Facelift S3 Brakes Poor?

[AudiNutta]

Hi Guys,

Just looking for some general feedback on hot your S3 copes with 'heat' overall.

I went out for a little bit of a spirited drive today, only 4/5 miles up some country lanes.. the oil temperature got up to 111 degrees the highest I have seen and it wouldn't pop or bang for the next 10 minutes because it was so warm (I assume that is protecting itself as it does it every now and again after foot to the floor acceleration).

Now the brakes, I have applied POR15 to stop the disc bells from rusting and it works well to stop rust, very well. But the coating has gone black on the disc edge and the disc bells are gold. @45bvtc Do you find this with your coatings?
I wasn't that hard on the brakes because I was able to keep up some fair speed, but one stop from 60-0 finished them off, I had blue smoke piling out of the front and rear brakes. The brakes were very vague for the rest of the drive (5 miles ish) when I took it for a drive to cool down. I am guessing this is the coatings smoking? It is terribly embarrassing, I had to stop today to let someone through and there was clouds of smoke surrounding the car being given off the back brakes.

But anyway, the surface of the discs is close to purple and now I have what appear to be score marks on the face of the disc. I had this last week when I took someone out from work, smoking brakes, scoring marks in the discs and a purple face.

Do any of you other S3 owners have such issues with the brakes on these cars? I don't drive the car hard regularly, I think this is why I got Audi to agree on a set of tyres after warranty work because the tyres wear shows no sign of aggressive driving, unlike their demo cars that have pretty much been driven on the side walls haha. It makes me want to not drive it how it should be driven, I feel so guilty after it and it smells terrible. The discs feel warped for the next couple of days after the brakes smoke like this, it must be the wear on the pads as it does wear back through it.

I am unlikely to look into changing discs and pads because of this, because like I said I rarely drive hard like this. But, if there was a set of pads which would improve it drastically then I might look into it. I would have expected better from a performance car.

When I have had loan cars from Audi, I have taken them on the same mountain road and it is brutal on the brakes because 'so I've been told' it is easy to get upwards of 90mph, with multiple slows to 30. The RS3 I had never got any brake fade, never showed any signs of getting tired. But the S3 I had, have both had severe brake fade to the point where they can hardly stop the car. I have yet to take mine there for a spirited drive, because I don't want to put it through it.

Thanks in advance,

Matthew.

 

[GSB]

Can we have some photos of the purple please? Is it on both sides of the disc, and both sides of the car?

Purple faces on the disc suggest a level of overheating that's down to more than just 'spirited driving'. It's not a phenomenon you're likely to see until the disc gets north of 270C, and most brakes normally operate in the region of 100- 200C. Serious smoking of the pads generally means something north of 400C. Now, I thrashed my car like a ginger stepchild last weekend, including a fair few stops from speeds that were, shall we say marginally higher than 60mph, and didn't see these effects or snything even close to them. I know that the ESP / fake limited slip diff plays with the brakes an awful lot when you're on the power in the bends, but even so, turning the brakes purple and having smoke pour out them after only 4 or 5 miles on the public highway is surely a sign of either suicidal recklessness or an underlying brake problem.

Sticking sliders causing the pads on the outboard side to drag would be my bet.

 

[45bvtc]

Now the brakes, I have applied POR15 to stop the disc bells from rusting and it works well to stop rust, very well. But the coating has gone black on the disc edge and the disc bells are gold. @45bvtc Do you find this with your coatings?

Yes Matthew and OK it's a matter of taste but for sure they'll NOT rust and for me that's way preferable - like so:

Rear MTECS:

And STD OEM fronts:

 

[AudiNutta]

Can we have some photos of the purple please? Is it on both sides of the disc, and both sides of the car?

Purple faces on the disc suggest a level of overheating that's down to more than just 'spirited driving'. It's not a phenomenon you're likely to see until the disc gets north of 270C, and most brakes normally operate in the region of 100- 200C. Serious smoking of the pads generally means something north of 400C. Now, I thrashed my car like a ginger stepchild last weekend, including a fair few stops from speeds that were, shall we say marginally higher than 60mph, and didn't see these effects or snything even close to them. I know that the ESP / fake limited slip diff plays with the brakes an awful lot when you're on the power in the bends, but even so, turning the brakes purple and having smoke pour out them after only 4 or 5 miles on the public highway is surely a sign of either suicidal recklessness or an underlying brake problem.

