Hi,

I changed my rear rotors, calipars, and brake pads recently. Since then I am hearing a pretty bad grinding noise when applying the brakes softly. On highway speeds it doesnt seem to be happening but when I am on a local road and I apply the brakes softly it tends to happen. I am really confused as to what it can be. I showed it to a few mechanics and they all have different theroies. One said the pads have play in the caliper and its happening because of that. Another person told me the inside calipers dont have shims and its happening because of that. I still have to confirm if the shims are really missing but I was wondering if anyone else had any similar trouble or has any ideas on troubleshoot this issue.

Thanks,
Ken

 

Have you taken it back apart and taken a look at it? Spun the wheels and hit the brake to locate exactly what's making the noise?

Does it make the noise when you use the parking brake, or just the service brakes?

 

did u clean the rotors really well with brake cleaner? Alot of times that stuff they cut the rotors with contaminates the pads and can make them grind.

 

are the the inner edges of the pads rubbing the rust at the hub/hat of the rotor? that's if you didn't have the rotors turned. look for slight shine of rusted area at the edge of the pads. if so turn rotor-(resurface)

 

Guys,

Thanks for all the replies, but I mentioned in my initial post that I installed new rotors, calipers and pads all together so I shouldnt have to resurface the rotors. I am suspecting bad or damaged shims I am gonna try to replace those first and see what happens. I think the bad shims might be causing it.

 

So I resolved the issue I was having with the grinding noise and vibration coming from the car when applying brakes after getting the caliper, pads and rotors replaced. Turns out the dumb a$$ mechanic didn't put any shims or pad retainer clips when he changed the calipers, rotors and pads. This caused the pads to shift up and down during driving and causing noise and vibration when they shifted back into place when applying brakes.

To resolve the issue I bought a kit from Nissan for the shims and pad retainer clips and installed them myself. Noise is gone and brakes are working good now.

Surprisingly a lot of write-ups on brake replacement don't mention how important the shims are and even more important no one seems to mention the pad retainer clips that go in the torque member and the caliper I had to figure out what those were and figure out how to place it inside the caliper.

I also learned that grease does not need to be applied to the top and bottom of the shim or to the back of the pads but instead to the edge of the brake pads where there are 3 nodes protruding out. These 3 nodes are the only parts of the pads that touch the guides on which pads sit and move in and out when applying and releasing brakes. Applying grease to the back of the pads and under the shims might help keep the shims in place while they are being installed but other then that they serve no purpose.

Thanks,
Ken

 

Hye Ken...funny enough,when i took my shims off my old pads, they simply wouldnt fit properly on the new pads.The old pads had the hole for the shim to fit in, other pads didnt have them, so i didnt install the shims.

 

Snypa - Yes if you get aftermarket brake pads, most of them come with the shims glued on to the back already. This is probably the reason why you couldnt fit the stock shims on them. I used Nissan Pads something I forgot to mention. Good point though...

 

The pads werent new.....they came off another maxima, but was thick as hell.There was no shims,unless it was somewhat built in and camoflauge ????, the thing though is im having similar sounds like you and i had it in mind that my rotors needed to be cut, perhaps they are uneven.

 

Well if you pads are thick thats usally a sign of aftermarket pads, They might not look like they have shims on them because they are painted over but yes they are built into the pads. You can also do a quick test to see if its an issue similar to mine or something else. After taking your wheel off turn the wheel with your hands, see if the pads move up and down or shift at all...if they do then yes you have an issue similar to mine otherwise its something else.

 

So nissan pads brand new doesnt come thick.?I thought all new brake pads come thick with lots of "meat" on it. However, i will test out your method and see.

 

Nissan pads are not as thick as some OEM aftermarket parts. Dont know the reason for it, maybe Nissan is trying to make more money, maybe aftermarket parts are not as good or ware faster so they conpensate by making them thicker, who knows but yeah test to see if thats your issue...also goto autozone.com and look at the diagram of the rear brake system from their online repair manuals. They are free and a great reference. You will be able to see all the components (pad guides, shims etc) that are suppose to go in with the pads.

- Ken

 

ive had the clunking noise coming from the back once n it was that in the hurry oh changing the pads the clips fell off thank god upick had thos clips. its a very touchy area any lil thing can makes noise even if u pich up a lil bit of dirt in between the pads n rotors. btw i got both front calipers up for grabs brand new with bracket n retainer clips still in bag$120 obo