So dad and I put new brakes and rotors on the Maxima today. Took a few hours but we were not exactly moving fast, just dinking around as we went along. Actually a pretty easy job even for a first timer. Here is my question, we noticed that they are running very very hot. Now I dont know the normal temperature of the rotors but fawk they are hot. Is this normal? They are OEW rotors with ceramic pads. They said ceramic pads would run hotter but I thought that the OEMs were ceramic??!?! So what are you thoughts? Is it possible that we did something wrong so that they are running way to hot? Are they stuck? I mean even after driving less than a mile they were very hot. Not sure if its because they are new or what.....so opinions folks?????

Sorry I know kind of a ramble....

First things first, did you seat them properly?

If so, good job. If not, you're going to wind up with pads hanging later down the road. That may already be the source of excess heat...

Edit: Actually, trust me, you'd know if your pad was hanging. You'd smell it. Brakes smell awful when they burn.

Continuing on.

Yes, brakes do, in fact, get extremely hot. This is normal. It's from the friction caused by the pad rubbing against the rotor. No friction would be...well, kind of bad. It's basic physics. Rub your hands together...you'll notice the harder you press your hands together and the faster you rub (knowing the .org, this statement WILL get taken the wrong way ), the warmer your hands become.

The heat is what causes pad material to transfer to your rotors and rotors to warp in the long run. That's why when you're braking excessively you'll start to smell your pads/rotors burning, and it's best to be easy on the brakes if at all possible.

As far as ceramics getting hotter, I'm not sure, but they're definitely not OEM spec. OEM spec pads are usually metallic-based. In other words, they're composed of differently types of metal...

Did you bed them in?

Thanks for taking the time to answer. Yes I seated them properly. I just talked with a fellow .orger and we came to the conclusion its normal. What worried me is that driving a mile and hardly braking caused them to get pretty warm. Good to know on the OEM side of things, I thought they were ceramic.

Yep got up to between 40 and 50 mph and slammed on the brakes until just before coming to a complete stop and then let up. Twice the ABS kicked in. I did this 5 times like the tutorial said.

For future reference, technically, you don't need to go all the way until the ABS kicks in. It just has to be a good, firm stop to a slow roll.

Trust me, ABS is expensive as **** to get repaired. It's not worth it.

Ahahahaha good to know. My old man (60) was like WTF is that noise. Im like ABS dad, you know the thing you never use on the Vette....

Only odd thing after the 40 mile drive home is the drivers side emitted this little burnt smell and was warmer than the passengers side. I will watch it after tomorrow I have a lot of stop and go driving to do.

They get might hot, but you shouldn't encounter any burnt smell.
Jack up the car and turn the wheels to see if any resistance from the brakes, or any difference from one side or the other. If the pistons went in easily the caliper shouldn't be a problem. Make certain the tabs the caliper bolts into are set properly behind the caliper. If resistance is found in one side, pull the caliper and try and push the piston into the bore. If it goes easily fine, if not, undo the bleeder and try again. If it then goes in easily, the brake line has an internal break. Best to do when the problem occurs when hot, but better have gloves available.

I had the same problem and was worried but it went away in a couple days

when brakes are first installed, they will tend to run hotter then normal because of the extra friction required for them to make their surfaces and fitment into the rotors/pads.

Do remember they are 11 or 11.5" rotors with pads only making contact with about 6-8 " of surface area contact that is trying to slow a 3,200lb object, thats alot of momentum.

Could be power brake booster

^I don't even think you know what just happened....lol
anyhow welcome to the .org

are they smoking..if so it s too tight,, try to jack the wheels off the ground and spin them by hand,it should be loose not tight,,if hard to spin then it needs to be re installed,,did you grease the sliding pins on the calipers,,,,,ceramics are oem on the 01 maximas,,,,

Brake pads do smell awful right after being installed and used but if you notice one side being hotter than the other check your slide pins. (I think that's what they are called..)

I re-did my front brakes, while putting the passenger side together, I failed to notice the lower slide pin being seized. This caused my passenger side pad to "sit funny" so to speak, cause excessive heat (due to the lower portion of the pad always being in contact with the rotor), and cause uneven wear on the pad.

Might not be your problem but it only takes a couple min to check out. The kit with pins, bolts, and washers was only about 13$ at carquest.

Ummm guys?? This thread is six years old...

lol

op, did this recent info help? hope you can get your six year brake problem Fixed

Fail..

Are they glowing red? They might be smoking a little due to bedding in but friction does create heat and all brakes are too hot for the touch.

Lmao!

Who cares. Posts are forever.
You'll have somebody in 6 years from now look up this same thing
and get actual help here in this thread.

There are 7 posts of uselessness just to say this thread is old. who cares.

this is true, but asking questions for the op to try and find a resolution is pointless, if i fixed something six years ago, chances are i may not remember the info required to answer another question about it.

if you have a similar issue and you want to revive the thread to re ask current active members for info, then the thread becomes more informative and therefore a better informational tool to others

Even worse...trying to help the OP solve his problem six years later. Not exactly helpful. Lol

Well its been 11 years since now and it helped me lol so there is that

Ohai. 12 years later and this helped me. Soooooo, yay Necro threads!

14 years later, and it's still helping!
someone got it wrong LOLs