Hey guys, so here's the deal. Got in my car after letting it sit in my driveway for 2 weeks due to having foot surgery. Anyway, during this time my e-brake was engaged and I noticed there was quite a bit of corrosion on the rotors.

So I get in the car and disengage the e-brake, go to back out and THUNK! The lovely sound of pads that are stuck to the rotors being pried loose...

Now when I drive it it wobbles when braking medium to hard at speed. I inspected the rotors and you can clearly see where the pads were stuck on both front rotors because it left two pad shaped marks where the rotor is discolored.

I didn't know if this was something that could be repaired or, if not, could you link me to some replacement rotors, both OEM and aftermarket?

Thanks guys!

 

I would personally take a metal SOS pad and lightly try to get some of the pad material off the rotor. Then I would reseat the pads. Do a couple hard stops. Like 70-30mph, let it cool down, then repeat a couple times. Make sure to let it cool between stops. This should reseat the pads and hopefully get it back to normal.

If it continues, go to Amazon or CED and get new OEM pads and rotors.

Oh and maybe take wheels off and clean all of the brake parts as much as possible. Torque wheels down properly.

 

Ok, I'll give that a try this weekend. Thanks for the quick reply!

 

Yeah, this sucks. A while back I bought a used 2006 Ion Redline that had this same exact problem on the rear brakes. It was sitting on a dealer lot for a few weeks. I drove it for a while and it improved a bit, but still vibrated. I ended up replacing all of the brakes eventually. Any car that sits for a while can have this problem. So just drive it for a while and see if it improves to the point where you can tolerate any remaining vibration.

Cleaning or scrubbing can't hurt at this point. Perhaps it will help. You could probably have the rotors turned but this can be a pain since few only a places perform this service anymore - perhaps PepBoys. I find that turned rotors don't last very long before warping so your mileage may vary if you choose to do this (but I wouldn't).

Rotors are not all that expensive for a 2010 cobalt. Many places sell them. If you can do the work, this is a minor problem and can be fixed for about $100-120.

I just did my rear brakes on my 2009 CSS/TC at ~40K miles so I have all the information. Amazon has the rotors - ACDelco 177-1057 for about $43 each and Raybestos 580706R for about $34 each. I used the Raybestos 580706R and Raybestos pads on my 2009 and they work just fine. If you replace the rotors, you might as well clean everything and probably should replace the pads (ACDelco 14D1095CH-$26 or Raybestos PGD1095C-$48 - Amazon). You will be good to go for about 40K miles.

 

I'm sure I can handle replacing the rotors on my own if it comes down to that. What did you use to clean the other components?

 

Just drive the car hard and get those brakes nice and hot

 

Just use brake cleaner from auto parts store. Spray on rag, not on the brake parts directly. Make sure to use brake lube after cleaning everything.

Front rotors are easy if you have the tools. Rears can give fits. Oh and the front slide pins I guess.

 

I wish I could but I've got a walking cast on my right foot so I'd be more likely to cause an accident / rebreak my foot before I got them hot enough haha