Sticking sliders causing the pads on the outboard side to drag would be my bet.

Sure, it gave me an excuse to get the car out of the garage and go for a quick spin to break up my Power Systems revision

Genuinely, I have no reason to tell fibs on here as I am seeking advice. I don't drive like an absolute fool, otherwise I'd expect this to happen and never anything dangerous. I've had a few occasions in my short driving career where I have told myself off on reflection and now, I think in advance.. having such a powerful car haha, I have overcome the teenage driver syndrome.
The road was a narrow country lane, in parts two cars are a tight squeeze to get through. It was 4/5 miles of quick driving, but typical just braking from 60 to 40mph, every few hundred meters and not necessarily heavy.. gentle applications, mostly in second and third gear (to give an idea of the driving and road).

It all depends on whether the smoking was the pads or the POR15 coating. Usually it smokes on the front and smells very much like chemical, a very hot smell. But I was surprised to see today that the smoke was in fact coming from the rear too. For your ESP comment, it was off because I am fed up of having the TC ruin my fun and opportunities

Find the pictures below.... this was after my 5 mile or so cool off drive, after my last 5 mile spin the scoring had reduced SLIGHTLY but not by much.

Offside Rear:



Nearside Rear:



Nearside Front:



Offside Front:





Now, the purple isn't as bad there as when they were smoking but if you look at the offside front.. you can see a clear purple tint, the disc face material looks very dark. It isn't straight up ultraviolet purple obviously, but the disc face is no longer silver and definitely has a dark tint. The scoring is quite bad too, I always notice my rears get in quite a bad shape when I have done lots of gentle driving! But the front, I'd have thought using the brakes well would have helped clean the, up but no it appears to have had a very bad effects on the pads.

Please excuse the state of the wheels, I have done 300 miles since it's last wash and I have been making the most of the cars abilities of late

 

[AudiNutta]

Yes Matthew and OK it's a matter of taste but for sure they'll NOT rust and for me that's way preferable

I agree, the gold is more preferable than rust.. I hate rust. I am amazed that after the smoke I assume that the coating caused, it still works. I am 7000 miles in and have no rust whatsoever and it was used daily through winter, sadly.

I notice your discs aren't half a bad as mine. Perhaps it is because the RS discs disperse heat better? Or you are very gentle driving Have you ever had any smoking / smells off of the coating?
The outer rim was silver to start, quickly turned gold and overtime has turned to the nasty looking black colour. I do envy the standard aluminium finish to the discs, but like you said.. no rust.

I have just noticed on the inside rim of the rear wheels, there is a black slick of the coating of where the POR15 has gotten hot and melted. That will be fun to get off, damn... :/

 

[GSB]

Sure, it gave me an excuse to get the car out of the garage and go for a quick spin to break up my Power Systems revision

Genuinely, I have no reason to tell fibs on here as I am seeking advice. I don't drive like an absolute fool, otherwise I'd expect this to happen and never anything dangerous. I've had a few occasions in my short driving career where I have told myself off on reflection and now, I think in advance.. having such a powerful car haha, I have overcome the teenage driver syndrome.
The road was a narrow country lane, in parts two cars are a tight squeeze to get through. It was 4/5 miles of quick driving, but typical just braking from 60 to 40mph, every few hundred meters and not necessarily heavy.. gentle applications, mostly in second and third gear (to give an idea of the driving and road).

It all depends on whether the smoking was the pads or the POR15 coating. Usually it smokes on the front and smells very much like chemical, a very hot smell. But I was surprised to see today that the smoke was in fact coming from the rear too. For your ESP comment, it was off because I am fed up of having the TC ruin my fun and opportunities

Find the pictures below.... this was after my 5 mile or so cool off drive, after my last 5 mile spin the scoring had reduced SLIGHTLY but not by much.

Offside Rear:



Nearside Rear:



Nearside Front:



Offside Front:





Now, the purple isn't as bad there as when they were smoking but if you look at the offside front.. you can see a clear purple tint, the disc face material looks very dark. It isn't straight up ultraviolet purple obviously, but the disc face is no longer silver and definitely has a dark tint. The scoring is quite bad too, I always notice my rears get in quite a bad shape when I have done lots of gentle driving! But the front, I'd have thought using the brakes well would have helped clean the, up but no it appears to have had a very bad effects on the pads.

