[Pacifica-S]

I’m very disappointed with my new Mopar Front Brake Rotors that my dealer installed to replace the original brake rotors that were on my van since new. Within a week, the hub portion and edges of the ventilation fins had developed a bright orange layer of rust. The service manager says it is “normal” and there is nothing they can do. My original rotors never did this and that is why I had the dealer do the work, so I would get factory parts. Now I find that all rotors are not the same. Some have anti corrosion coatings which would prevent this unsightly issue.
im considering replacing the brake rotors myself with a better brand. Soooo disappointed! Any suggestions on a better aftermarket replacement rotor?

 

[freddief73]

I’m very disappointed with my new Mopar Front Brake Rotors that my dealer installed to replace the original brake rotors that were on my van since new. Within a week, the hub portion and edges of the ventilation fins had developed a bright orange layer of rust. The service manager says it is “normal” and there is nothing they can do. My original rotors never did this and that is why I had the dealer do the work, so I would get factory parts. Now I find that all rotors are not the same. Some have anti corrosion coatings which would prevent this unsightly issue.
im considering replacing the brake rotors myself with a better brand. Soooo disappointed! Any suggestions on a better aftermarket replacement rotor? View attachment 50865

It may be normal for the rotors that they installed, but definitely not normal for the OEM rotors which are E-coated. Rotors with this feature will have a bright, matte silver finish. There are lots of aftermarket options that are cheaper than the OEM counterparts that work fine. Just look for any fully coated (fully coated as in not just the hat and edge) rotor and you should be fine. FWIW I have Raybestos rotors with their "Element3" coating with Powerstop Z23 pads installed up front and they're great. It takes massive amounts of braking before I notice any fade.

 

[ThisSuckersElectrical]

That is normal. My OEM factory rotors look the same. BTW all rotors in boxes come with anti-corrosion rosin coatings that have to be cleaned off the brake pad contact surfaces before installation. The rest of the rosin coating will burn off with heat. You could buy a set of rotors and have the non-contact brake pad areas powder coated it if bothers you.

Clean new brake rotors

 

[freddief73]

That is normal. My OEM factory rotors look the same. BTW all rotors in boxes come with anti-corrosion rosin coatings that have to be cleaned off the brake pad contact surfaces before installation. The rest of the rosin coating will burn off with heat. You could buy a set of rotors and have the non-contact brake pad areas powder coated it if bothers you.



Clean new brake rotors

I suspect there may be some confusion here, so I will try to clear this up. Your plain, cheap rotors come with a temporary oily coating on them to prevent them from rusting on the shelf. These must be thoroughly cleaned before installing them. These will rust very badly within a few years in the Salt Belt. I'm quite certain the rotors on the OP's van are of this variety.

The E-coated variety of rotors that I mentioned earlier are different. They come with a permanent coating for long term corrosion resistance, and are usually ready to install out of the box. The friction material of the pads quickly removes the coating from the contact patch within the first few brake cycles. This leaves the rest of the rotor completely protected from the elements.

Your OEM rotors may look similar, but they also have thousands of miles on them. The OP's rotors should not look like that after one week if the dealership did in fact install OEM rotors. Getting a brake job done at a dealership does not guarantee that OEM parts are used. The part numbers that were used should be printed on the repair order. The part number for the OEM front rotors is 4779712AB (68223507AB for rear). As you can clearly see in the pictures, these are E-coated rotors. Albeit, the wheel mounting face is not coated. The lower line Chrysler rotors are sold under the Magneti Marelli brand. Their part number is 2AMV9712AA for the front (not available for the rear). As you can see in the pictures, these are your plain old steel rotors.

The Raybestos rotors I installed on our van still have very little rust on them despite being on since last fall. The outer part has very little surface rust, but the middle part around the hub is still bright silver just like when they came out of the box.

 

[DoninDel]

I agree with FreddieF73 - I bought zinc-plated rotors and the only rust is on the face where the pads scrape - none on the hub or the hollow webbing. Rust on the face, where the pads scrape, IS normal. I have seen older, unplated discs where the rust completely fills the webbing on the discs so they don't cool properly.
I never go cheap on brakes or tires - save money elsewhere.

