I am by no means a car guy or mechanic, but I have successfully done some minor work on cars in the past. Im not afraid to do tune ups, oil changes, brakes, etc.

My wife drives a 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan that she recently took to a mechanic for another issue. He recommended replacing the front brake pads and rotors, and my wife agreed that they were making some noise recently. The mechanic wanted $350 to do it. I have done it on 4 other cars, so I decided to save the money and do it myself.

I purchased new pads and rotors from Advance Auto (got mid-grade rotors and ceramic pads).

The rotors were rather rusty and took some effort to come off. The pads looked brand new.... :/

Anyway, I got them off and took care to not mess up the brake line. I lubed the clips and slide pins, and contact points on the backs of the pads.

Once everything was done, I took it for a test drive, which was about three miles round-trip and made several stops and various braking from different speeds, but nothing dramatic. The brakes felt good, made no noise, and seemed fine.

However, when I got home and parked in the driveway, there was a small amount of white smoke coming from the brakes. There was a slight smell, and there was an uneven dullness to the rotor.

Is this normal? I do not remember any of the other brake jobs I have done doing this.

My first thought was a stuck caliper, but I think it would have pulled to one side or made a loud noise.

At one point in the drive, I thought I heard a very faint noise like two parts rubbing, but it was so quiet, I thought it was just wind noise. I would say that it was so quiet, that 90% of people would not have even heard it. When the windows were up, it could not be heard at all, which is why i assumed it was the wind off the drivers mirror or something.


Anyway, thanks in advance for your suggestions and/or advice.

Sigforum rocks!

I would guess you just bedded them I. They will be off gassing like that for a couple days or a couple good hard stops then settle down to nothing otherwise you might have a problem.

Did you remember to spray the rotors with brake cleaner? If not, the protective coating left on for shipping is most likely burning off.

I like to give all the components a nice long bath in brake cleaner before it goes back together, for that squeaky clean feeling. Dab little behind the ears if I'm feeling randy.

Also, if you install new brake pads and rotors, it's a good idea to bed them in by getting up to about 20-30 mph and slow down until your just rolling, but don't stop and proceed to do that a few more times to burn off an additional residue.

You don't have to do it, but it helps.

I did forget/neglect to spray off the rotors with brake parts cleaner.

I've been told to brake hard repeatedly to burn off the protective coating on new rotors. So far, it's worked just fine everytime.

New rotors usually need turned to true them don't they?

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
New rotors usually need turned to true them don't they?

With today's cheap rotors, yes it's a good idea to have them checked.

Normal, they'll seat pretty quickly and be just fine.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
New rotors usually need turned to true them don't they?

Normally, no they don't need to be trued. Unless they are super cheap grade.

Yeah, sounds like it was just a burn-off. As others have said, it should go away in a day or so. Sounds like you did everything else OK so I would not worry.

Did the wheels or rotors feel hot? I haven't heard of or seen the white smoke you mention (I've only change 20 or so sets of brakes) so I would repeat what you did test driving and check the temperatures of the rotors just to make sure they aren't sticking.

Relax, man.

The parts need to mate, factory goo needs to burn off, everything needs to heat and expand and cool and contract a little bit to find the right balance for them to run in blissful harmony, 'n' stuff.

Run them a week and tell us what you think then.

H&K-Guy

quote:

Originally posted by H&K-Guy:
Relax, man.

The parts need to mate, factory goo needs to burn off, everything needs to heat and expand and cool and contract a little bit to find the right balance for them to run in blissful harmony, 'n' stuff.

Run them a week and tell us what you think then.

H&K-Guy

This

normal, I would test it again but longer before sending wifey out alone in it

quote:

Originally posted by Shifferbrains:

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
New rotors usually need turned to true them don't they?

Normally, no they don't need to be trued. Unless they are super cheap grade.

Next time you buy a set have them checked, you might be surprised. The NAPA employee thought the same thing, until one of the two was out quite a bit. Checking them first will allow them to work much better for a longer time.

Was there a slippery/oily-feeling substance on the rotors? Even if there isn't an excessive amount of it on the friction surface, it is still on the inside of the fins. When the brakes get hot, this preservative will smoke, sometimes a lot, and have a bit of odor to it. It is not the same odor as actual burning friction material. That is very distinctive. Sometimes the rotor will have a "streaked" appearance to it. And your very first few stops will sometimes make noise. This is all typical of a fresh brake job and why, after my road test, I pull around to the back of the shop and let the brakes finish "smoking out" before releasing the car.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:

quote:

Originally posted by Shifferbrains:

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
New rotors usually need turned to true them don't they?

Normally, no they don't need to be trued. Unless they are super cheap grade.

Next time you buy a set have them checked, you might be surprised. The NAPA employee thought the same thing, until one of the two was out quite a bit. Checking them first will allow them to work much better for a longer time.

So you are basing your assertion on a single NAPA employee that had one rotor out of spec? I’m not saying don’t check them, but I’ve not had reason to do so in any sort of regular intervals. You usually can tell PDQ if there is an issue during the test drive. I’ve replaced hundreds of rotors on our police cars and other municipal vehicles, and I can’t remember any ever needing a touch up. We, however don’t use cheap stuff either.

Normal. Most of the higher end rotors and pads have actual break in procedures to get through this and ready to go. These are typically a number of very hard stops to get uniform transfer from the pads to the rotors, followed by some easy driving where you don't stop completely to cool them off.

Oil burnoff from the rotors.

They are packed in either oil or wax so they won't rust while in storage.

Its the oil burning off the rotors to keep them from rusting.