# Rusted Brake Rotors



## YellowRubi (Apr 12, 2009)

I have an '09 GLI with rusted brake rotors. They were rusted basically from day one. I have read some options for painting them, but that seems like a lot of work to clean and paint. Will VW cover this under warranty and replace or should I just replace them with something else that won't rust? If I replace, do I have to do a whole brake job or can I just remove old ones and replace with new ones? Sorry if that was a dumb brake question. I don't know much about brakes.


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## jermarlang (Mar 26, 2000)

*Re: Rusted Brake Rotors (YellowRubi)*

My Zimmerman rotors rusted so badly, it would leave rust spots dripping down my wheels. I used KBS coatings product after sanding, and chemical prep. Yea, too much work, but now the rotors don't look nasty through alum spoke wheels.


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## YellowRubi (Apr 12, 2009)

*Re: Rusted Brake Rotors (jermarlang)*

Are there any rotors that don't rust?


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## jermarlang (Mar 26, 2000)

*Re: Rusted Brake Rotors (YellowRubi)*

The Powerslot rotors I recently changed were cadmium plated. They did not rust. However, they were only available in slotted rotors. They did not offer cad plated plain rotors. The slotted rotors were like a cheese grater against the pads, and resulted in very short pad life + strange humming noise.


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## jermarlang (Mar 26, 2000)

*Re: Rusted Brake Rotors (jermarlang)*

Since your car is an 09, I would not go to the expense of replacing the rotors. Here is the product I used.[black version]
http://www.kbs-coatings.com/Ru....html
Spend a few hours on prep & paint and you'll be happy. Much less labor than changing rotors on a new car.


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## YellowRubi (Apr 12, 2009)

*Re: Rusted Brake Rotors (jermarlang)*

Will I need to remove the calipers or can I just tape off the areas with painters tape??


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## GTijoejoe (Oct 6, 2001)

*Re: Rusted Brake Rotors (YellowRubi)*


_Quote, originally posted by *YellowRubi* »_Are there any rotors that don't rust?

Of course, you can get chromed rotors, not very good for stopping, you can get geomet rotors, this will wear off over time, and you can get carbon or carbon ceramic rotors, but usually ppl don't have 5-10grand to pay for them....

VW will not warranty your disks because of corrosion, this is a common occurance which is impossible to get around, you can only reduce the amount by some Geomet or paint application. Having rusted disks from day one generally has nothing to do with it, most likely your vehicle sat in a parking lot until you purchased it, you can not get around the environmental chemical reaction of oxidation...unless you keep it inside with low humidity. 
The best way to fix this issue is to paint them, wire brush the corrosion off the NON disk surface (we don't want to destroy your disks), and then mask off the friction surface and paint them. Of course this will only last for so long, but it will be bester than red rust. 
BTW your disks are some type of iron metalurgy, it will produce red rust no matter what.


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## YellowRubi (Apr 12, 2009)

*Re: Rusted Brake Rotors (GTijoejoe)*

I guess when I say the rotors, I mean the hub and edges behind the stopping surface. The only rust on the rotors is because of the rust on the hub dripping onto the rotor. I guess cleaning, prepping and painting is the cheapest options.


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