 

[Whitigir]

That is not normal. This is my rotors after 900 miles or so, and you can see that it has some kinda coating to prevent rusts. Some of it comes off around the friction areas which you can see some rusts, but definitely not the other areas.
However, the friction areas will get rusted if you leave your car out in the rain for a day or so, then it would clear off from daily uses afterward

 

[VelvetRedAWD]

Another thing: the premium MoPar rotors are balanced. The Value Line MoPar rotors are not. Almost all aftermarket rotors are NOT balanced!!
Yes, you will notice it at high speeds.

 

[Whitigir]

Another thing: the premium MoPar rotors are balanced. The Value Line MoPar rotors are not. Almost all aftermarket rotors are NOT balanced!!
Yes, you will notice it at high speeds.

I am glad to hear this. I don’t know why Chrysler are not as well known as other brands such as Mercedes, Caddi, Beemer, one thing for sure is that from Pacifica limited is already pretty Upscaled in interiors and features when compared to other Van. Especially when AWD is called, there is only Sienna and Pacifica, and coming from Sienna, I can tell for certain that the Pacifica Pinnacle feels more engaged, smoother, more seamless, quieter, more comfortable.
I am glad to have found an Upscaled luxurious MiniVan as Pacifica. For a while, I thought we would not have such vehicle, especially luxurious and AWD

back to the rotors and brakes, I also noticed that the Pacifica has great stoping power !!

 

[CANADAHYBRIDGUY]

Did you ask your dealer to use oem parts . There’s many levels and f rotors from entry , intermediate, premium rotors out there . Case in point , I don’t know what dealer, but I will say your bill for brake job, @dealer shop rate , will give you a idea of parts used .

 

[Pacifica-S]

Hello to all who posted. First, I am so appreciative of this forum. I looked at my invoice for the brake job from the dealership. The part number used for my rotors is in fact 2AMV9712-AA. The part number used for my pads is 2AM3163-AA. I am really surprised that the dealer would do this to me. I work with the service manager directly on my van. He knows how picky I am about it. I won’t even let them wash it! I specifically told him I wanted factory parts! I also told him we drive mountain roads when we travel to NE Georgia. I’m sure the AM in the part number refers to “aftermarket” …. (Magnetti Marelli)
It really upsets me that you can ask for oem and not be told there is a lesser version that they will use on your vehicle. They know I am not cheap and will gladly pay for the better ones. I showed the rust to the shop foreman, the service drive manager and the service manager and all told me it was normal and that you can’t get the same rotors that the factory puts on new vehicles. I suspected that was a line of Crap! Thanks to FreddieF73 for enlightening me to the difference between part numbers.
I will be having a discussion with the service manager and want the rotors and pads replaced with the better parts. I spent the weekend preparing for a similar discussion from the angle that the rust on the hats and cooling fins will reduce the rotors ability to dissipate heat. This is very important to me when we are coming down some of the steep mountain roads in Georgia. I was also looking at aftermarket “Power Stop” rotors and pads which may be an alternative if the dealership refuses to take these cheap parts back! I will update with the response/results of my discussion with the service manager.
Thank you all for the great information and support. I really appreciate it. 😃

 

[freddief73]

Hello to all who posted. First, I am so appreciative of this forum. I looked at my invoice for the brake job from the dealership. The part number used for my rotors is in fact 2AMV9712-AA. The part number used for my pads is 2AM3163-AA. I am really surprised that the dealer would do this to me. I work with the service manager directly on my van. He knows how picky I am about it. I won’t even let them wash it! I specifically told him I wanted factory parts! I also told him we drive mountain roads when we travel to NE Georgia. I’m sure the AM in the part number refers to “aftermarket” …. (Magnetti Marelli)
It really upsets me that you can ask for oem and not be told there is a lesser version that they will use on your vehicle. They know I am not cheap and will gladly pay for the better ones. I showed the rust to the shop foreman, the service drive manager and the service manager and all told me it was normal and that you can’t get the same rotors that the factory puts on new vehicles. I suspected that was a line of Crap! Thanks to FreddieF73 for enlightening me to the difference between part numbers.
I will be having a discussion with the service manager and want the rotors and pads replaced with the better parts. I spent the weekend preparing for a similar discussion from the angle that the rust on the hats and cooling fins will reduce the rotors ability to dissipate heat. This is very important to me when we are coming down some of the steep mountain roads in Georgia. I was also looking at aftermarket “Power Stop” rotors and pads which may be an alternative if the dealership refuses to take these cheap parts back! I will update with the response/results of my discussion with the service manager.
Thank you all for the great information and support. I really appreciate it. 😃

I'm actually also surprised to learn that your dealership installed the cheaper rotors. I inquired about them at our local Chrysler dealership and was told they're currently backordered.

