Hello all.. I thought I'd get some advice from the forum on how to deal w/ Nissan on my warped rotors. My 2004 SL is 13 months old and I have 24500 miles on it. Since I bought the car the rotors have kept warping. Everytime I take it to the dealer, they resurface the rotors to get rid of the pulsating brake pedal. But as you all know, if the rotors warp once, the warping will most always come back, even after resurfacing. It usually takes about 5 or 6 weeks before they are back warped. The other day I took my car in to the dealer and after telling him they were already resurfaced 3 times, he said they would replace them. But when I picked up my car he said that the rotors were resurfaced again. When I asked why they didn't replace them he said that they had plenty of thickness left. So I told him that I wanted them replaced because it is a waste of my time to get them resurfaced every time they warp. He basicaly told me that they wouldn't replace them but that he would keep resurfacing them. So i decided to call Nissan directly to get resolution. I first person I spoke with made it sound as if they were on my side with the whole thing but the woman that ended up doing the call to the dealer to investigate the whole thing wasn't. She basically called me and said that the dealer is the technical expert and that they will not replace them. So she said just to keep getting them resurfaced. So opf course I got frustrated and started firing some questions at her about how rediculous it was to get the same problem fixed 4 or 5 times and how they are wasting alot of me time. She basically said she can't do anything to me and couldn't answer any technical questions or override the dealers findings because she has no technical training. So what the hell is she there for then?? Anyways, have any of you dealt with similar situations? Whats the best couse of action from here on out?? I hate to say it, but Nissans service in general (not limited to this problem) is far worse than Toyotas was (My last vehicle was a 00 celica). I'm starting to regret buying a nissan....

 

You might not feel like it, but you are lucky - usually dealers will only fix brake issues for the first 12K miles...

 

Well. The problem started early on when I got the vehicle. Aren't they obligated to keep working on it if they didn't fix it?

 

Kosd;
I had a problem with my rotors as well. They were never previously resurfaced, and the Nissan service center put a brand new pair on my car without a problem. My guess is... it depends on the people at the service center whether they really want to help you or not. I had gone to one center for an issue, they wanted to charge me for the repairs, so i took it to another, and got the work done under warranty.

 

Yep, and that's the bad thing about it. Mine warped at 10k miles and they resurfaced them... now I'm not looking forward to the next time they warp, because I know they probably won't deal with it and call them a wear part -- which they are, but in all seriousness I don't think anybody had rotors warp every 10k miles, have they?

My plan is to wait and see what happens... if these now last me until 30k, then I'll probably take the car back to Nissan and have them replace them outright... if they're gonna charge me for it, they will replace them and give me the old parts -- I like to do that to make sure neither I nor the next guy get screwed with old rotors. If they only last another 10k, then I'll buy good aftermarket parts and have the Nissan crap swapped out. IMO it's not worth a trip to the dealership and paying their prices and labor for substandard parts.

 

Holy cow. A fellow P-field Maxima owner.

Where do you live? I live off of Renwick Road by Rt 59.

Oh and what dealer? So I can avoid them.

 

Hi there Doc.. I'm just west of Rt. 59 on caton farm rd. Small world.. Who do you tale your max to for service? I've been going to the Thomas Nissan stealership.

 

The OEM rotors suck! ive had mine turned at 15000 miles and they warped about 10K later and are getting worse.

 

I'm in a similiar boat - mine were resurfaced at 11.5K, and I think I'm beginning to notice a very slight warping now again at nearly 17K.

When my dealer told me that they were going to resurface the rotors, I asked if they would warranty them for another 12K miles (as all Nissan warranty work is guaranteed for 1 year / 12K miles), and he said "No, absolutely not". After I told him that they will only warp faster next time, he said that wasn't the case and that "braking over multiple hills, puddles, etc, will cause them to warp". Coincidentally, this also happened to a Dodge Ram (I think?) owner when I first bought my car - I was in the service department getting my tranny filled (it came under filled from the factory), and the same service manager told the customer that they would resurface his rotors, even after the customer told them he wanted new ones because as a mechanic, he knew that resurfaced rotors warped faster, etc... all the while the service manager had his silly little smile. Anyway.

What brand of after market rotors are you looking at?

Thanks!

 

I'm astounded that this problem still occurs. My 2k had this problem at 22k. After it was fixed on warranty the problem has not returned. They replaced all 4 rotors, not resurfaced them. maybe thats why the problem did not come back...but for an expensive car it should not have happened to begin with. This'll be my last Max for sure.

 

My 2K as well had this same problem. It was resurfaced at around 18k miles, and it never came back.

Let's hope that my 2K5 does not have this same issue. **knocks on wood**

 

U can get some slotted and cross drilled brembos on ebay for like 265 for front and rear. Not a bad price.

 

KOSD,

Look up the lemon law at your location. I had a to do the same thing for my
son's 04 Altima SE. I invoked the lemon law after the 5th time the brakes
were resurfaced. They not only replace the rotors but the whole brake
assembly. By alrights I could of gotten my money back and gone somewhere
else to get a new car. They were more than happy to KISS my **** to
ensure I didn't turn in the Altima. Hopefully this'll help

Mike

 

bu tthe thing is brakes usually are not covered under warrenty because they can warp dependig on deiving habits......my opinion is cutting rotors is useless......if u buy decent rotors they wont warp....i have had mt cross-drilled for almost 2 years.....i aint the nicest driver and they still haventy warped......i need new pads..but rotors are still fine

 

It seems to me there is one similar factor in all of you who have had warped rotors..... a lot of stop and go traffic issues.... your brakes are not cooling off fast enough for the area you live in.....much heat = warped rotors....

 

The first thing about how they are turning them. Are they turning them on a on car brake lathe or taking them off? Per the Nissan FSM you have to turn them on the car but most places don't have on car lathes (not even dealerships).

