Tesla's Secret Brake Burnishing Mode Explained - Stop Brake Squeal Using Software!

EVs have a common problem involving brakes - they don't get used much anymore! This can cause a layer of glaze or rust to build up on the rotors, decreasing their ability to convert friction into heat, and wear evenly.
Brake burnishing mode allows you to follow Tesla's guided procedure to burnish the brakes (Bed the brakes), cleaning the rotors, refreshing the pads, and making your brakes feel and stop like new again.

[@Dubitz]

Tesla once again delivering new A+ features for absolutely free

[@mistervee9832]

Dude! Thank you! My 2018 M3 LR RWD has been squealing slightly, mostly in reverse and sometimes at slow speeds while turning, especially in the mornings. I did the brake burnishing process yesterday afternoon and it worked like a charm. This morning, no brake squeal AT ALL! Soo happy. :)

[@fiehlsport]

Glad it helped!

[@epijimenez]

I have the same year/model, and the squealing when in reverse. Will try this process to see if it helps. Thanks for the update here @mistervee9832

[@pegefounder]

Without this video, I would never have known this.

[@mitchellbarnow1709]

Fantastic information! I'm so glad that TH-cam brought me to your channel today!

[@zmarko]

This is a neat little thing I wasn't aware of. Thanks for sharing with us.

[@Mathias.Ramfelt]

Great video! I feel confident enough to try this myself now. Thanks!🙌

[@punkinfenix]

My 2022 Model 3 long range starting squeaking at 40k miles. Followed the steps on this video and squeaking is gone. Just FYI the brake burnishing in the service menu was in a different spot, brakes had its own sub-menu. Thank you for the video!

[@fiehlsport]

Thanks for sharing - Yep, a few updates later and it's changed slightly!

[@LeisureHour]

Very helpful, thank you.

[@Quyon2]

They tried to charge me $780 estimate for squeaking thank you bb this helped

[@bonnieciparro788]

My 2022 doesn’t have that brake brushing mode wondering why

[@Pagan_Rites]

Great info thank you

[@need4speed998]

Thanks for sharing

[@walterwhite1]

Thanks for this

[@amyacosta1961]

Thanks!!!

[@epcalderhead]

Had some rust of my driver front rotor. I could hear the rust scraping the brake pad while driving at slow speeds. Decided to give this a try to clean off the rotor. Afterward I saw a ding on my Tesla Insurance safety score for hard braking. Sure enough, I was penalized for this. I was able to match up the exact time of the incident from the GoPro. Oddly, after I replaced the brake fluid in my Model 3 last summer I took the car to the service center to test my pedal action. At the time FSD Beta was geo fenced to only work at service centers. I did several hard brakes with no impact to the safety score. One thought that just occurred to me. I remember seeing a setting to turn off the app on another screen when I first tried service mode last year. Perhaps you have to have turned off?

[@northeastev]

I just spent 70 bucks at Tesla for them to do this for me.

[@puttitat2851]

No, you spent 70 buck to have them remove the brake pads and lubricate the slide pins and brake pads wherever necessary. This procedure does not accomplish that.

[@northeastev]

@@puttitat2851 No, they strictly said burnishing.

[@puttitat2851]

@@northeastev Damn. Then it's quite steep.

[@jackieenglishplus2178]

@@northeastevsame

[@JosiahLuscher]

Not to zero! Go from ~60-70 down to ~5 multiple times, maybe 10 times. If the brakes suddenly loose grip and feel mushy you went a bit far and may have slightly set them on fire. You should stop at that point. This worked amazing well on my Honda Civic, I have an older Model S and I can't get into service mode. - You definitely shouldn't only go half way!! The purpose isn't to "burn off" anything. Done correctly you get the disc's hot and actually embed brake pad material into the brake disc.

[@thesteaktc]

Thank you for making this video. It’s exactly what I was looking for after I noticed this feature in the service menu a few days ago. One of my front brakes squeaks a bit when driving at low speeds and turning, and has been doing this for many months, more noticeable in hot weather. I am wondering if burnishing the brakes will get rid of that noise.

[@fiehlsport]

Thanks for the comment! It very well may eliminate the squeak. Possibly permanently, but if not, you can always burnish twice.

[@JoeSalvati16]

I’m going to give this a go to see if it helps. I’m curious if others have done this the past few weeks and if the screeching returned?

[@thesteaktc]

@@JoeSalvati16 I did it last night and today there is no squeak. While burnishing I noticed more grinding noise coming from the wheel that was squeaking before and now there is a visible band on the brake disc about 1 inch wide. I can’t help think something was stuck in there or something. I want to remove the brake to inspect the pads and to lubricate the ears of the brake pad and other parts that need lubricating.

[@fiehlsport]

@@thesteaktc The grinding noise is most likely an area of the rotor that was rusty being worn away. Subsequent burnishing should make it go away, unless the rotor is too far gone and it starts a "pulsation" from uneven wear.

[@Alex.AL_26]

That is so cool! I wish all cars had this

[@rabillsul]

You sound like the comedian that did the Cash Cab game on tv

[@QrisuMies]

Is there a difference for using track mode?

[@fiehlsport]

If you've got a Performance, Track Mode is probably even quicker to set up for 0 regen so you can bed your brakes. Though it won't have the guided process like Brake Burnishing Mode does.

[@QrisuMies]

@@fiehlsport great, thanks!

[@DavePert]

How often is too often? Can I do this before every trip or just once a day?

[@fiehlsport]

Please burnish to your heart's content.

[@JohnATamplin]

You shouldn't need to use it but just when you put new pads, but it won't hurt anything other than a small amount of extra wear on the pads and rotors.

[@luke9822]

I wish my 2020 MX had this feature.

[@StarLink85]

2022 Model Y Performance now we know it...

[@kl28]

Funny how tesla created solutions"burnishing" for things that were never problems before. To get surface rust off disc brakes, you just drove the car and braked lol

[@dirkvornholt2507]

I changed the brake pads on my Model S for the first time after 250TKM. Drove carefully for the first 50 kilometers and applied the brakes as usual. No problem. Maybe newer Teslas with one pedal drive need this burnishing to avoid surprises in emergency braking situations, but I got along pretty well without a special burnishing program.

[@jamesk811]

Is the password still service ?

[@fiehlsport]

Yes it is

[@pissmyasslynch5325]

After 3 weeks of constant raining, early today I saw all 4 of my rotors had rust 😂

[@ijimefury]

Can this be a lemon? Every other month i need to do burnishing and im sick of this shit

[@ignaciom32]

Same here

[@Doug_E_Dee]

I think it's because you never use the brakes so the rotors get rusty.