Best way to get brake pad deposits off of my rotors?

[fastauto]

Have a bunch of brake pad material baked onto the outside of my rotors in certain areas and it is causing vibration under hard braking. Is sanding them down my best option or will this go away with time? I do have a set of track pads coming and from what I am told they will help remove the old pad material from the rotors but that is two weeks away. What has worked for everyone else that has had this issue?

Thanks

[Porschefile]

Track pads. I've heard of people using brillo (sp?) pads and soap and water, but it sounds more messy and difficult.

[fastauto]

Originally Posted by Porschefile

Track pads. I've heard of people using brillo (sp?) pads and soap and water, but it sounds more messy and difficult.

Yeah. Only problem is the set I have coming are the PFC 08's. Not the most hardcore pad but am hoping it will work.

[Gearhead999s]

I usually just drive it on the street and they will disappear over time.I have heard that using window cleaner will help with removing the deposits.The ammonia in the window cleaner is what makes this work,so I am told.Cooling your brakes down by doing a proper cool down really helps with this issue.

[LateBraking]

You can always use a rotor hone. The bit attaches to any cordless hand drill and you just use it on your rotor. Some motorcycle guys I talked to just used a scotch-brite pad and some alcohol, or something.

[fastauto]

All good stuff. Thanks guys!

[ThunderMoose]

Someone told me to spray down the rotors with a hose the night before and then do some hard braking the next morning when pads are still abrasive.

[turbo8765]

I use a scotch-brite on a drill... works very well

Wear a mask.

[lacartus]

Originally Posted by LateBraking

You can always use a rotor hone. The bit attaches to any cordless hand drill and you just use it on your rotor. Some motorcycle guys I talked to just used a scotch-brite pad and some alcohol, or something.

I believe that is called burnishing, where a softer metal is used to clean a harder metal (steel rotors in this case). I have that exact tool, purchased from McMaster-Carr it works great at removing pad deposits (often thought to be warped rotors).

[Groundpilot]

I used PFC-01 pads on my previous track car e46m3. They cleaned my rotors in one day.

[CanAutM3]

It should wear off after a few days/weeks of street driving, depending on the quantity of deposit. Your PF08 will however clean your discs in no time .

[fastauto]

[fastauto]

Originally Posted by Groundpilot

I used PFC-01 pads on my previous track car e46m3. They cleaned my rotors in one day.

One day of street driving or one day of track driving. I am on day 4 of street driving (stock pads) and the wheel still shakes like mad when I brake.

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by fastauto

One day of street driving or one day of track driving. I am on day 4 of street driving (stock pads) and the wheel still shakes like mad when I brake.

It could take me up to 10 days with stock pads if the deposit was bad.

[admranger]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

It could take me up to 10 days with stock pads if the deposit was bad.

That was a minimum time for me...

[IND-Distribution]

Glad to see people talking about pad deposits as opposed to warped rotors!

Do you have the original BMW brakes, or a big brake kit? Some big brake kit manufacturers will send "cleaner pads" on what is essentially a rental program. You pay a deposit, they send you some abrasive pads with specific cleaning instructions, and you send the pads back once you've gotten to scrub the rotors clean.

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by Ilia@IND

Glad to see people talking about pad deposits as opposed to warped rotors!

+1. Agreed

[fastauto]

Originally Posted by Ilia@IND

Glad to see people talking about pad deposits as opposed to warped rotors!

Do you have the original BMW brakes, or a big brake kit? Some big brake kit manufacturers will send "cleaner pads" on what is essentially a rental program. You pay a deposit, they send you some abrasive pads with specific cleaning instructions, and you send the pads back once you've gotten to scrub the rotors clean.

interesting. These are OEM brakes and Pads. I am waiting on a set of PCF pads and hope that once they are on the car for a little bit it will do the trick. thanks for the good info

[Protocav]

All of the holes were filled on my front rotors after an autocross, but normal driving and braking has removed the deposited material. It took about two weeks, but there was no vibration or warping attributed to the heavy deposits. Seems like they go away in time for the next event.

[Sandye90m3]

Bump, I dropped my car off for a professional detailing. All is well, and when I got the car back, I have quite a lot of vibration from all wheels.

I'm trying to figure out why that is the case, but maybe it is the cleaner that is used on the rims/tires?

Thoughts? I know for sure the guys didn't take my car for rip because the mileage was the same lol...

[dvas]

Originally Posted by Sandye90m3

Bump, I dropped my car off for a professional detailing. All is well, and when I got the car back, I have quite a lot of vibration from all wheels.

I'm trying to figure out why that is the case, but maybe it is the cleaner that is used on the rims/tires?

Thoughts? I know for sure the guys didn't take my car for rip because the mileage was the same lol...

Maybe check to see if the wheel weights fell off from a power wash.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by LateBraking

You can always use a rotor hone. The bit attaches to any cordless hand drill and you just use it on your rotor. Some motorcycle guys I talked to just used a scotch-brite pad and some alcohol, or something.

Bingo, a Flex-Hone pad is what you want. They're about $30 on Amazon. Dave Zeckhausen has also recommended it.

Do not use steel wool or other metallic abrasives, they'll get embedded into the brake pads.