Please excuse the state of the wheels, I have done 300 miles since it's last wash and I have been making the most of the cars abilities of late

S3 3 door, 7 months old, 7000 miles.

 

[Daveotto]

Can we have some photos of the purple please? Is it on both sides of the disc, and both sides of the car?

Purple faces on the disc suggest a level of overheating that's down to more than just 'spirited driving'. It's not a phenomenon you're likely to see until the disc gets north of 270C, and most brakes normally operate in the region of 100- 200C. Serious smoking of the pads generally means something north of 400C. Now, I thrashed my car like a ginger stepchild last weekend, including a fair few stops from speeds that were, shall we say marginally higher than 60mph, and didn't see these effects or snything even close to them. I know that the ESP / fake limited slip diff plays with the brakes an awful lot when you're on the power in the bends, but even so, turning the brakes purple and having smoke pour out them after only 4 or 5 miles on the public highway is surely a sign of either suicidal recklessness or an underlying brake problem.

Sticking sliders causing the pads on the outboard side to drag would be my bet.

I have driven the living daylights out of an RS3 on a track slalom course in 4-5 min bursts with similar rest time in between for around 45 mins or so and never seen the brakes smoke, although I admit there were some pretty strong burning smells from rubber etc and engine temp was well north of 120C so maybe we are talking a binding fault or ESP not working correctly

 

[rams_s3]

The last photo looks like there could be something amiss. Which ever side/front/rear it was

 

[GSB]

I have driven the living daylights out of an RS3 on a track slalom course in 4-5 min bursts with similar rest time in between for around 45 mins or so and never seen the brakes smoke, although I admit there were some pretty strong burning smells from rubber etc and engine temp was well north of 120C so maybe we are talking a binding fault or ESP not working correctly

Likewise, I backlaned my car across an entire county last weekend, just for the sheer enjoyment of driving a fast car fast, and I really caned the brakes on more than a few occasions on some favourite roads. So smoke, no blueing, no melting paints, no pedal disappearing from under my foot and no shagged discs. Binding / ESP issue would certainly be my guess, especially when you consider the fact that @AudiNutta has to consistently turn off his traction control in order to get anywhere. It may be coincidence, but it may be that the chassis control system is working overtime, throwing in both traction control and ESP commands to the brakes that aren't needed, and overheating the braking system. I think messrs Clarkson, Hammond or May achieved something similar with the back brakes of a brabus tuned SL Merc some years ago, although they did it by driving like twats.

 

[AudiNutta]

Likewise, I backlaned my car across an entire county last weekend, just for the sheer enjoyment of driving a fast car fast, and I really caned the brakes on more than a few occasions on some favourite roads. So smoke, no blueing, no melting paints, no pedal disappearing from under my foot and no shagged discs. Binding / ESP issue would certainly be my guess, especially when you consider the fact that @AudiNutta has to consistently turn off his traction control in order to get anywhere. It may be coincidence, but it may be that the chassis control system is working overtime, throwing in both traction control and ESP commands to the brakes that aren't needed, and overheating the braking system. I think messrs Clarkson, Hammond or May achieved something similar with the back brakes of a brabus tuned SL Merc some years ago, although they did it by driving like twats.

I have forwarded the photos to my Service Advisor, to ask a technician to take a look.

I still think the smoke is the coating not the brakes, for that reason I won't mention smoke to Audi.. I have just said about the scoring.

I know for a fact, they will tell me I have voided any warranty by putting a heavy duty coating on the discs that they don't recommend.
I do seem to suffer from the normal FL traction control issue, where it kicks in persistently when there is no slip. I have only had the wheels spin once, all 4 wheels spin off a bridge tolls when doing a launch. It was from a concrete to tarmac surface and it spun through first and second gear. But, with ESP off I have never had a moment where there has been a loss of traction, I have just had little or no interruption.

