Miata Mailing List: October 1994, Message #97
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   From: Tom Reinhardt 
Subject: RE: miata stuff
   Date: Thu, 6 Oct 1994 12:12:11 -0400


Yes, that rust can compromise your rotors.  My other car's rotors were
ruined in this way.  When it came time for a brake job, my mechanic and I 
took a look at the rotors and found imprints shaped just like a brake pad
pitted into the rotors.  What happens is: a small bead of water remains around
the pad after it rains.  This leads to a rust mark that looks just like the 
outline of the pad.  If you don't wear that rust mark off when you drive, 
small pits remain.  These continue to rust and just keep getting bigger.
Some of the pits on my rotor were well over 1/8" deep.  He said this was a 
common problem if you had fully metalic pads.  We replaced the rotors and put
in semi metalic pads.  The car did have ~70K on it at the time, so don't think
your rotors will die overnight.  On the other hand, I drove that car every day,
and it still happened.  Don't know what could have been done to prevent it;
hopefully the semi-metalic pads will help for the future.  The only things I can
suggest are using a car cover to keep the rotors as dry as possible, and always
put a few miles on the car after you wash it.


Tom Reinhardt  -  '94 L.Blue B, '87 Toyota Celica
tomr@comm.mot.com