I just hit 30K miles on my car and am getting deep grooves on the rear rotors, especially the driver side. Outer pads look like they have plenty of meat left on them, not sure about the inner pads. Anyway I am bringing the car to the dealer since it is still under 36K warranty, although i know its gonna be a waste of time since they're gonna say brakes aren't covered.
Any advice on what i can say to the dealer to maybe have them replace the pads/rotors under warranty. I know about the slide pin issue, anything else? I contacted the GM customer service rep on this forum and she said there are no recalls out for this vehicle, does anyone know of any TSBs out, she was not able to look them up.
Also, the parking brake is not holding the car in place anymore, and I have already had this adjusted.

Thanks

 

The dealer will barely cover something that is warenteeable under warranty. Pads and rotors are considered a wear item. Your best bet is to look at it yourself and see if the pads are wearing unevenly. That is a caliper binding problem and should be covered by warranty.

 

There is a whole thread about this. Check in there. I believe TSBs for the issue have been posted but you will get charged to get the replaced. Thats all I can tell ya.

 

I have found it to be clumps of the sintered metallic particles in the pad material causing the scoring. New rotors and pads should fix it. Your car is now 2 years old, so may be tough to get any assistance from GM. I have LNF rear brakes, been on for three years now and they are still perfect, and I track the car now and then. So I am thinking a batch of bad pads, sad that you have that on a 2010 as the 2008's seemed to be the ones with issues and I thought GM had fixed it. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the replies guys......yea im gonna give it a shot and see what they have to say....id be willing to pay for the pads if they would replace the rotors.....def the 1st FWD car i have owned where the rear brakes wore out faster than the front ones lol

Thank again

 

A few FWD cars are like that. (eg. Mazda3)

 

I have heard something about the bad batch of pads before - here, I am sure, but where = ?

I have a theory - see the atached image.

See the TEXTAR marking ? That is what my old pads had on them - yeah, I kept 'em.

So, perhaps those that have had this isssue can chime in - for fun , as like most here, I was poo pooed on any warranty replacement. I was told the grooving was "cosmetic" - I prefer to think of it as a rain groove and for ~ $50.00 for the Advanced Auto pads and the tools to do it, I said eff it and did it.

Better luck to the Op, though !

Britt

 

I posted this in the technical forum, a few guys over there seem to think this a caliper issue, especially because of the fact that the parking brake is no longer holding the car (ive tried adjusting it to no avail). Anyway if it is a caliper issue, shouldnt this be covered under 36k/3 year warranty?

 

Yes it should, and I already mentioned that up top. The groove is probably something getting smooshed between the pad and rotor.

 

almost every cobalt has problems with the rear brakes.i got them to replace the pads for free but they made me pay for resurfacing the rotors. also had the issue with the e brake not holding the car..they fixed it about 2 months ago and i can already tell it wont be long before i have to bring it and get that fixed again

 

get a 10 mm deep socket and adjust it yourself ; the adjuster is on the handbrake lever, depress the tab underneath the plstic cover, remove cover, tighten and carry on.

for my money if you have already replaced the front pads, which wear 2 x faster than the rears, its time to replace the rears.

This may sound unsympathetic, but to tell the truth, I think you should suck it up and buy some new pads and rotors and replace them yourself. Its not hard, its not expensive , and the warranty doesnt pay for wear and tear as you beat on your car.

I pay for gas,tires, brakes, oil and filters and never complain. Its part of the price ,and the fun, of beating on your car on a regular basis. And its got the power to weight ratio of a 90,000 dollar Porch.

 

I hear ya on replacing the rotors and pads myself but I figure it couldnt hurt to bring it in and see what they have to say since i still have the factory warranty. If they wont replace under warranty which is the most likely scenario, I already priced the parts on crateenginedepot.com and it will cost around $200 and will prob replace them myself

 

remember the pistons have to be rotated and pushed back to install new pads. Use purple silicone brake grease on the pad ends and the guides. Replace the rubber guides when you buy brake pads and rotors from Tom@crateenginedepot.com. clean everything, and put some anti seize on the wheeel bearing hub. The thin speed nuts on the studs (two per side) get cut off and discarded. Use new brake fluid and bleed the fronts at the same time, brake fluid should be changed annually anyway.
bleed RR/LF/LR/RF

 

Well I brought the car to the dealership, they said the parking brake assembly on the rear calipers were broke/stuck so they replaced both rear calipers under warranty and machined the rotor that was badly grooved. To my surprise the pads had plenty of meat on them, the inner pads were a lil more worn but still have plenty of life left.