RatedRX8

I seem to have accumulated an excessive amount of rust around my rear passenger brake rotor. It's the only rotor that has really bad rust. I took it to my dealership today and they said that it's normal because of the heat. The manager explained he called Mazda's hotline and that is their response so therefore he couldnt do anything about it. While at the dealership, I took a look at the 8's on the lot and they had really minor rust, but nothing as bad as mine. So I called MNAO customer service hoping they could help me out but they just called the dealership and repeated what I have heard already.

His solution was to take it to another dealership to get their opinion. Unfortunately, its about 40 minutes to the next dealership. When I can find the time, I'll take it out there. It will just suck to drive all that distance just to hear the same thing again.

My question to you guys is that are y'all experiencing this same problem? Is this really normall? I have never seen it this bad on any car. My solutions are either to replace it or to sand it off and paint over it. I feel Mazda should be responsible for either of these solutions.

Any comments or help will be appreciated. Thanks!

micrx8

i have the same problem on the 4 wheels
i paint it with bbq paint sametimes i paint the calipers

Dr. Rx

I have some on my left rear rotor, but not that bad. I'm planning on wire brushing it off and hopefully that will rid it. The surface of the rotor gets a coating of rust after I wash my car, but that gets worn off after driving.

thew

yep.. You can paint the centers when you paint your calipars.. or even if you dont..

I painted mine Black so the go away.. and the calipars Blue.


Its easy to do an will stop that rust.. however.. your Break surfaces will rust up when you wash the car.. but when you drive it it will rub off after using the breaks once..

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...chmentid=23587 you can see a bit of the center here

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...chmentid=23588

WHealy

Here's another thread with pics.

dcfc3s

Yeah, rotors are gonna get surface rust on them - they're cast iron, and cast iron will get rusty.

Most cars on the road with disc brakes have rusty rotors - it's considered normal. But, with the RX-8's big wheels that let you easily see the rotors, it's not desireable. Just wire brush off the rust and paint it with high temp paint if it's an issue for you.

It's most likely that the dealer won't do anything for you on this - again, it's considered normal. They're not gonna rust away to nothing or anything.

Dale

mysql101

I don't know if you can see it well, but I also painted the center area black, and the calipers red.

It makes a world of diff since the rust is easily seen.

galleychief

I have the same on all four wheels. My dealer told me there was nothing they
"would" do about it. So like others have said, you can either get some caliper paint and make it look pretty or accept the fact that it's there not hurting anything and ignore it. I painted mine over a weekend and it was rather painless. Hardest part was figuring out the best place to place the jack stands when I pulled the wheels off. Good thing there are some good threads and pics on this board about doing just that.

Kel Rx8

ive never had these problems but have seen cars with less miles
have the rust issue.strange

mysql101

all the cars on the dealer's lot here had the rust. I personally went to 5 mazda dealerships in the area.

Plain and simple: The rotors rust within 5 minutes of getting water on them. I've watched it happen before my eyes every time I wash the car.

RatedRX8

Thx everyone for the feedback. I will be investing into some paint and time to cover up the rust now.

Sorry if this has been discussed before. I honestly did search for "rust" to find anything pertaining to my conundrum but did not find any similar topics.

thew

no biggie.. when you paint them use a brush its much easyer and a better paint job than Spray paint..

you can Spray High Heat paint into a cup and use a small Model painting brush

bxb40

Mine had rust from new and dealer said it's normal. I asked them to fix it for esthetics - they said they don't know how :o) They should go to school or something....or they do? Wonder how they can rebuild an engine if they don't know how to fix a little rust... Being sarcastic here - sure they know, but they could not care less. Dealers - what else to expect?!? I'll be fixing them myself one sunny weekend.

thew

yes.. its a very easy DIY ... just take you time.. and it wil come out great.

Kain

so- on my rotor, there is the center part that is rusting, then there is still more at the edge of the contact surface for the brake pad- there however is NO lip between these two and was wondering if anyone actually painted out to there and how the heck you got it masked perfect>?

mysql101

You can mask it off with painters tape, or you can just pretend it's a coloring book and try not to get any outside of the area.

The reason is, it doesn't matter if you get a little outside because after hitting your brakes a few times it will be gone.

Kain

what paint did you use>? cause I used g2 on my calipers and it warned against that- but the G2 is way more of an epoxy than paint type of deal. what paint did you use>? and thanx in advance

mysql101

I forget what i used, but it's the only type of caliper paint sold at walmart. They also sell it at autozone type stores. I wanted a thick paint, not spray paint.

My paint also warned about painting the rotor that the pads touch, but I think the warning is more for the people who would paint the entire surface, which would definately cause problems. A little bit isn't a big deal since it'll be rubbed out quickly.

thew

use High Heat Engien PAint.. at least 500 deg paint.

Use a brush dont spray it on.. Then its very easy and you dont have to mask..

Like JAson says.. if you get a little on the Break surface.. it will rub right off the first time you break.. Just dont get to much paint on the back of your break shoes..

RX8FOREAL

I believe this phenomenom is caused by inadequate finishing on the rotors when fabricated. I have about 21,000 miles on my car and got it off the showroom floor last July. When I only had about 100 miles, I noticed a lot of rust on my rear rotors. Initially I called the dealer who gave me the same bull story about heat and so forth. I did not accept this and called the North American Corpororate offices and made a nuisance of myself and they replaced all 4 rotors at no charge to me. One year later and I see the rust is back. I have had many cars with rotors and never had the rust I have. My solution will be too get some aftermarket slotted rotors which will look better anyway. Other than this problem, I have had none with the car.

RX-8 friend

The rotors are lightly plated (centre part is called a "hat") on the hat and that shouldn't rust. I've noticed the plating varies in quality from time to time of manufacture. You can paint the hat and the space on the outside of the rotor (between the inside and outside braking surfaces). -I- wouldn't try to paint the braking surface, even where the pads don't touch. I doubt you would hurt anything, but there is a small chance the paint could contaminate the brake pads and decrease effectiveness.

Same deal with tire paint/treatment - many say be carefull to not get any on the tread surface. You'd think it would rub off almost immediatly, but better not to find out the hard way.

Once you wear out the rotors you can find better quality replacements with better plating. My experiences say avoid drilled rotors and stick with plain flat non-groved or drilled ones. I have 1/8" cracks in my 3rd gen drilled rotors.

thew

yes Esp on the 8 the rotors on the 8 are giant to start.. and they dont have heat issues so a drilled rotor is just a waist of money.. imo

apaul

Talked with Service Mgr. this morning [had the replacement A/C amplifire installed- 3 bolts.. 20 minutes] and asked about the rust accumulation on my rotor hubs. Mazda Canada is currently testing paints to see if they can withstand the heat as well as 'cure' the rusting problem. My dealership has been authorized to try this on 2 of their 'corporate' 8's.

I was told that I will be notified when/if the trial proves successful .

Thought it worth passing along .

thew

just paint it with High Heat paint and be done with it.. the Break surface will always rust a bit and as soon as you use them it all falls off.. So paint the center and your Calipers at the same time.

good luck

RKM

Paint the rotors? Who the F*ck has time or a reason to do this for a new car they paid $30K for...