So Ive been driving with a warped passenger side brake rotor for a while now. I took it to a shop I trust and they told me that its not a problem in terms of reliability and braking performance but its a really annoying problem because I can hear it touching the brake pad (or something else) while driving and its driving me crazy given the usual silence of an LS. Since the brakes and pads were replaced not long ago my plan is to buy a used rotor and replace the warped one with it then in 20,000 miles or so when I need new brakes altogether I'll replace them all. I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on whether or not this sounds like a good plan and also if anyone knows how to replace a front brake rotor. Thanks!

 

If a front rotor is warped, you should experience brake pedal vibration and steering wheel vibration when braking.

You should get it resurfaced soon before the thickness variation becomes too great, otherwise you'll need a new rotor. Lexus training documents recommend using an on-car brake lathe to machine the rotors, as opposed to removing the rotor and machining it off-vehicle.

To inspect, jack up that side, spin the wheel. Since it's a front wheel, it should spin freely. If not..

Take the wheel off, remove the little cotter pin on the spring plate bolt on the caliper, remove the bolt, the spring plate, and then the pads+metal shims should slide out easily for inspection.

Once the pads are out, you can push the pistons in and out with the back of a screwdriver. Push the metal piston itself, and don't touch the rubber surrounds. The pistons should move without too much effort. If not, they may be seized. A caliper rebuild kit may help fix that.

New OEM front rotors are ~$120USD, new OEM rear rotors are ~$140USD.

I was charged 1.5 hours to diagnose and replace both front rotors, at $150CAD each.

 

You need to figure out what is causing the problem before you try to either re-surface the rotor or replace it, otherwise it will re-warp in a couple of days and your money will be wasted. Generally, it is a stuck piston in the caliper lightly applying the pad to one side of rotor and heating it up. You may need to rebuild the caliper, then resurface the rotor.

 

Miniz, I took it to NTB first before the local shop and they said that one of the pins in the caliper was stuck and that that should fix the problem, when it didn't work I came back and they checked again and said it was the rotor. They wanted to replace the pads and the rotors in both wheels plus one of the sensors but they had been replaced at 90,000 miles or so (car is now at 110,000) so I took it to the local shop and they said it had warped and still functioned but that it was too thin to lathe. I figure since they both have miles on them I might as well replace just the one with a used one. I assume that them lubricating the pins in the caliper would stop it from happening again.

 

I guess my main question is how hard is it to replace a rotor and also can I use a used rotor as a temporary replacement.

 

Me I would replace them both as a set there very easy to replace , extremely easy why buy a used one and then have to do it again ?

 

LOL so easy a cave man can do it, matter fact ...

 

If its easy I'll definitely do them myself, the only reason I wouldn't buy a new one is because the shop I took them too said that the pads and rotors still have 50% life in them so I shouldn't need replace them. So I figure I could replace the warped one with a used one that had similar life to the other non-warped brake so that when I needed to replace all of them I could just do it at the same time. If that wouldnt work then I'd probably do both with new ones but I would like to have the fix be as cheap and easy as possible

 

Ok I see but remember on these cars there is a brake pad sensor too so unless your keeping an eye on them 50% pads will wear down fast and you'll have to replace the brake sensor too which cost more than a set of pads. http://www.autohausaz.com/

 

NTW, later NTB, used to be an excellent company for years and years. But in the last few years things have changed. Stay away from NTB - they hire min wage folks with little to no skills/experience. The managers get small salary and have significant $ incentives to jack up average service invoice to the max.
They specialize in doing free inspections of your car even if its in just to get tires balanced or some other small thing..then they come and say you need brakes, struts and a transmission service. - run away fast. Yep you get high prices, marginally unnecessary work, and very unskilled labor in a nice neatly marketed package - I would not take a clapped out 87 Camry to NTB and certainly not my Lexus.

 

Yea that's why I took it to the other place. This whole thing has been a nightmare, I had a year of free alignments which coincided with me coming back from school and with the problem starting to I took it there to get it aligned, next thing I know my tires are wearing wrong because I need new struts, ended up replacing the back ones and leaving the fronts. Then it turned out I needed new back brakes, I went along with that because I had taken it to a dealership recently who said I should get them replaced soon, then when all that was done and none of it fixed the original problem I decided to take it somewhere else, needless to say I'm never going there again.

 

While you could replace just one rotor, there is a small chance the car might pull under hard braking, therefore the usual recommendation to change rotors (and Pads) in pairs.

I done full rotor, pad and stainless steel brake lines on 3 LS now and have purchased all parts from www.r1concepts.com. Talk to their tech support in person because they have LS applications that don't show on the web page and can make recommendations based on your type of driving. Their prices are better than OEM. I'm super happy with them.

 

Go to the Lexus dealer and buy a pair of front rotors, pads, and bolts if you know how to change brakes. If you don't know how to do it, find a friend or family member that you trust or take the car to the Lexus dealer, bend over, and have them fix it. NTB? I'd never let some chain shop work on my car.. This is a Lexus LS, not a Ford Escort!

 

While I agree about using Lexus parts, you can save a ton of money ordering online as opposed to going to the dealer.

I've used these folks a few times without problems...

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...?siteid=214082

 

How crucial is it to replace the sensor for the pad? Can I just replace everything but that and just make sure I keep up with brake service?