cmdace18

hey guys

i was washing my car after i drove it for about 30 minutes, and in the process of spraying the water on my wheels, i noticed steam comming up behind the wheels - all 4 were really hot ESPECIALLY the front 2. Could this be because my brakes are worn and the friction is causing that piece behind the wheel to heat up? it was so hot, the water was bubbling. ive never seen this before. By the way, it was kinda hot out, but theres no way the heat made them that hot. help!!

awj

Umm... yea that's normal. Don't spray your hot rotors with cold water. You will need new brakes if you keep doing that. Brakes get hot after driving. Real hot sometimes. Red hot even.

Brandon@TR

The brake pads making contact with the rotors during braking are causing the piece behind the wheel (rotor) to heat up. When you apply brakes you are transferring energy from kinetic energy to chemical energy (heat and gas). This process is called friction. It makes the rotors very hot and that is very normal. I do not recommend spraying cold water on them, the rapid cooling of a rotor can cause warping.