I think I will be waiting for the response from Audi and then possibly arranging for it to go in, but the problem is they will have to drive it fast to experience it and that is not happening! I would take a technician out and hope that the traction kicks in, but I bet it wouldn't. They would tell me it is there for a reason, but it is stopping acceleration when there is no slip and never has been. Sometimes I have it before the boost is even half built. I had it today at 4500rpm at 50mph, few flashes of the TC light.

 

[GSB]

Unless you were ladling the stuff into the disc cooling holes, there's only a tiny amount of paint in there, and it would have been burnt off by now. No, with bluing on the discs you have a bigger issue...
Who told you it was normal for the TC to kick in so regularly? In a year of thrashing S3's about I've had traction control come on maybe 5 times? 4 of those would have been because I was arsing about... in normal day to day driving it never ever comes on...

 

[AudiNutta]

Unless you were ladling the stuff into the disc cooling holes, there's only a tiny amount of paint in there, and it would have been burnt off by now. No, with bluing on the discs you have a bigger issue...
Who told you it was normal for the TC to kick in so regularly? In a year of thrashing S3's about I've had traction control come on maybe 5 times? 4 of those would have been because I was arsing about... in normal day to day driving it never ever comes on...

Nope, you have to apply very lightly because of how thick the stuff is, it's like honey. The cooling holes not he disc got a dabbing treatment, as far as the brush could dab into the cavity without damaging the bristles was as far as the light coat went.
I am glad you can see the colour tint on the discs, it's not just me.. but in comparison to yours, mine look ruined and it's day to day S3 use... mostly at a cruise. I never brake heavily, I always want to keep my wheels clean On a typical 30 mile day and accelerating around town, it's normal to see my traction light 4/5 times if driving quickly. So now normally if I have the windows down, in individual and in hooligan mode I tend to turn the ESP into Sport or Off.

Well, the 'normal' fault. Going off of the amount of people on here that report the TC kicking in constantly around town, accelerations from 30mph etc etc, when there is never any loss of traction. Mine is weird, I notice it more in the dry than I do the wet.

Good example of heat in the discs... I drove it out of work the other day giving someone a ride.

A stop from 70mph firm on the brakes uphill,
A stop from 60mph firm on the brakes uphill
Another going downhill from 70mph, heavy on the brakes.
I then did a launch to 60, brought the car to a stop and I had blue discs and smoke piling off.

The distance covered through all this was around 2 miles. It sounds worse than it is, but I am curious whether you'd expect your brakes to be on their last legs after this. That would be a typical switchback road, accelerating and slowing between 4 bends.

 

[AudiNutta]

I just had a look on maps, it was 3 miles up the country lane... 6/7 minutes stopped to take some photos and then 3 miles back down of heavy driving. By the time I did the first 3 miles up I had very smelly brakes, half way back down I had smoke piling off.

 

[GSB]

I'd consider this to be the kind of use these brakes can withstand without major issue. You have a problem that audi need to solve. Your mpg must be ****** awful.

Consider that even if these brakes are no motorsport superstars (and single piston units, they're not), then as a bare minimum they must be able to haul this car to a standstill from its top speed without issue. If you some rough maths, the energy involved in that one stop works out converting 3,700,000 Joules of Kinetic Energy into heat.

A stop from 70mph works out at 740,000 Joules of Kinetic Energy. This is considerably less that the full beams 155mph brake test, so the basic design should therefore cope with a minimum of five of those 70mph stops without any defect arising.

 

[AudiNutta]

I'd consider this to be the kind of use these brakes can withstand without major issue. You have a problem that audi need to solve. Your mpg must be ****** awful.

Consider that even if these brakes are no motorsport superstars (and single piston units, they're not), then as a bare minimum they must be able to haul this car to a standstill from its top speed without issue. If you some rough maths, the energy involved in that one stop works out converting 3,700,000 Joules of Kinetic Energy into heat.

A stop from 70mph works out at 740,000 Joules of Kinetic Energy. This is considerably less that the full beams 155mph brake test, so the basic design should therefore cope with a minimum of five of those 70mph stops without any defect arising.

You'd think so yes, that is my one biggest disappointment.. the brakes. My MPG isn't bad at all, typical week by week I get around 28mpg.. most is driving within a 20 mile radius, once a week I go on a 60 mile round trip run visiting but thats about it. Most of the time on the 12 mile drive to work, I am up on 35mpg indicated. The last 2 weeks, I have bene getting 23mpg average on a tank however, but I have done a lot of local driving.. short runs to pick my brother up from school, quick blasts in between once warm etc.

