2018 tesla x: In 6 months, a new rear right brake pad wore out and eats router fast

ben_zhang

tesla replaced rear brake pads on Jun 8, 2020. noticed some scratch sounds from right rear 2 weeks ago, didn't pay much attention. . My wife drives the car most time. Yesterday, I drove it and the sound so loud, so checked myself and found that the brake pad is gone - metal on metal. 2mm router surface is gone.

the care is out of warrenty, what could be wrong? Tesla did the pad replacement last time. They are not cheap. I can do the pad, router myself, something else, I can't.

TeslaTap.com

You must put a lot of miles on the car if your 2018 is out of warranty already. Routers usually last many years and they usually are replaced when new WiFi standards appear or you want better security. Brake rotors, on the other hand, can wear depending on use.

Was the brake warning light ignored? It should appear when the pads are low.

Possible reasons I can think of for excessive wear are using brakes hard rather than regen; Setting regen to low instead of Standard, and maybe driving on loose sand where sand is embedded into the pads.

Tesla2018

Do you live near the ocean? My mom's car had 12000 miles on it and was about 2 years old..and needed new rotors since the salt air and mist from the ocean rusted out the rotors. She never washed her csr and occasionally drove on the beach too near Daytona so the grit just built up.
I noticed that the brakes sucked and brought the car in for servicing but never thought to see if the rust caused the pads to wear out or if they were ok. Thought they were trying to scam me with the rotors until I took a look at them.

ben_zhang

I bought used on 2019 December:) like tesla x, but can't afford new.
I didn't notice any warning light from the screen or dash board screen.
Since the pad replace last June 8, covid lock down is in effect in bc. so we most time work from home. We don't drive much at all. for sure will be no more than 3000km driven since tesla replaced the pads.
The power regeneration is set on standard

I live in richmond, bc. mostly no snow, so I think not salty.

Today went in tesla and bought the pad and router. when the wheel was took off, found the outer pad wearing layer is completely gone, even half of the metal backing is gone.
the inner pad is close to be replaced, router surface is smooth.

first time diy on the parking integrated brake system, painful to spin and push to make piston back without proper tool. After fiddling around a hour, still have 8mm stick out. and I don't have the six point bit to loose the nut holding the router. so I ended up doing the below today:
1. router not touched
2. inner pad - old
3. outer pad - new

not optimistic it will solve the problem. In 6 month it ate the whole composite padding and half metal backing. and left pads and router is perfectly ok.

Anybody know the manual about the integrated brake? maybe it's faulty, ok push out, but have trouble retract the piston?

Maintain this baby turn out be quite expensive, much more expensive than ICE cars I owned before.
1. drive side wheel shaft wear out replacement
2. this braking issue.
3. drive door have trouble opening reliable
4. windshield fluid not spring out at when turned the nob, wiper swing dry.

3.4 are no essential, will leave it to another day.

I should have bought tesla stock instead of the car !!

ben_zhang

The inner pad has the vibrating ear when pad is wore low. But the outer pad doesn't. if both have the ear, the router might have been spared.

ratchet

Sounds like the outer piston might be stuck. It's unusual on dual piston brakes but if the rubber seal on the piston is faulty, it might prevent the piston from retracting when the brake pedal (or automatic braking) is pressed which would cause the outer brake pad to continue rubbing against the rotor and causing it to wear prematurely. It could also possibly be the rails that the caliper assembly rides on. Some brakes have aluminum plates over the rails to allow the caliper assembly to slide a bit so it adjusts to wear on both pads. If the rails are rusty or the plates are missing, the caliper could shift a little in one direction but not center itself causing wear on one side.

ben_zhang

@ratchet you are right that the rail might be the culprit. after saw the integrated rear brake unit design, it only have a piston pushing the inner pad. It seems to me the inner pad i much hard to move than the outer pad, may most pressure is on the outer pad. too much for me, so sent the car to tesla and will see what they will find

ben_zhang

Dealer replaced the brake caliper, hope the brake will last more than 6 months.