't you think?

I'll save any flaming because that's an awesome name you got and my member name sucks. So just because I want brakes that never rust makes me a poser? we're not talking nice brakes, but even if brakes do work, rusted or not, I believe that rust-free rotors would work better.

But If I have nice rims which show my rotors in plain view, it'll be weird if they're the only orange-brownish part on my car, if that makes sense. Black socks with black shoes etc..I'll wear white shocks but it'll look stupid, and black socks with white shoes can look cool but they'll fall off your feet.....moving on. If you cannot see the rust when they're on the car, ...I'll still know they're rusting behind the wheel, so It could be preference.

Schister and Alpha- Alpha's right, I need bigger rotors and calipers since I will be seriously 'upping the performance aspect of the car' and that's as discreet as it gets. So schister i'm not racing but I will need better braking power on the road.

And now for another stupid question(if anyone has gotten this far) I noticed you said if you wash your car the brakes will rust which makes perfect sense. Does that mean I shouldn't wash my wheels anymore to get dirt off? Or is this another reason I let them rust?

No they just rust. It happens. The reason is that there is no more coating left on the rotor, which means that the bare metal is exposed to oxygen/water, which both cause rust. it wont do anything to your rotors. In fact, after I wash my car (rotors included) my car has noticably better stopping power for a while after, due to the rotors being 'clean' again.