Thanks for doing the maths for me, I think I have just about had it with maths for today.... I am on hour 8 of revision for my exam tomorrow.

I will see what Audi say and hopefully they turn around and tell me that they should have it in to check it out. It wasn't more than 2/3 weeks ago when they had the brakes stripped trying to find the steering clunk, then again when they replaced the wheel bearing.

 

[msdmjb]

There is definitely something amiss.
I have previously done several high speed to a halt one after the other brake tests (starting well in three figures) and after 5 stops didn't have smoke, certainly the brakes were smelly and hot and you knew they were being used but on your description of smoke after your comparatively little use isn't right. Take the car out for a gentle drive for a few miles and check how hot the brakes are, the rears in particular should have hardly any heat in them.

You have introduced something very close to the braking surfaces and Audi have recently rebuild the brakes one of which is unlikely to be a coincidence with your smoking. Whilst I understand your hate of surface rust I never go near the braking components on my cars or bikes with anything other than brake cleaner, in the UK with salted roads surface rust is a given but would not affect the performance of the brakes.

 

[Jimbbobw1977]

Scoring on discs is fairly common these days and something that has been raised across owners of different makes of cars.

Briskoda has a thread on this issue with the MK3 Superb and this is what my rear discs loook like....

Comes down to the materials used in the pads being quite aggressive.

Smoke is going to be all the stuff you painted on burning off.

Bluiung indicates heat. Years ago when watching rallying you would see the discs glow red, but no smoke.

 

[GSB]

Here you go @AudiNutta

Here's mine with the wheel off. By the sound of it theyre the same age, the same miles, and similar sort of driving to mine.

 

[AudiNutta]

View attachment 125034 Here you go @AudiNutta

Here's mine with the wheel off. By the sound of it theyre the same age, the same miles, and similar sort of driving to mine.

Mine looks dreadful compared to that

But a lot of it is the coating that has gone dark. How the hell have you stopped yours from rusting?! Is it in the garage unless the sun is blazing? Haha!

Audi didn't reply to my email today, will give it another day. But they are fed up of my car, it's been back and forth the last couple of months with the rack and wheel bearing.. they can't wait to see the back of me and now I've complained about something else :/ Always seems to be something wrong, it's embarrassing.
I've done 40 miles today and the face of my disc is now the same as yours, maybe with slightly larger scoring marks but it looks pretty normal.

I am thinking I should just forget about it and ignore, it's fine with normal driving by the seems :

This does make me want to get the car a little closer to Mid-Wales to open it up on some proper A Roads. Maybe they weren't getting enough cooling.

 

[GSB]

Mine looks dreadful compared to that

But a lot of it is the coating that has gone dark. How the hell have you stopped yours from rusting?! Is it in the garage unless the sun is blazing? Haha!

Audi didn't reply to my email today, will give it another day. But they are fed up of my car, it's been back and forth the last couple of months with the rack and wheel bearing.. they can't wait to see the back of me and now I've complained about something else :/ Always seems to be something wrong, it's embarrassing.
I've done 40 miles today and the face of my disc is now the same as yours, maybe with slightly larger scoring marks but it looks pretty normal.

I am thinking I should just forget about it and ignore, it's fine with normal driving by the seems :

This does make me want to get the car a little closer to Mid-Wales to open it up on some proper A Roads. Maybe they weren't getting enough cooling.

I've done absolutely nothing to prevent rusting. It's grey iron so it's going to rust in the end, and I shan't worry about it when it does.

If the car has issues, then the embarrassment should be Audi's. Don't just live with it. If it's not right, then get it sorted. But for gods sake stop worrying about someone else driving the car. It's their job, and the car won't be any worse off for it.

 

[AudiNutta]

I've done absolutely nothing to prevent rusting. It's grey iron so it's going to rust in the end, and I shan't worry about it when it does.

If the car has issues, then the embarrassment should be Audi's. Don't just live with it. If it's not right, then get it sorted. But for gods sake stop worrying about someone else driving the car. It's their job, and the car won't be any worse off for it.

You are lucky with them then, mine started to rust after 1000 miles.

