GM Volt Forum banner

Have you replaced your Volt's brake pads due to wear?

  • I have never replaced my Volt's brake pads due to wear.

    Votes: 94 96.9%
  • I have had to replace my Volt's brake pads due to wear.

    Votes: 3 3.1%
41 - 56 of 56 Posts
Volts don't wear out brake pads, creating black dust on the wheels because if you drive in L they just don't get used much. After my 20 mile commute to work you can touch the rotors with your fingers. Just try that with any ICE vehicle.
 
Volts don't wear out brake pads, creating black dust on the wheels because if you drive in L they just don't get used much. After my 20 mile commute to work you can touch the rotors with your fingers. Just try that with any ICE vehicle.
I drove down Mount Washington last spring, the wheels were cold when I got to the bottom and 5KWh had been regenerated, ICE cars have to stop at the numerous turnouts to cool their brakes or risk burning them out (I saw two cars come down on the backs of tow trucks).
 
(2013) 65k, a fair amount of Virginia and West Virginia mountain driving, and still barely any wear on the brakes.
 
If you are diligent about using mostly regen, for the health of the rotors it's probably a good idea to give the brakes a good hard couple of pumps every now and then to prevent rust and glazing.
 
Driving in L has nothing to do with it.

... because if you drive in L they just don't get used much. After my 20 mile commute to work you can touch the rotors with your fingers. Just try that with any ICE vehicle.
Driving L has nothing to do with it.
I came down Pikes Peak, in my Volt, in D, riding the brake pedal just like all the other dumb tourists. The one if front of me STUNK ...
I stopped at the Park Ranger Safety Stop where they read your front disc temps with an IR temp reader.
Mine were 75° F on a 65° F day, and that may just be from those last stops while waiting in line for the Park Ranger station.

However, recently I found a rusted stuck caliper slider pin on my Spark EV.
I was able to free it, clean it and lube the hell out of it. The pads and discs look brand new at 45k miles.

Why can't they make the boots for these pins that do the job of keeping out the water and salt?
 
Why can't they make the boots for these pins that do the job of keeping out the water and salt?
It amazes me how water can get in such a tight spot anyway.
I've gotten in the habit of pulling the pin every tire rotation or change and lubing it up after I had one stick in (I caught it before any real wear happened)
 
It amazes me how water can get in such a tight spot anyway.
I've gotten in the habit of pulling the pin every tire rotation or change and lubing it up after I had one stick in (I caught it before any real wear happened)
You mean servicing your brakes is actually a thing? Most on here say it’s a dealer scam because it’s not in the manual. Lol.
 
I drove down Mount Washington last spring, the wheels were cold when I got to the bottom and 5KWh had been regenerated, ICE cars have to stop at the numerous turnouts to cool their brakes or risk burning them out (I saw two cars come down on the backs of tow trucks).
I drove down Mount Washington in my 06 Prius and had to stop 3 times. I was running the AC full blast, had the headlights on, every accessory turned on to try to drain the battery but the battery would get full and then the mechanical brakes had to kick in and they overheated quick. I'm glad I got into the hybrid scene early but I've had my volt for two weeks and I like it so much better than the Prius or my hybrid Camry.
 
On other vehicles, probably not necessary as you burn through the pads and they get quite a workout.
On a volt, where the pads are very seldomly used you definitely will need brake service before the pads need to be changed.

When it comes to "service" though, I simply mean taking it apart, cleaning, inspecting, and lubing the sliding pins.
Turning rotors is an absolute no-no, and changing pads definitely not, unless you had a stuck caliper and burned through it.
 
My Volt had 45,000 mi on it, mostly urban driving. The pads looked new, probably good for 80-90k.

In places with slush and snow, the fact that rotors are rarely hot means they are less likely to warp when cold slush gets splashed on them. I have to replace warped rotors about every 20-30k (basically every spring).
 
You mean servicing your brakes is actually a thing? Most on here say it’s a dealer scam because it’s not in the manual. Lol.
It is only a requirement in SALT SLURRY country...:)
Just replaced the brake lines on one of the 10 year old farm trucks after BOTH rear brake lines rotted out
 
I have a 2014 MY Volt. When I pull out of the driveway in the morning, I have a brake squeak on one of the wheels until I get down the street. I pulled all the wheels, and the rotors look great (fronts=26mm, rears=12mm) and the pads look brand new. Is it all the metal clips that cause the squeak?
 
I have a 2014 MY Volt. When I pull out of the driveway in the morning, I have a brake squeak on one of the wheels until I get down the street. I pulled all the wheels, and the rotors look great (fronts=26mm, rears=12mm) and the pads look brand new. Is it all the metal clips that cause the squeak?
This is very common with modern low dust pads. It mainly has to do with the pads generally "moving around" as the vehicle cools down. There is thermal expansion and contraction as all the components heat up then cool back down. It's not as bad in a Volt as many ICE cars, but it still occurs.

This serves to make clearance between the pads and rotors, which on a modern low dust pad will tend to squeal a bit on the first application or two of brakes as everything finds it's "happy neutral place," which will then tend to reduce subsequent squeal.

Permatex ceramic brake lube (purple, very high temp grease) on the pad to caliper contact points, and Permatex Disc Brake Quiet (red, very viscous goo) where the piston/outside of caliper contact the pads will solve many brake pad squealing issues. It's not a 100% solution, but if you've got OEM pads, I'm willing to bet the above two things will eliminate any noise.


If you don't have OEM pads, I'd recommend getting some. I've fought cold squealing on lots of modern pads, and the GM OEM pads are actually remarkably silent and have reasonable bite/dust characteristics for a street car. I imagine their maximum operating temperature is fairly low, but that's not really a concern for a Volt. Even on a hard stop, we will capture ~50-70% of the brake energy back during regen, so our brake heat is very low.
 
I have a 2014 MY Volt. When I pull out of the driveway in the morning, I have a brake squeak on one of the wheels until I get down the street. I pulled all the wheels, and the rotors look great (fronts=26mm, rears=12mm) and the pads look brand new. Is it all the metal clips that cause the squeak?
That's recently just started happening to me as well. 71k miles and the pads still look practically new.
 
SSonentag we find that hard to believe. Every conventional ICE vehicle needs at least pads by 100,000 most need front pads at 50,000. Unless your a little old lady who never drives over 25 to church and home.
My 2012 Cruze ECO MT went 103,500 miles before hail damage totaled it. At 90,000 miles I had the brakes inspected and the answer was they should be good to 250,000 to 300,000 miles. If you don't drive in the tailpipe of the car in front of you you'll find your brakes last a whole lot longer.
 
Well, I check my pads 2x per year when I swap summer/winter tires. The pads look new. My 2013 which is almost 6 years old has only 40k miles on it and I just replaced the rear rotors due to them pitting and rusting and no longer looking like I should rely on them for braking fast.

In contrast, I have had the dealership clean and lube the calipers/pins and sliders twice already in order to keep the brakes freed up and fully operational. I did that at 20k miles and just now at 40k miles.

In fact, all of the maintenance on my Volt has been "3 or 4 oil changes with most of them free, tire rotations initially but now with snows I do that, brake parts clean and lube every 20k miles, rear rotors at 40k miles and a stabilizer bar on the left front at 40k miles and the 5 year coolant flush and a set of tires". Total cost for 6 years to keep it in like new has been about $2k. Add to that the cost to propel it at about $500 a year, my total cost per year is about $850 Canadian. Not too shabby if you ask me. Most ICE cars and SUV's would be in the $2k to $4k per year range to operate.
 
41 - 56 of 56 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top