Hi all
Am looking for a bit of advice. My 2011 MX5 Kendo borke down this week due to a Crankshaft Position Sensor - 4th one this year according to dealer - fortunately under warranty.
Anyway RAC guy warned me my discs needed replaced. Dealer has agreed and recommended front and back. It’s only done 2.5 k since service and am surprised this wasn’t mentioned on service sheet.
Am even more surprised that they need done after 14k miles.
Any thoughts?
Frances
Hi, I don’t have personal experience with the discs on a 5. I’m a relatively new owner. But, on my Taxi I generally get around 45000 miles, all London Driving. I know of other Taxi Drivers who only manage 25000 miles. It really depends on how heavily you use them and differs for everyone. 14000 miles seems a very short life for discs. But they need replacing when they need replacing regardless of mileage.
Hi, Front pads are quite thin on these cars and typically will be needed around 20K miles+. Rears may last longer if the discs are kept free from rust. It’s false economy to replace the pads if the discs are rusty or worn and so, often, they are both done at the same time.
Given that the RAC man wasn’t looking at them specifically I’d guess he saw your rear discs are very rusty. The dealer will have looked further and probably seen the fronts were on the way out so suggested the lot.
Have a look through the wheels at all the brake discs. What often happens with these cars is bad rust from standing outside and short trips which does not clear the rust. If the car has stood on a forecourt or if you park it outside in the rain and don’t use the brakes much they will rust quickly from the edges inwards.
Best maintenance for brakes is to keep a regular eye on the discs and give the brakes some use if they become rusty on the flat faces. Never put it away wet after washing, run it down the road and use the brakes to dry them off. Pull the handbrake on gently at low speed on a clear road for a few hundred yards to clean the rear discs which often get very little use otherwise.
Front Pads changed at 31K,rears at 40K.
Discs and pads then done at 64K when having new tyres fitted by WIM.Used Pagid on recommendation of WIM,about £350 fitted.
6 months and about 3k miles on still seem remarkably rust free(usually parked in a carport),but front pads seem to create a bit more dust than the Mazda ones previously fitted.
Don’t know why disc’s need replacing so often nowadays,fronts on my Xtrail done at 60k,my old Volvo did 150k on fronts and still had originals on the rears when sold at 260k.Perhaps it’s because modern calipers only have pistons on 1 side and rely on the whole caliper moving.Would explain why inside of discs wear more unless the calipers are regularly stripped and cleaned/greased.