Questions and Answers
Sentra Brakes And Belts
Q. Vince, I own a Nissan Sentra with a little over 16,000 miles on it. I took the car in for it's yearly inspection. Everything checked out ok except the front brakes. They told me that the pads has separated and were grooved. They also said I would have to have the rotors turned. I forgot to mention the car was purchased new in August 1998.
When I first got the car the brakes were making a grinding noise and I had the rotors turned then. My question is does the second turning sound like it should be necessary with so little mileage on the car? They also told me the power steering belts would need replacing since they were starting to crack. Any info you could tell me on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you...
A. I wouldn't worry too much about the belts. They all develop cracks and unless there are big chunks missing from them or making a lot of noise, they should be okay.
As for the brakes, from the milage you don't use the car a lot and this tends to make the brake pads dry rot to some extent and cause them to make a grinding noise. Usually a good sanding of the brake pads and rotors is enough to eliminate the noise. This dry rot will also cause the pads to separate from the metal backing plate, which will necessitate their replacement. I usually will not turn the rotors unless they have grooves or have excessive run out.
Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA
