Two nights ago, my Max started making the weirdest, annoying noise. It sounds like a metal pipe scraping against the floor. There is nothing hanging and from what I can tell it is coming from the front of the car. Nothing I can do can make the noise, like stepping on the brakes, turning all the way right, left, etc.. It just starts by itself and goes away.. Occassionally when I step on the brake it will stop.. But not always. Please let me know if anyone has any ideas.. BTW, I have not done anything to my car for at least a month so I don't think its something I did.
Thanks...
MaxMoJo

 

Ideas ...
- a bad wheel bearing
- a pebble trapped in the caliper area, scraping against the rotor
- a splash shield which has been bent and is scraping against the rotor
- a brake pad shim which has slipped out of position and is scraping against the rotor

Next time you hear that unwanted sound switch off the ignition (if safe to do so). If the sound disappears instantly it is related to the engine. If not, it is in some other part of the car.

 

Sounds to me like the front brake wear indicators. Does the sound come as you accelerate, but go away when you brake? If so, it's likely the indicators.

If the sound occurs as you rev the engine, it may be a slipping accessory belt. But since you say it may be brake related, the indicators would be what I would check first.

 

Good point.

This shrill sound could be coming from the brake pad wear indicators. Here is a quote from the Owner's Manual.

Brake pad wear indicators
The disc brake pads on your vehicle have audible wear indicators. When a brake pad requires replacement, it will make a high pitched scraping or screeching sound when the vehicle is in motion whether or not the brake pedal is depressed. Have the brakes checked as soon as possible if the wear indicator sound is heard.


Front pads typically wear out sooner than rear pads, so check the fronts first. If the rotors are not conspicuously worn and you have not felt any pulsation in the brake pedal, you may need nothing more than new pads. Replacing worn brake pads is something which may be done by the home mechanic. You will find good coverage of this subject in the Haynes manual, pages 9-5 through 9-9. Doing the front pads is easier than the rears because the rear calipers have the complication of the hand brake mechanism.

Brake pads can wear out in 25K miles or 100K miles. It depends on your car (brakes wear faster with automatic transmission), your driving style, your driving environment. In a stop-and-go urban area brakes wear quickly. In 100% highway driving the brake pads never wear out because they are lightly used.

 

i was having this same problem....i took it to nissan and the did a brake job for the REAR....the noise has still not gone away.....now its not a metal scraping sound its sorta sceeching annoying sound. i was thinking of taking it to midas cuz i have a free brake inspection coupon....

 

Just wanted to thank everyone for their help and ideas.. I unfortunately have not had a chance to get the problem fixed yet.. It does sound like its coming from the front brakes. However, the noise went away. I need new brakes anyhow so I will check everything instead of assuming everything fine.. The problem was only there for 3 days and then it went away..

Thanks again...
MaxMoJo

 

man are you sure??? i hope i was that lucky.....

 

I did try doing that thing someone had posted a while back to clean your brakes by stepping on the brakes and gas at the same time. Maybe that did it? Don't know.. I haven't heard the noise for 2 days now.