Noisy scraping brakes

[donnaj1dlh]

Over the last month or so my brakes have got quite noisy, especially when your doing soft braking (in queues) etc. So today, since the roads were actually DRY I took the opportunity to give them a right good blast with the powerwasher and took it along the road for a few high speed emergency stops. They seem to be performing as usual and don't pull/vibrate, so I'm hoping its just been a build up of salt and grit as the car's only done 5000miles.

Do you reckon this is sufficient to clean them up or should I get myself some brake cleaner stuff? I could do them properly once I take the winter wheels back off but it'll be a couple of months before I do it. Has anyone used it? What brand can you recommend?

[Angib]

In my experience, Mini discs are very prone to rusting when not used - that's a fair exchange, as discs that don't rust tend not to brake so well. But this does give you the noisy scraping sound when you then use them.

There's no need to use the powerwasher on them, just give them some good hard use. Anyone who doesn't have nearby access to fast roads may find that a problem, becasue it's difficult to get any serious braking done at 30mph - it really takes one or more good stops from high speed to get the brakes perfectly clean.

[badwolf340]

^^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^

[MINI William]

As above

[EcosseGP]

Like the others have said Donna all you need to do is make sure they get the occasional good firm braking done just to keep the discs clean and squeak free. Shouldn't really need to or spray anything on them.

[Eddie_JCW]

Mine are a nightmare but I'm guessing the JCW brakes are worse for this than the S, also my commute wouldn't be doing them any favours. An NMS run is a great way of getting them as good as new

[jonnie]

Mine can look rusty overnight.

[CiderFex]

The M-Tecs on 1499 look proper rusty within 10 minutes of me washing it.

...to Infinity and beyond !!!

[donnaj1dlh]

Mine are a nightmare but I'm guessing the JCW brakes are worse for this than the S, also my commute wouldn't be doing them any favours. An NMS run is a great way of getting them as good as new

Roll on Brechin then!
Daily commute doesn't really do the brakes much favours I must admit. She needs to be driven like she's been stolen more often. Will see if they're a bit quieter tomorrow otherwise I might get the OH to take her out.....

[Angib]

Just to show that fate can step in, I got to the end of my street this morning and found I had almost no brakes at all, after the car not being used over the weekend (plus pretty much immersed in salt last week). Sure enough, a few firm brakes later everything was fine, except the state of my underwear.