I will have to see what they say, but they aren't happy with me anyway.
I'm fine with someone else driving it when they have to, on a test drive. But giving the keys and telling them, if you drive it hard then the TC comes on a few times a day... sounds like a free pass for the technician to go and drive the living daylights out of my car. When I'm not there, I'm not comfortable with someone thrashing my car and I'm sure most wouldn't.

 

[GSB]

You are lucky with them then, mine started to rust after 1000 miles.

I will have to see what they say, but they aren't happy with me anyway.
I'm fine with someone else driving it when they have to, on a test drive. But giving the keys and telling them, if you drive it hard then the TC comes on a few times a day... sounds like a free pass for the technician to go and drive the living daylights out of my car. When I'm not there, I'm not comfortable with someone thrashing my car and I'm sure most wouldn't.

Seriously, don't worry about it. By the sounds of things they're unlikely to push it any harder than you do anyway...

Now for something you don't see everyday. This is my car after a 20 mile trip round the north circ to Wembley this afternoon. Not much scope for high speed stops in a heavily trafficked 50mph zone, but the driving standards prevelant on this road ensure the brakes get plenty of use...

Front brake

Rear brake.

Zorst...

(note the temperature differential, even though the exhaust was in dynamic mode)

Emmisivity level set to .65 due to cast iron having infra red emmisions rather less than than other material or painted surfaces. Temperatures are taken at the scabby, rough painted or rusty areas of the disk, as shiny cast iron is significantly less emmisive than rough or dirty cast iron, which is why the braking surfaces look much cooler than the disk edges.

 

[AudiNutta]

Seriously, don't worry about it. By the sounds of things they're unlikely to push it any harder than you do anyway...

Now for something you don't see everyday. This is my car after a 20 mile trip round the north circ to Wembley this afternoon. Not much scope for high speed stops in a heavily trafficked 50mph zone, but the driving standards prevelant on this road ensure the brakes get plenty of use...

View attachment 125265 View attachment 125266
Front brake
View attachment 125263 View attachment 125264
Rear brake.
View attachment 125267 View attachment 125268
Zorst...

View attachment 125269

(note the temperature differential, even though the exhaust was in dynamic mode)

Emmisivity level set to .65 due to cast iron having infra red emmisions rather less than than other material or painted surfaces. Temperatures are taken at the scabby, rough painted or rusty areas of the disk, as shiny cast iron is significantly less emmisive than rough or dirty cast iron, which is why the braking surfaces look much cooler than the disk edges.

Not that I push it hard by the typical S3 owners standards anyway

That's interesting, the heat in the brakes after a moderately light drive. Audi ignored my email, so I'm not kicking up a fuss as they will likely say it's the coating anyway. Fed up of being the customer that always has a problem.

 

[rams_s3]

I've just scanned through this post so I apologise if I missed something...my 2 pence worth would be, due to the fact the brakes get hot or warmer than normal in normal driving could be something not actually related to you pressing the brake pedal. I was told by a roadside technician that many of the cars electronics (stability/handling wise) are controlled by little dabs of brake here and there. If these sensors that control the amount of times the cars ecu is telling the brakes to be applied are faulty maybe this could be the problem.

Just A thought.

 

[Daveotto]

Now for something you don't see everyday. This is my car after a 20 mile trip round the north circ to Wembley this afternoon. Not much scope for high speed stops in a heavily trafficked 50mph zone, but the driving standards prevelant on this road ensure the brakes get plenty of use...
QUOTE]

nice and expensive bit of kit

 

[GSB]

They certainly used to be expensive. The first one I bought in the early '90's was about £30k, the size of a suitcase and needed 20 minutes of cool down time when turned it before it would start working.

The one I have is a few years old now but only cost a tenth of that price and starts up up within a minute or so, and now you can buy an entry level FLIR camera for about £200.

 

[Daveotto]

£170 from aliexpress

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hot...lgo_pvid=cda08132-65cf-4a03-9bd2-0817e3c4c54d

 

[TYb]

They certainly used to be expensive. The first one I bought in the early '90's was about £30k, the size of a suitcase and needed 20 minutes of cool down time when turned it before it would start working.

The one I have is a few years old now but only cost a tenth of that price and starts up up within a minute or so, and now you can buy an entry level FLIR camera for about £200.

