Rotors are crucial parts of your vehicle’s braking system. They are the moveable components of a vehicle’s braking system that allow your automobile to brake safely and effectively.
When brake rotors clamp down, they can also prevent your wheels from spinning.
However, what happens when rotors go bad? And how long can you drive with bad rotors?
In this post, we’ll address those questions to clear things up for you, show you how to mend broken brake rotors, and give you some other information you might not know!
Let’s scroll down to see what we can find out right now!
How Long Can You Drive With Bad Rotors?
How long can you drive on bad brakes? First and foremost, we should be aware that your car brake rotor may last from 30,000 to 60,000 miles.
The brake rotors may last longer in some circumstances. And, based on the level of direct damage, you cannot drive with warped or damaged rotors in any circumstance.
In reality, if your brake rotor is going bad, it may be possible to drive for a short period before your brake rotors are entirely worn out.
However, we do not recommend that you continue to drive for two reasons. We can’t deny that it is hazardous to you. Driving with bad rotors will also aggravate the problem and increase repair costs.
Thus when you have broken ones, you should avoid driving on bad rotors for an extended period. That might result in braking system failure and extent of damage to you and others.
It’s crucial to recognize whether your car has worn down brake rotors after understanding how brake pads operate and wear.
Look for a few indicators of a failing rotor in the next section, which suggest that your brake pads need to be repaired.
What Are Signs of Bad Brake Rotors?
Here is a list of symptoms of broken brake rotors that you may not be aware of.
Noisy Brakes
Grinding sounds is one of the first symptoms that your rotors are deteriorating. The rotors are flat and even pieces; nevertheless, they may begin to make squeaking or grinding noises when they lose their flatness due to wear or other factors.
If the noise only happens once in a while, it’s most likely due to dust and deposits on the braking system caused by weather or road conditions.
In case you notice it continues for an extended time, you should have the car inspected and replaced.
Burning Smell
Another indicator of worn brakes and rotor failure is a burning smell. This smell is especially strong when traveling downhill.
In this case, you must pull over, knowing that continuing to drive the car puts you at risk. A burning odor can be caused by oil leaks or a broken brake disc, although warped rotors are the most common cause. Overheated brakes or clutches are the origins of the odor.
Marks On The Surface of the Rotor
If you see groove markings on the rotors’ surface, it’s a bad sign that your rotors need to be replaced with better ones.
Groove markings form on the exterior of the brake discs when they grind against the brake parts for a prolonged time.
The rotors thin down and lose their thickness gradually. Your rotors have been damaged as a result of this.
Longer Stopping Distances
The vehicle’s ability to slow down can be hampered by scoring and single groove in rotor. Furthermore, when the brake pedal no longer interacts with the brake rotor, following vibrations might give the feeling that the car will not stop.
In cases where the driver is obliged to make an emergency stop, the extra stopping distance or even inability to stop can be extremely dangerous.
Vibrations
The following sign of broken and messed up rotors is severe braking vibration. Brake discs that are warped or severely worn might vibrate unnaturally, causing vibrations in the pedals, steering wheel, and chassis. This is a sign that the brake rotors have failed.
Also, a warped or faulty brake disc may cause the brake pedal to shake when pressed. That occurs when the pedal no longer touches the rotor’s surface.
Loud Bangs While Braking
Loud bangs when braking is a less usual symptom of a bad rotor. This occurrence appears swiftly, resulting in a pounding noise that will drive you crazy and question if your vehicle is safe to drive.
Shaking Steering Wheel
Your rotors may be out of round if your steering wheel shakes a lot while braking. Another way, the rotors have begun to deteriorate, lose their form, and become distorted.
When you push your foot down on the brake pedal in this situation, you’ll most likely feel some vibrations.
Because your brakes are such a vital part of your car to stop safely, you must have this problem addressed as soon as possible.
Brake Lights Illuminate
If your rotors are worn out, you may see the brake lights on your automobile dashboard.
Although various factors may contribute to the appearance of brake lights, warped rotors or the complete braking system are generally the first to be suspected.
The brake light will illuminate regardless of whether you are parked, driving, or backward. It’s time to examine the disc brake when you notice this symptom.
ABS System Problems
You can imagine that your car operates in a similar way to the human body. It is clear that an issue with one aspect of your vehicle may cause problems for the rest.