You probably have an uneven hub surface, so your rotors are true when they take them off and turn them, but then are bolted back on and are not flat because of the hub surface. Many GM cars experience this same problem and neccesitate very thin washers of varying thicknesses to be placed underneath the rotor to get the thing to sit flat.

I personally went through three sets of rotors on my 2K in under 14K miles. The stealership turned them once, then replaced them twice. Once I replaced pads to carbon metalic I haven't had rotor problems since.

The car coming back 5 times is totally unacceptable, they really need to take care of you better than that. Good luck.

 

Actually, I drive 75% of my miles on the freeway. Not alot of stop and go for my commutes...

 

My commute is 40 miles, almost 100% highway. I DO have to get into NY traffic though, but I never had rotors with problems this early on. I expect them to last me at least 20k miles.

 

I stand corrected....so far no issues with my Max....

 

Are you sure the rotors are not covered under the 3/36000 mile warr.

I would try another dealer maybe?? Aren't you close to gerald nissan?? But since you have already contacted Nissan direct you probably can't go elsewhere. But you still might want to give it a try!!!

 

Rotor warping was not a problem when disc brakes were first introduced to veh, the problem is CHEAP METAL!!! When the disc started warping they blamed the warping on not using a torque wrench, then water from the rain ect, well I tell you it is the savings that the mfg made by buying CHEAP STEEL. When rotors were first introdced worn rotors were ruined from worn out rivit pads or failure to replace the bonded pads on time.

 

Nissan just sucks with brakes, some of the 2002 were complaining of the same problem, now the TITAN is plagued with the same problem, however Nissan is taking care of it until the so-called permanent fix comes.

 

Join the not so exclusive club. Nissan's rotors suck and NNA won't do shiat and blame it on the drivers.

 

There is no manufacturer that I know than considers pads/rotors anything but wear & tear items. I think Nissan is the only one that will go as far as cover them under warranty for 1 year / 12k miles -- which should in itself speak volumes about what they think about their parts. It's almost like they expect the problems...

The worst part is that after the first go-around, you're on your own -- unless the dealership is really generous. Resurfaced rotors will only warp quicker, so you might end up making 2 trips (or more) to get Nissan rotors fixed for every once you have to take non-Nissan rotors. It wouldn't suck so bad if it wasn't a hassle... and if you didn't have to come out of pocket after that first 12k miles...

Like someone else said up in the thread... if you don't mind the hassle then by all means try and get the dealership to pony up new rotors -- or even resurface the ones that are on. But if they wanna charge you for sub-standard parts you might as well go the distance and buy GOOD rotors that you know will last you 20-30k miles, rather than pay Nissan to have them install their crap on.

 

I have a 2002 Maxima SE and the steering wheel wiggles upon braking. Will new front rotors fix this? If so, can someone recommend a good brand. I just bought the car a few months ago and love it! I am hooked on Maxima's now!

Thanks,
Ken

 

WHOA there grave digger...

1. this is a different generation. u want the 5th gen forum
2. you have the SHIMMY. look for those threads in both forums. there are many causes. Better tires, good balance, and rotors usually help.

 

excellent...thanks!

 

You can replace the rotors all you want and they will keep on warping. BUY AFTERMARKET! Brembo blanks are just $58 per side if you don't want to spend much money.

 

is there a specific site u can get these brembo rotors at or just try and find them on ebay. cause i am going to be getting a 04 sl after the dealer replaces the front struts so incase this happens to me i would like to go aftermarket right away and not deal with nissan rotors thanks.

 

just visit the group section, they are listed there.

 

if not the group deal section, your local parts store can probably order them for you.

 

here, $68 bucks per side....I thought i've seen it sowewhere for $58, look around


http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=422678

 

Dealer just cut mine today @ 17.7k... we'll see how they do.

Also, finally got TPMS light extinguished (only been a year, lol) and had them perform the recall campaign for the steering interlock (for which all they did was inspect and determine that no action was necessary). First trip to the dealership since i-Key ands earlier TPMS debacles... all went smoothly for a change.

 

I just had to get my rotors resurfased as well. 17.5K on my 07. They started shaking the steering wheel under braking at about 15K miles. I am very disappointed with this thread. I am a first time Nissan and foreign car owner and I am not happy to hear that Nissan has been using cheap steel since at least 2002 for these rotors. I drive this car nicer than any other vehicle I have owned, and know that it's the equipment and not the driver. The dealer I went to was very curtious and took care of it under warranty, but we'll see if they do it again when it will inevidably happen again.

I will probably upgrade to slotted and drilled rotors and better brakes eventually, but for now I would like to get the life out of the OEM parts.

 

True... but its not anything unique to Nissan or foreign cars... between the bean counters and the drive to remove excess weight, everybody pares the margins down to a minimum. I've gotten in the habit with most of the cars I've had - domestic & foreign - to just change the rotors with the first pad replacement (typically at ~50k miles). Decent aftermarket rotors and carbon-metallic pads usually eliminate the issue for good.

The only anomaly I've had lately is my Volvo... 62k miles and still on the original pads/rotors without a hint of vibration. I almost wish they'd go cause the OEM Volvo pads create a shïtload of fugly brake dust.

 

I just want to mention that I also have this wrapped rotor issue.
I have an 06 and it started at 20k-25k miles.
I was about to cut the rotors, but now I want to change them
to a different manufacturer.

Does anyone know if it's the front, rear, or all four rotors that wrap?
If it's the material, then I guess it will be all four.

 

Most often its the fronts... the rear rotors are typically less stressed.

 

I am about to do my brakes soon and I have just noticed the vibration getting worse. I have much more mileage than you guys but I guess it isn't worth resurfacing the OEM rotors and saving them. Why they so bad?