TIL I was deglazing my brake rotors completely wrong for years

Honestly, I've been doing brake jobs on my '08 Honda Civic since 2016 and always just sprayed brake cleaner straight on the rotors and wiped them down. Last month at a garage in Phoenix, the mechanic watched me do it and said I was just pushing the grease deeper into the pores. He showed me to use a dedicated rotor deglazer tool and fresh sandpaper, spent like 7 minutes per rotor, and my brakes actually grab now instead of pulsing after a week. Anyone else ever realize they were skipping a step that actually matters?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylorcarr1mo ago

That 7 minutes per rotor is the kicker right there. I used to rush through it in like 90 seconds and wondered why my pads were glazing over after a month.

charlesj461mo ago

Yeah, that 7 minute thing is no joke. I had a buddy who thought he knew better and would do his whole brake job in like 20 minutes flat. He bragged about how fast he was, then three months later his pads were shot and the rotors had these weird blue spots from overheating. Took him a while to figure out it was because he was rushing the bedding process. Now he sets a timer on his phone and actually does the full cycle. Says it feels like forever but his brakes actually stop the car now instead of just making noise.