Brakes noises

Mitrovic said:

When I leave the car over the night in the garage, when trying to start, the car feels like stuck and only after a little bit more push on the pedal moves with a sudden motion. But then there is terrible high pitched noise from the brakes, and the feel like they have not released. After some 50 meters everything is normal

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Welcome!

I get something very similar, though I don't think quite as bad. If I leave my car overnight after a wet drive, the car does feel slightly "stuck" at first, but not much power is needed to get it moving. Then it makes squealing noises for 30 meters or so--very noticable, but not so bad anybody's going to look at the car with alarm. I do not notice the brakes gripping at this point.

I believe somebody on these forums suggested that this is more likely with Tesla than most cars because the brake rotors get used a lot less, so water is less likely to get wiped off by brake pads, or evaporated by heat.

Hi Zoran,

That is normal for me as well. I am not sure exactly - but seems like when I park after washing it or when it gets wet - the brakes rust up a little and this causes them to stick and make that high pitched noise. I am not sure - but that is my guess anyways. The sound usually goes away shortly after as the rust is worn away.

Kevin

Are you using the handbrake or just leaving it in park?

Mitrovic said:

Wow, thank you for the very fast responses! This is a fast community!

First I used the handbrake but then I left it without the handbrake. No difference.

Any suggestion how to make things better?

Zoran

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Don't get it wet?

I have the same problem, but I didn't make the wetness association, until now. I have to back out of my driveway every morning and most mornings my brakes squeak. But now that I've seen this thread, I realize my brakes don't squeak everyday. I initially attributed the squeak to the fact that the Roadster is Tesla's first try at a car, but now I'm changing my opinion to that fact that I rarely use the brakes, so they never dry off after being splashed.

+1

It's rust on the disks/rotors. If you want to induce it, wash the car, put it away and next morning it'll be stuck. If you look before you set off you'll see the familiar reddish hue to the disks.

I understand that the problem is exacerbated by the racing calipers, big pads and high iron content in the disks.

And welcome to the Club Mitrovic!

Wow, I think you've just stumbled upon the solution to artificial pedestrian warning noises in EVs, just fit noisier brakes.

Last weekend I drove out of the garage and instead of the usual sharp 'snap' I heard a 'crunch' and after a feet feet the car stopped dead. At first I thought this was a sticky handbrake but on investigation I found that both rear brake pads had separated from the metal backing material and were stuck solid to the discs.

Tesla were fantastic and within an hour I had an engineer on site to confirm the fault and request a recovery vehicle to move the car the few feet back to the garage (both rear wheels were locked solid). This was followed by a senior tech visit first thing Monday morning, and then replacement of the discs and pads on Tuesday morning.

Tesla said that they had never seen this before (they occasionally get disc problems apparently) and I know the guys well enough to trust what I'm being told. They took the parts away for review by the manufacturer.

I'm not sure what to make of this whole thing… I make a conscious effort to use the brakes when I'm a mile or so from home (to help 'dry' them) and I don't use the handbrake when parked in the garage.

This problem is either caused by pad/rotor content or vibration between the caliper and pad. To fix the first all you can do is try a different pad. I've used these on all my sports cars: http://hawkperformance.com/performance/hps.php Not sure if there's a fitment for our cars as I've only had mine 10 weeks. But an easy solution for the second is to apply some high temp brake grease to the back of the pads.

I always thought this had something to do with the brakes not getting warmed up yet but not sure. I have the same thing.

I've had this experience with most of my cars -- rotors are wet, rust, and the brakes are a little locked the next morning.
On the other hand, I've had some crazy loud low-pitched squeaks coming from the brakes below 10 MPH after I've been driving it around. It usually only lasts 5-15 seconds. Not sure what that's all about -- it's a noise I've never heard from any brakes before, especially at such a low pitch.

I'm not Roadster owner but maybe when it's wet outside you should use your brakes more just before you intend to finish driving.

I find that even when doing that, it still happens. I've also found that backing up at a reasonable pace and then applying the brakes just enough to get one or two go-rounds on the discs does the trick for the most part, even after sitting for a weekend.