Brake Rotors Continually Warp 2005 Peugeot 307HDI

Reader Question Hi Austin,
I have a 2005 Peugeot 307HDI, every 10000 km about the disks warp, I have been given every excuse in the book but to fix the problem.

The car have now 83000km on but it has been replaced like 8 times already. Surely there must be something else wrong, I have once almost crashed due to steering wheel vibration and nearly lost control, seems like Peugeot is not to interested but just replace it every time.

I believe there is something else wrong and it had been confirmed by there technicians that it warps, but why and why so frequently?

I have not went into any water, washed the car when it was hot, it did not rain, I made a point of eliminating these and it still happened again, please can you help?

Kind Regards
Jaco

Hey there Jaco,

There must be excessive heat building up in the front brakes from somewhere. A few items I would check/try would be:

1. Check the front brake calipers to make sure they are not sticking causing the brake pads to stay engaged on the rotor

2.Try a different brand of front brake pads. They do make some high performance brake pads that have grooves cut in them to help remove the heat build up between the rotor and the brake pad. You might want to see if these pads are available for your vehicle. Your local auto parts store should be able to order them for you.

3.They make high performance brake rotors as well that have small holes in them so the heat caused by friction can escape easier.

4.Make sure you are not driving two footed…one foot resting on the brake pedal.

5. Make sure Peugeot is REPLACING the rotors not just machining (truing) your rotors. Each time a rotor is trued, or machined a thin layer of the metal is shaved off to make the rotor surface smooth again. This makes the rotor thinner and more likely to warp easier.

6. Don’t use brake dust shields. They make metal shields you can install behind the front wheel to help keep the brake dust from sticking to the outside of the wheel. They keep your wheels clean looking but they do not allow heat to escape from the rotor, so the rotor can overheat and warp easily.

Hope this helps

Blessings,

Austin Davis