Wifi Zona

What causes hot spots on brake discs and how serious is this problem?

Purchased the car with 31,300 miles on the clock back in May 2007, it has now done 49,000 and had new front discs and pads at around 35,000. I have now been told in a service that the front discs have hot spots on their inner surface. I do about 250 miles a week on mostly dual-carriage ways. Any help is greatly appreciated, Many thanks in advanced Many thanks for your very prompt responses - I particularly like the one about the garage angling for work however as i'm unable to give the thumbs up i'll trust someone else will do that. I did the front brakes myself and they are perfectly fine - it is the rear parking braking efficiency where there is an issue so i've got to have new handbrake cables for it to pass the MOT. Before this car which is an 05 Mondeo I had a 1999 Fiesta which failed everytime on parking brake efficiency. It appears my Mondeo is heading down the same road. Thanks again :-) In response to Keith P - its a totally different place - I just think they picked it up as an "advisory" note on the service. Also I was under the impression a service and MOT at the same time was a good idea because things picked up in the service have a chance to be rectified before the MOT. Obivously not as this place take the car somewhere else for the MOT and didnt have time. Next time i'll service it my flaming self. Only thing up on my normal maintenance would be plugs and oil change. Thanks again everyone

Public Comments

1. This can be caused from riding the brakes.It warps them and the pads will not hit the disc everywhere.
2. Hot spots are caused by excessive braking due to aggressive stop and go driving habits. Replace the pads and rotors - use premium rotors and mid grade pads. Drive like there is a penalty of a Pound Sterling for every time you have to touch the brake pedal if you are going faster than 30 Mph and this will never happen again! You will also improve your fuel economy dramatically!
3. Disc brakes can generate a lot of heat. The "hot spots" are caused by inconsistency in the rotor to dissipate the heat evenly across the entire rotor surface. It could be high spots on the rotor surface or differences in the rotor thickness material when manufactured. It's pretty common and generally not a concern.
4. Check that the disk have not buckled. When the new ones were fitted they may not have been put on square ?
5. No,it isn't a serious problem unless you find that your brakes have reduced effectiveness. It is likely that the garage is angling for work by identifying trivial matters. The "hotspots" are areas of the disc that endure the most contact with the pads because the disc is slightly warped. If the disc is warped with any severity it will be picked up on the rolling road brake test during an MOT.
6. Are you taking the mondeo to the same testing station that you took your fiesta to ,are you sure that the garage are not over keen on the braking issue .