That's a tell-tale sign of....

It's an "02 with 90000 miles and driven in New England year round. No brake pulse when stopping, pads are fine and I have no problems or symptoms. I guess I'll have to do rotors at some time, but I was not aware that rust (not on the braking surface) is an issue. Is there any immediate risk of failure, or?

Tom

Did they say what their concern was?

Rust in the venting channels could block air flow for cooling but that would only be a concern for track use.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

.. normal cast iron rotors. Of course they rust. They are cast iron.

For those who really care some manufacturers put an anti-rust coating on; your pads wear it off where it matters.

totally, completely normal.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

...not driving it often enough

"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."

More just a result the rotors are cast iron. Any unpainted surfaces that are not swept by the pads will rust. Exposure to rain or just wash/rinse water will have the naked iron surfaces with a coating of rust. If one drives the car in the winter slush/ice that gathers under the wheel wells rains salty water down on the brake hardware as the car sits and this stuff melts.

The rust is not a problem -- though I caution one to use the brakes hard enough to remove the surface rust from the rotors after taking the car out before he needs to use the brakes to bring the car to a stop to avoid possibly ending up with pulsing brakes -- unless as someone I believe has already noted the vented portion of the brake rotor is full of rust.

I recall when I picked up my "new" (used) 996 Turbo the front brake rotor holes were almost all blocked with rust/brake dust. I had to take a rough round file and clean each hole out. I checked and the vented portion was free of any significant rust build up. Sure the inner surfaces were rusty but air flow was not impeded.

There can be some rust develop between the rotor and the hub face. So when the rotor is removed to be replaced it can be a bit difficult to remove the rotor from the hub. (Be sure to remove the two counter sunk machine screws first!) A tap from a lead/soft hammer can help. Then afterwards the hub face to which the new rotor fits against needs to be cleaned of any rust build up. I don't recall if the factory calls for anything like grease to be applied to this surface. Probably not. Just clean and flat is all I recall it wants to be.

Thanks folks. All of what you guys are telling me is exactly what I believe.

Basically what they want to get me ready to replace the rotors next time the brakes are done. Agreed, but not for something like almost $3000 they are talking about. Tom

I replace them with about $300 worth of parts and 1 hour of labor. They must be doing other things too (like flushing the brake fluid, replacing the pads, providing doughnuts in their waiting room, etc.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2018 02:07PM by Boxsterra. (view changes)

For that you get 4 new tires, plugs and coils.

But they wash and vacuum the car at that price!
Don't worry, I'll do it myself.

When they saw the car with 90,000 miles and no service history since it was under warranty, they naturally offered the major belt service which of course I had done at an indy shop.

Quote
tom coughlin
Thanks folks. All of what you guys are telling me is exactly what I believe.

Basically what they want to get me ready to replace the rotors next time the brakes are done. Agreed, but not for something like almost $3000 they are talking about. Tom

Roughly I paid the Porsche dealer service department around $1000/axle for brakes (rotors, pads, sensors, brake hardware) and I believe this included brake (and clutch) fluid flush/bleed. Doing them myself cost me about half that but I then booked the car in for the flush service.