Burnishing Pads & Rotors

WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2003 GMC Sonoma, 2003 GMC Jimmy, 2003 Chevrolet S10 Pickup, and 2003 Chevrolet Blazer. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

Burnishing the brake pads and brake rotors is necessary in order to ensure that the braking surfaces are properly prepared after service has been performed on the disc brake system.

This procedure should be performed whenever the disc brake rotors have been refinished or replaced, and/or whenever the disc brake pads have been replaced.

Select a smooth road with little or no traffic.
Accelerate the vehicle to 30 MPH.
Using moderate to firm pressure, apply the brakes to bring the vehicle to a stop. Do not allow the brakes to lock.
NOTE: Use care to avoid overheating the brakes while performing this step.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 until approximately 20 stops have been completed. Allow sufficient cooling periods between stops in order to properly burnish the brake pads and rotors.