advice needed on brake pads and discs

My front pads are wearing a bit thin especially on the driver's side front wheel where there's a slight grinding sound coming from it when braking.

I've not took the wheels off for a proper inspection but I know the pads definitely need replacing. I was told that they would need replacing soon by the mechanic that serviced my brakes around December time last year.

Today, I had a quick look at the driver side front wheel and I think there's about 3mm left on the outside pad. I touched the brake disc and the surface was quite uneven. Like it was grainy or something. Then I thought well will the discs need replacing as well? I don't think it would be good for new pads to be getting rubbed against a bad surface. What does anyone else think?

I've owned the car since 14k miles and it's almost done 49k now. I've had it for 4 years. I don't think the discs have ever been replaced as I've never replaced them and I don't think they would have been replaced before when I bought it.

I think I should drop the wheels off and inspect properly. Is there anything else I should look out for to see whether the discs need replacing?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks,

Jay

Replace the discs and the pads, both sides, they are not that expensive.
Since asbestos was banned from being included in the brake friction material, the substitutes are far more abrasive, and wear the discs away quickly.
It's not a difficult job with the right tools, cleanliness is essential when refitting the discs, they are usually covered in a rust preventative wich must be removed, white spirit or petrol will do, no smoking.
The calipers may be held on with torque head bolts, you will need the correct spline tool to remove these, make sure the car is well supported when you remove each wheel, do not put yourself in danger.
The job should take approx one hour per side.

Good luck'

Wotan

What make, model & age car?

As Wotan says, discs are a wearing part and need routine replacement these days.

You can, however, measure the thickness with a micrometer or calliper and check against the minimum thickness shown in the specification; you can check the runout is within tolerance using a dial gauge. A certain amount of roughness is quite usual and doesn't automatically mean the disc needs replacement; a cracked disc, though, does need to be changed.

Spark123 said:

What make, model & age car?

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+1!!


If the outer pads are 3mm the inner pads are sure to be less, after those miles I would deffinatly replace both discs and pads

jaysta said:

My front pads are wearing a bit thin especially on the driver's side front wheel where there's a slight grinding sound coming from it when braking...
I know the pads definitely need replacing. I was told that they would need replacing soon by the mechanic that serviced my brakes around December time last year.
Today, I had a quick look at the driver side front wheel and I think there's about 3mm left on the outside pad. I touched the brake disc and the surface was quite uneven. Like it was grainy or something. Then I thought well will the discs need replacing as well? I don't think it would be good for new pads to be getting rubbed against a bad surface. What does anyone else think?

Click to expand...

Grinding noise and your description of the grainy disc surface tells me that a pad has worn down to the metal and damaged the disc. It'll get worse very quickly and the braking performance will be poor, possibly dangerous.

Time's up. You need new discs and pads NOW. Pity you didn't take more notice of that mechanic six months ago, hope you take more notice now.