Hot Car Wash

[Guest colrc]

Is it advisable to wash your car while the brakes and body are still hot after a long drive? I've been told that it may warp the brake discs and damage the paintwork; as had happened to a friend of mine.

[g8crasher]

Is it advisable to wash your car while the brakes and body are still hot after a long drive? I've been told that it may warp the brake discs and damage the paintwork; as had happened to a friend of mine.

definitely not advisable. better to let your car chill for at least an hour or two before attempting to wash it.

[Guest kopimonster]

On the contrary, I have been driving into car washes at petrol kiosk after reasonably long drives and it seems fine leh. but since you mentioned that it happened to your fren, then i think it does has some truth in it. but i think it ought to be fine for normal drive, unless you did some hard tracking?

[Guest mbc230avg]

What if it rains while driving? Paradox here?

[Guest m1122]

no difference lah - heavy rain brakes, etc all get wet also.

[g8crasher]

The original post was with regards to washing your car immediately after a long drive.

Brake rotors are susceptible to cracking due to a few reasons. If one hasn't changed the rotors in awhile, it may actually wear thin enough to cause warping or cracking. Cheaper rotors also suffer from such problems. This is especially true when the casting process may be questionable quality wise.

Assuming the long drive involves heavy braking due to high speeds, I'd definitely stay away from splashing water on the rims and let it cool down first.

Rain is usually progressive so it's not so bad.

[Guest joshdway]

car washes at petrol kiosk is always more for convenience than anything else.

ideally, its better to let the engine (hence bonnet) and brake disc cool down before washing

depends on how particular you are.

if brake disc are still hot, 30mins will do, just avoid splashing water directly at it

fact is, when rain water hits the brake disc when its hot, there will b some warping over time, but since non of us can ever avoid that 100%, just take it as wear n tear. which is after sometime, skimming the discs are a good thing to do

as for car washes at petrol kiosk, all i can recommend is when you are queuing up for your turn, put the car to P instead of holding it with the brakes, giving it a opportunity to cool abit more

[Guest ehwwong]

give you an excuse to change BBK... :tazzie: