147 Front Brakes

[pontypool]

First time posting in Alfa forum - hello!

My 147 Selespeed only gets driven gently in London commuting traffic for 7 miles each way every day, so was surprised that it failed MOT on front disks....do these Alfa ones wear any more quickly than any other marque??

It has only done 29,000 (on an 02 plate) but almost every mile creeping round Wimbledon or Fulham - not exactly hard-core track action and they don't feel that lippy to the touch....

[jacobyte]

Are you sure they didn't mean the pads? Otherwise it sounds very odd. I am on 94,000 miles (owned it from new) and have changed the discs only once. That is a mix of town, motorway, A&B roads and trackdays.

Have you changed the pads at close intervals? You might have a sticking caliper. If not, then I'd say either they aren't as worn as they say, or your braking style isn't as efficient as it could be.

[pontypool]

MOT fail on Pads and Disk.....pads i would expect to be changing, but the disks were a surprise. Does anyone know what the MOT rule is about wear on these?

[Wombat Rick]

Were they badly scored or corroded?

[pontypool]

don't know as the MOT station returned the car without the failure cert.... doh!

[Avocet]

Brakes that have been used very gently can sometimes build up a ring of corroded material - often near the outside edge and generally on the inner face of the disc where it's harder to see. The rust is harder than the friction material and once it forms a good "skin", it just eats away at the pad material. It's possible that this has happened on your car (but by no means certain)! IF it has, it might be sensible to either "skim" the disc (take it off put it in a lathe or specialist machine for disc refurbishing) and take a small amount of metal off each face to get it smooth and flat again. Unfortunately, there is very little "extra" material on most modern discs so it might not be possible or even worthwhile given the labour involved.