Hence, the bad rotor may interfere with the vehicle’s anti-lock braking system. The cost of replacing anti-lock brake system failure is substantially less than fixing several automotive components.
How To Avoid Bad Brake Rotors?
Repairs, replacements, and maintenance are all necessary for your vehicle.
That being said, you also must employ certain methods to prevent extensive damage to your vehicle and be more cautious, which may still save you from severe problems in the future.
Ensure Quality Braking System
A car owner should keep the brake system in good working order to avoid a faulty and bad rotor.
This is because brakes are for safety, and if they are damaged, they may create major traffic concerns, including an accident, so you must ensure that your rotors are in good condition.
Make sure the brake is properly oiled to avoid shattered and worn rotors. When replacing worn-out pieces of your car’s braking system, you should choose the best brake parts available.
Note that the brake pads, rotors, discs, and pedals must be high-quality materials.
Maintain Proper Driving Style
You must ensure that your particular driving habit and style must be appropriate. Plus, it would help if you obeyed the rules of the road.
Following suit with the established speed limits is a fantastic place to start if you want to learn how to drive well.
Being mindful of the established speed limits and ensuring that you do not violate them is a good driving practice.
In addition, don’t slam on the brakes unexpectedly, and don’t go around a bend or a corner at full speed.
Regular Maintenance
For all automobile owners and drivers, periodic maintenance is a must.
Poorly maintained automobiles can pose a risk to the driver, passengers, pedestrians, and others on the road.
Vehicle breakdowns are more likely to happen when maintenance is neglected. It might be harmful if this problem arises while driving with worn brake pads and discs.
For instance, driving with a broken wheel stud, bad brake pads and a shortage of braking fluid can reduce stopping power, increasing the likelihood of an accident.
Both of these components need to be replaced regularly.
Instead of driving with defective rotors, you may contact reliable vehicle services to tow your rear wheel drive car to a specialist for repair as soon as possible.
What Are The Benefits of Replacing Your Rotors?
Ceramic or semi-metallic brake rotors are the most common materials:
Semi-metallic ones offer strength and transfer heat away from the rotors. Ceramic brake pads can withstand greater temps with less heat, shorter stopping distances, and less dust and wear on the pads and rotors.
They’re also more pleasant to use since the ceramic component helps to reduce brake noise.
Good performance: The driver will get the best braking performance if the rotor is new. If you keep the old rotors on the car, the pads may wear unevenly.
This might result in the car owner replacing the brake pads too soon, which would be pricey.
Related Questions
What Are Types of Brake Rotors?
There are four types of brake rotors:
- Blank and smooth rotors – These are the rotors you’ll see on most passenger cars, and they have a flat, blank metal, and smooth surface all the way around.
- Drilled and slotted rotors – Drilled and slotted rotors combine the holes and slots to improve performance.
How Do Brake Rotors Work?
Our quick response is that the purpose of rotors is to convert motion into heat. When you press down on the brake pedal, a signal is sent to your calipers through the master brake cylinder, rendering your brake pads to compress together against the big brake rotor surface.
What Happens If I Continue To Drive On Warped Rotors?
The result might be an accident if the rotor fails. Furthermore, the caliper’s swaying on the caliper pins may be temporary.
Provided that you continue to drive on warped rotors, your rotors will wear down over time and generate a slew of issues that affect your auto repair and maintenance budget.
Finally, it is critical to replace warped or bad brake rotors to maintain overall safety.
How Much Will You Spend On Fixing Brake Rotors?
The fact is that the cost of repairing broken rotors isn’t set in stone. It all depends on how serious the damage is.
You may need to resurface the braking discs due to rotor deterioration. Car rotors cost between $50 and $80 on average.
Depending on the mechanic and your location, labor fees might range from $100 to $200.
In all, you should spend $400 to replace your worn brake rotors.
Final Thoughts
Even though many individuals drive every day, we are unaware of many aspects of our vehicles. Among them, the rotors are crucial to the car’s longevity and road safety.
After reading this article, we hope you can clarify the questions, “Can you drive with bad rotors?”, “How long can you drive with bad rotors?” and understand what brake rotors are and how they operate.
Understanding the facts, indicators of damaged rotors, and preventative strategies can facilitate you to deal with anything that hinders your way.