Many diyers and customers think their new brakes are burning up.
Is it normal for ceramic breaks to smell when new.
The smell and smoke aren t caused by oxidation.
Once those brake pads and rotors are mounted it is essential to properly break them in.
They will get hot because at first they are contacting the drum over a small part of their surface.
In the real world though not every brake pad.
There s a right way and a wrong way to do anything and through the thick storm of relentless marketing hype that line can get a little blurred.
If you ve recently had your brakes serviced or replaced the new parts may be to blame for the weird brake smell and that s okay.
This is a good thing.
Many brake experts recommend breaking in new brake pads with a 30 30 30 procedure.
The heat caused by normal braking on new brake friction materials cause the pads to go through this final curing process.
The heat of braking causes the resins to polymerize and form stronger bonds.
30 gradual stops from 30 mph with 30 seconds in between each stop for the brakes to cool.
The brake smoke and brake smell is actually the gasses formed during the curing process.
Having new brake pads and rotors installed happens on a regular basis.
The bottom line is that the smell is not a bad thing in the majority of cases for new pads.
Every brake pad manufacturer says that they re the best and that they re an upgrade from whatever you already have.
New brake shoes the curved kind might smell a bit because they have to wear in to match the curve of the drum.
The scent most often indicates that the resin in your new brake pads is curing which means the material is getting stronger with use.
Bedding in commonly known as breaking in new brake pads and rotors is necessary for new brakes to work properly.
The bad thing about this is when the resins polymerize they create by products in the form of gases that do not smell pleasant.