FWIW at the GM dealership I work at, we never install OEM rotors unless they're specifically requested or the application requires it - which is seldom the case. The cold hard truth is that they're too expensive - in most cases north of $150 each - and most people won't splurge for them.

 

[Whitigir]

I'm actually also surprised to learn that your dealership installed the cheaper rotors. I inquired about them at our local Chrysler dealership and was told they're currently backordered.

FWIW at the GM dealership I work at, we never install OEM rotors unless they're specifically requested or the application requires it - which is seldom the case. The cold hard truth is that they're too expensive - in most cases north of $150 each - and most people won't splurge for them.

It doesn’t matter about those assumptions of the truth. A service, or a good service and it practices is to listen to the requests and accommodate it to the best of their ability.

 

[hawkfan]

It doesn’t matter about those assumptions of the truth. A service, or a good service and it practices is to listen to the requests and accommodate it to the best of their ability.

Isn't that what the servicing dealer did though? Listened to the request and accommodated it to their best ability/understanding? OP went to the dealer for a brake job expecting that OEM parts would be used and they were. To @freddief73's point, they happened to use the lower cost option at their discretion since the higher-cost option was not requested. Yes, the surface rust is unsightly but I really doubt it will present any sort of safety issue. The "AM" in the part number could mean anything but I doubt it means "aftermarket".

 

[Whitigir]

Isn't that what the servicing dealer did though? Listened to the request and accommodated it to their best ability/understanding? OP went to the dealer for a brake job expecting that OEM parts would be used and they were. To @freddief73's point, they happened to use the lower cost option at their discretion since the higher-cost option was not requested. Yes, the surface rust is unsightly but I really doubt it will present any sort of safety issue. The "AM" in the part number could mean anything but I doubt it means "aftermarket".

I think it could be so, and I would blame it on the varieties of different trims of the pacificas. The base level VS pinnacle is a heck load of differences…. Literally like stepping out from a cheap Sienna into a BMW lol

 

[gamorg02]

I ran into the exact same thing here - expected coated OEM rotors/pads to be used and now after a couple months are pretty rusted and are very noisy until they are warmed up. Dealer used AX901088 rotors & ZD1589 pads which both show as aftermarket. I now have the correct part numbers thanks to this thread I can go back to the dealer with - @Pacifica-S how did your conversation with the dealer go?

 

[up6]

Почему не хотите поставить тормоза например от MAXBRAKES? пользуюсь такими и очень доволен

 

[gamorg02]

Почему не хотите поставить тормоза например от MAXBRAKES? пользуюсь такими и очень доволен

Google translates this as "Why don't you want to put brakes for example from MAXBRAKES? I use these and am very happy"

I'm not sure of the maxbrakes brand but I want coated rotors since we get a ton of salt use here in the northeast US and they just look bad all the time (like the OPs pics). The dealer also charged $100/rotor and i would have gladly paid $50~? more for the coated ones.

 

[up6]

gamorg02 - excuse me, I wrote my post in Russian -))

but you understood me very well - that's very nice

I used MAXBRAKES pads and discs on my previous CHRYSLER GRAND VOYAGER 2014 and was satisfied, I put the same on the Racifica right away and they are doing great. There is a huge amount of salt in Moscow too - our road services are very fond of it. If you want, I can take pictures of the brakes and you can look at them.

 

[gamorg02]

gamorg02 - excuse me, I wrote my post in Russian -))

but you understood me very well - that's very nice

I used MAXBRAKES pads and discs on my previous CHRYSLER GRAND VOYAGER 2014 and was satisfied, I put the same on the Racifica right away and they are doing great. There is a huge amount of salt in Moscow too - our road services are very fond of it. If you want, I can take pictures of the brakes and you can look at them.

Did you use the geomet maxbrakes? they appear to be the only ones with a coating to protect them. Sure i'd take a look as well - i also sent my dealership an email with some info so we'll see what they say.

 

[Jerky_san]

I guess my assumptions were wrong.. I always thought dealers used OEM parts.. hence how expensive they always are. If they are using cheap parts and they are expensive I guess you are only paying for the "experienced" mechanic? I put that in quotes because I've seen a few "experienced" mechanics in my life and I've seen others who truly are 100% legit amazing mechanics. Paying for real experience is 100% worth it but paying for part changers is generally not..