My parents recently gave me a car that had been sitting in their driveway for about 2 years with very little driving. Everything seems to be working fine besides the rear passenger side tire making some grinding/squealing noises. I pulled the tire off to see how everything looked and it appears to me that the brake pads are fine but the rotors are quite rusty. Should I have them turned, leave them alone or replace them all together?
Don’t bother turning rotors. They are too thin to begin with. After you turn them, they will warp soon. Just replace them instead. The cost is similar either way.
That said, you have no reason to turn or replace them, as long as you aren’t getting any shaking or vibration when you are braking. Rust on the rotors is very normal. Any rust on the braking surface will come off after the first or second application of the brakes. It will come back after the car sits over night, if it is moist out. Your noise issue is probably not related to the rusty rotors.
I had a set that took about a week to work out the kinks, It was very worrysome but they ended up being self healing.
If you dont believe the rotors to be the problem, what do you suggest i look for to calm the noise?
I have been driving this car for about a month now. At first it didnt make any noises but the brakes were a little stiff. Now the brakes seem to be working better but the noises have gotten progressively worse. If its not the rotors, what could be causing this problem?