Im getting this grinding sound when im braking and coming to stop. It doesnt happen all the time, maybe 60% of the time. i replaced my front pads and rotors and calipers about 13k miles ago. brakes/rotors look clean no foreign materials noticed. Sound can be heard when car is driving on idle and then i apply the brakes to stop. (like the way you drive in a congested parking lot) I cant really feel anything form the pedals. just audible. If its not my brakes, does anyone know what part of the suspension could cause this?

 

There could be another cause but I would look at the pads again. I had the same thing happen on another car soon after replacing the pads, so I figured it couldn't be pad wear. When I pull the wheels to look, one pad was completely worn and the other three were like new. I had a caliper sticking and that one pad had been doing most of the work.

 

you mention your front pads, but what about the rears? perhaps they are worn.

What you describe sure sounds like worn pads.

 

sup njmodi, long time! finish your oil leaks? havent started on mine yet. Anyway, No its not the pads guy, my pads are fine. it is really weird. all i can think of is that is my wheel bearing?

 

aaagh - don't remind me of my valve cover stuff man! ha ha, I'm too scared to check the spark plug holes to see if there is any oil in there... as long as I can keep blowing past other cars on the road, I'm just going to assume it's all good

Hmm... I suppose it could be a bad wheel bearing.. but if it's grinding, it should get really bad, really quick...

Perhaps it's the brake dust shield rubbing against the rotor...

 

break dust shield!! i didnt think of that... hmmmmm im gonna have to check! wait, why would it be when im braking? if that was the case would it do it all the time? comone guys am i the only on with this problem?

 

could be the rear brakes? and possibly even on the surface of the rotor that you can't see

 

Things move when you press the brakes - so it's possible that it only rubs while the brakes are depressed.

 

Check your wheel spindles. Do you hit alot of potholes or deep grooves when driving? If so, the spindle guard could have a dent and you may just need to bend it out as it's probably rubbing against the air grooves of the rotor. If there is one dent or bend in it, that would explain why it doesn't happen often.

If not that, then has to be with calipers and/or pads.

 

Is the spindle guard different from what I am describing as the brake dust shield?

 

agreed njmodi, in general you are correct. but in this case, i think that the dust shield is part of the wheel hub/brake assembly. therefore if it were to move, it would move in conjunction with the brakes, not allowing it to rub. im not sure if i explained that correctly but i hope you know what i mean.

 

Yeh, im not sure what the wheel spindle guard is?

 

Trust me on this. There have been plenty of cases where dust shield only rubs when you have the wheels turned... even in that case, it should be moving in exactly the same way as the hub - but yet it doesn't... just go push back on the dust shield using a long screwdriver (work through the wheel spokes) and see if that changes anything.

 

ugh, turning is different. i agree with that too, but when braking in a straight line? i just cant see the physics/statics behind that.

 

This sounds like my problem, but my car will shake if I apply the brakes at high speed and kinda feels like im pumping the brakes at low speed. since this is kinda related I was hoping I could get some advice. Thank you

 

Your problem is warped rotors (most likely front, but could be rear as well, or both).

 

Thats what I was afraid of... Thank you njmod. Guess its time for a brake upgrade

 

I'm not sure if this was said before cuz I dont feel like reading all the posts.......... but I'm 99% sure its your bearing.

My friend had this identical problem on his car...... grinding/crunching noise in the front while braking coming to a stop...

 

i certainly hope you're right man...

 

If it is your suspension it's your bumb stops or the front strut insulator. If you apply the brakes and the car leans forward (hard braking for example) you get the noise then it's your suspension.

 

i would say bearings or a really bad and warped rotor

 

I recently ran my car through the local exxon carwash, and i think the grinding is gone..... hmmm, i need to double check, but i really think its gone. must have been crud or something

 

What can't Exxon do?!!!

 

http://www.jatan.net/tsbs/041854.pdf

this might help. i found this in the stickies.

 

I have the same problem, but only when i brake hard and only on the driver's side. Are you talking about the wheel bearing? Isn't wheel bearing only grinds when the wheel turns? so the noise would be all the way when the wheel's spinning? correct me if i'm wrong.

 

i had that cause one of my my rear calipers was bad, other than that maybe you need to bleed your brakes

 

i've been having this problem for some time now. hopefully this will fix it. thanks for the find