I'd love to know what you use the kit for, if that's not being too nosey?

 

[GSB]

I'd love to know what you use the kit for, if that's not being too nosey?

All sorts of stuff. It has no specific purpose, since there's not a lot you can't use it for. Any mechanical or electrical equipment will exhibit symptoms or clues to their health and operation that are stunningly clear on infra-red but are invisible to the naked eye.

For instance, at home I plotted the positions of all the central heating pipes under the floors and behind the walls so I didn't drill or nail through them. I balanced all the radiators so they worked properly, and replaced the ones that were blocked with sludge. Sludge in radiators is highly visible in infra red.

At work I can survey a high voltage transmission system in few minutes, and detect failed insulation or hot spots. High resistance junctions in electrical boxes, motor or pump bearings that are worn or overheating can be seen in seconds. Valves that are not sealing correctly are highly visible. And hidden defects like missing insulation material behind a panel become glaringly obvious. You can even 'see' the level of liquids inside tanks, or blockages inside pipes.

Here's a good example. This is the external wall of a hot gas flue. This 'should' be at most slightly warm to the touch as it's next to a walkway.

The same view in infra-red reveals that the insulation tile underneath has come adrift and it's a touch on the warm side.

As I said, they're more useful and widely applicable tools than their slightly specialist nature would suggest.

 

[TYb]

All sorts of stuff. It has no specific purpose, since there's not a lot you can't use it for. Any mechanical or electrical equipment will exhibit symptoms or clues to their health and operation that are stunningly clear on infra-red but are invisible to the naked eye.

For instance, at home I plotted the positions of all the central heating pipes under the floors and behind the walls so I didn't drill or nail through them. I balanced all the radiators so they worked properly, and replaced the ones that were blocked with sludge. Sludge in radiators is highly visible in infra red.

At work I can survey a high voltage transmission system in few minutes, and detect failed insulation or hot spots. High resistance junctions in electrical boxes, motor or pump bearings that are worn or overheating can be seen in seconds. Valves that are not sealing correctly are highly visible. And hidden defects like missing insulation material behind a panel become glaringly obvious. You can even 'see' the level of liquids inside tanks, or blockages inside pipes.

Here's a good example. This is the external wall of a hot gas flue. This 'should' be at most slightly warm to the touch as it's next to a walkway.
View attachment 125315

The same view in infra-red reveals that the insulation tile underneath has come adrift and it's a touch on the warm side.
View attachment 125316

As I said, they're more useful and widely applicable tools than their slightly specialist nature would suggest.

When you put it like, it's always good to see something different and how It's utilised.

 

[richinsoton]

I'm fine with someone else driving it when they have to, on a test drive. But giving the keys and telling them, if you drive it hard then the TC comes on a few times a day... sounds like a free pass for the technician to go and drive the living daylights out of my car. When I'm not there, I'm not comfortable with someone thrashing my car and I'm sure most wouldn't.

You do realise technicians are paid on bonus & therefore have better things to do with their time to reach their monthly targets than rag around in what is a fairly common car that they will experience on a daily basis anyhow?. It's the same as any job, the first time it may be a interesting experience to compare what it's like but after that it's just another job to crack out a.s.a.p. & move onto the next.

 

[richinsoton]

All sorts of stuff...

Fascinating post as usual thanks for posting!.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

I just read this thread and it appears you applied POR15 to the discs/rotors as well as the bells...is this the case? If so, you have probably glazed the discs/rotors and pads. The rotor/discs may have to be turned and the pads sanded.
Just my thoughts.

 

[AudiNutta]

I just read this thread and it appears you applied POR15 to the discs/rotors as well as the bells...is this the case? If so, you have probably glazed the discs/rotors and pads. The rotor/discs may have to be turned and the pads sanded.
Just my thoughts.

The bells and cooling vents were coated. Keep in mind I applied this 6000 miles ago....

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Hmm..... nonetheless, the pics show glazed discs/rotors and will probably require to be turned/machined and the pads looked at

 

[AudiNutta]

Hmm..... nonetheless, the pics show glazed discs/rotors and will probably require to be turned/machined and the pads looked at

Now I've been driving it normally, they have gone back to how they should be. But if I use the brakes heavily, they will go back the same.