Last June I took my 2001 Audi A4 off the road since I bought a more fuel efficient commuter car but I wanted to keep the Audi in the family until my oldest son started driving.
That day has come and I’m making the car drivable again. I pulled the battery over the winter and kept it on a Battery Tender. I put it back in over the weekend and the car started up up and runs just fine.
The only problem is that the rotors are extremely rusted and make a horrific grinding noise. Is there anything I can do to remove this rust? I assume I can just grind it off with the brake pads but that can’t be good for the brakes which, if I recall correctly, are fairly new.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Dave
Dave, dpending on the level of rust, you can use the brakes to grind it off, remove the disks in question and have them turned, or replace them. It appears they used the same rotors for both the A4 6cylinder, and the 4 banger turbo. They’re about $34 each for the fronts, and $37 for the rears.
The rust should go away within the first 2 miles of driving.
I would just crunch it off by using the brakes, though if you really wanted to you could pull the rotors & rub them down with an emery cloth. I wouldn’t find it worth the trouble.
I agree, just drive the car for a mile or two and the rust will wear right off. Check all four rotors afterwards.
Keep your nose open for any burning smell as well, never know if the parking brake cable may have frozen in place due to rust.