Can brake pads go bad from sitting around?

[X24]

Can brake pads go bad from sitting around? I put new pads and rotors on about 6 months before my engine blew. The brakes flet pretty good. Then it sat for 5 months. When I finally got my truck back about 2 months ago I noticed that it didnt want to stop. I thought it was just because some build up or something that would eventually wear off but it hasnt improved. There are stains on my rotors in the shape of the pads from where they sat for months. These stains have not come off. Should I get new pads and have my rotors cut? I really dont want to get the rotors cut because then they will be more prone to warping. These rotors are basically brand new and so are the pads. I dont think they have more than 4000 miles on them and I am very easy on my brakes. When I do use them hard I smell them burning... especially the rears.

 

[elkhunter]

I can't see why the pads would be bad from just sitting there. How many miles have you put on it since you started driving it again? The rust spots should go away after using the brakes for just a short time. If you have driven it for a few days the rust should be gone. Try riding the brakes for a couple of blocks and see if the rotors have any heat to speak of. The back brakes smelling hot and the front rust stains still there makes me think the front brake calipers or pistons are stuck. If I had that problem I would check everything on the front brakes plus even bleeding them. You could also take the front tires off and have someone pushing and releasing the brakes while you watch for movement.

 

[X24]

Ive put on about 1500 miles since I got it back. Greasing the slide pins is a good idea. I'll have to do that this week. The stains arent rust stains. Its hard to explain. Its more like a discoloration in the metal in the shape of a brake pad. Those are on all 4 rotors. All the pads still look new.

When replacing a motor, does any part of the brake system get touched? I have to check the fluid level and I'll also try bleeding all 4 lines.

 

[boominXplorer]

make sure you have a vaccume in the brake booster line

 

[Doug]

It's possible the pads are glazed over or thier is air in the system. When replacing the motor they might have had to disconnect the brake lines from the master cylinder or the abs module. It's possible one of the mechanics took your truck out for a test drive after the motor was replaced and was hard on the brakes.

 

[FordLover]

I've had this happen on a car that sat in a field for about a year.
The brakes felt good but they just wouldn't grab. I was told to burn off the built up crud, so a couple of runs up to 100mph and hitting the brakes really hard to heat them up, and my problem was solved.
Just be sure to have an empty road and nobody behind you.

 

[Crankcase]

Get a pic of the rotors....

 

[VOATMJ1]

I've had this happen on a car that sat in a field for about a year.
The brakes felt good but they just wouldn't grab. I was told to burn off the built up crud, so a couple of runs up to 100mph and hitting the brakes really hard to heat them up, and my problem was solved.
Just be sure to have an empty road and nobody behind you.

Agreed. My Caddy sits 11 months out of the year in my garage, (gleaming like the hope diamond I might add), and whenever I do drive it, I have to do a few high speed hard braking runs, and the brakes then work excellent after being heated up. Go ahead and find a road that is bare of vehicles if you can, and rup the X up to 80 or 90 and then jam on the brakes hard. Do this a few times, and your pads and rotors should start acting fine again. Just need to heat um' up!

 

[Doug]

What you guys are recommending will probably glaze the pads and then they'll be worthless..

 

[VOATMJ1]

What you guys are recommending will probably glaze the pads and then they'll be worthless..

Very cheap pads maybe...I have been doing this for years, and my pads and rotors are fine. In fact, I had all new brakes put on the Caddy, 15 years ago. I recently took the old girl on a cross country trip, (over 4,000 miles), and before I left, I had my mechanic check the brakes, and he said if they were any newer, they would be in a box sitting on a shelf.

I must admit, that I did get high end brakes when I had them done years ago, but the heating of them up like we discribed, has had ZERO effect on them for over 15 years, and they still will stop on a dime so-to-speak, better than my X for that matter! We are not saying to do this EVERYDAY, only until they start working like they did when he first put them on.

 

[X24]

Another thing I noticed... You know the noise the brakes make sometimes when you are stopped and slightly let up on the brake, you hear a kind of moaning or grinding noise that is normal to most cars when you start to move? I hear that when I'm on the brakes hard like the last 5 feet before I come to a complete stop.

I'll get a pic of the stains on the rotors sometime tomorrow.

 

[Bill Kemp]

Heres a site that gives a lot of info on how to care for brakes. Its a good read.
http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/warped_rotors_myth.htm

 

[spta97]

Instead of resurfacing, how about taking a sheet of sand paper and scuffing them up? Also, make sure that no oil residue got on them from the engine rebuild as that could cause some issues as well.