Bad sound coming from my front end

[androbud]

A few weeks ago from out of nowhere I started getting this sound of metal on metal coming from my front passenger wheel area. The noise would only STOP when I applied the brakes. It was also a rotational noise, starting and stopping very quickly. I pulled the tire and found that the rotors and pads had an uneven wear. The wear formed a serious groove shape over the width of the pad and rotor.

I replaced both front rotors and put in new EBC greens today and went for a break in drive. After about 5 minutes the same problem started again. The noise only goes away when the brakes are applied.

I've never seen a stuck brake caliper piston before but it sounds possible to me. I'm not positive it's not a bearing, but the fact that it stops when I apply the brakes makes me think a bearing is not the culprit. The uneven wear pattern from before did seem like it was happening because of too much force coming from the area directly under the piston.

Any suggestions? How would you test a caliper piston?

 

[kcobean]

How much pedal pressure does it take to make the noise stop? It's possible that the weight transfer to the front wheels under braking is causing an otherwise squeaking bearing to go silent.

Assuming your previous pads were significantly worn, you'd have had to push the pistons back into the calipers to make room for the new pads. The fact that you were able to do this greatly reduces the possibility of it being a stuck piston.

A few questions:

1. Does the sound go away or change when the brakes get hot?

2. If you pull the emergency brake (causing weight transfer without applying the brakes), does the noise stop (test this one carefully!!!)

3. Does the sound get louder going up or down hills?

 

[pedro]

I had the same problem with one of my cars it was the brake lines.Replaces them with ss brake lines.

 

[androbud]

The noise is not there at all until the brakes warm up a bit, and yes I did have to compress the pistons to put new pads in and it was no trouble at all.

Come to think of it, I have to drive up a very steep hill before my apartment and the noise disappeared until I got to flat ground again. Then it became very noticeable again when I was moving slow on a downward facing slope.

How does the brake line make this happen?

 

[kcobean]

I had the same problem with one of my cars it was the brake lines.Replaces them with ss brake lines.

Could you clarify exactly what about your brake lines caused your car to make a squealing noise?

 

[pedro]

inside of the brake lines rubber started to broke down acting as a check valve.If you press the brake pedal check to see if the wheel spins free lee.if the wheel spin freely then your brake lines are OK.

 

[androbud]

One important bit of information I forgot to add was that the car doesn't pull to the passenger side while driving. I know that happened on my old truck when the brakes got bad on one side.

I assume to check the bearings I would jack the front end of my car up and try to turn the wheels with my hands? Maybe even take the calipers off to see if it makes any difference?

 

[kcobean]

Yep, your description of the behavior on the hills suggests that it's not a brake problem. I'd bet it's a bearing. You wouldn't have to remove the caliper, just the pads, to see if the bearing is binding. Really though I don't think your brakes are binding, so you shouldn't have to even remove the pads.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[androbud]

Thanks for the help. It turns out it was the bearing. When I took it apart it was filled with rusty brown grease and some of the bearings seemed to have small cracks on them. I installed a whole new hub assembly for $150. Runs great now! I'm suprised at how easy these cars are to work on. It's much easier to work on my Viper than my 98 tracer with spaces only a 5 yr old could fit into.