New noise from the max...not again

So after a shakey 2007 with my car, 08 seemed to be going great(it better after I spent $2K+ repairing it in 07) but today I got a new sound from her.

Quite randomly my front right brake started squeeling about an hour ago, and this is while accelerating, no foot on the brake. I don't know if the caliper seized up, but it's quite loud however when I brake it goes away somewhat. A couple days ago on the right front, I hit a pothole the size of the grand canyon on Yonge St. I mean it was HUGE, so big I pulled off into the first parking lot and had a look for damage. Didn't notice anything and the car drove perfectly normal. Could this noise now be because of the pothole a couple days ago? If not the brake, what else could it be? I got the wheel off right now and I'm trying to find a problem but with my limited knowledge I can't see anything wrong. What's the worst case scenario?


I just ordered the NWP Phenolic spacers for my car and was pumped about having them installed but now I'm worried that the install is gonna have to wait due to another $200-$500 problem.

could be you toasted a wheel bearing. But it sound's more like your brakes. How do the pads look? is there anything left on them?

The pads looked ok but I couldn't take them out of the caliper to have a proper look(lent my tools out). Last year the wheel bearing + hub was replaced on the other side, but the noise was totally different. That time it was a constant humming/singing above 80km/h. This time it's a squeel.

I put the wheel back on and went for another drive and the noise was gone. I zipped across the 407 one exit so I could speed up a bit and apply the brakes firmly and the noise was back. Squeeling when moving, slightly reduced when braking but loudest when turning left or right slowly. It's just that one front right, all other corners are quiet.

If you can't look under the calipers, the top of the calipers will have a little "window" where you can see the amount of meat left in both the inner and outer brake pads. The squeel seems to me like it could be the wear indicator on the pads protesting against your rotors to "replace me!" (i.e. you need new pads soon).

It may even be a simple fix, like the backing plate rubbing against the spinning rotor. Reach in and push back the backing plate a bit by gripping with your fingertips around the edges and pushing back with medium force.

If you're worried about a seized caliper, here are two simple tests wthout getting too involved:

1. Go on a slight incline, pop the transmission in neutral, let up on the brake pedal and see if the car rolls down freely or not. It should. Also, listen to see if you hear the noise while it's rolling down.

2. Jack the car up safely up on the front passenger side, make sure the tranny is in Neutral with the rear wheels chocked and e-brake applied, and with the front passenger wheel up, give it a good spinorama. It should at least it turn 3/4 before slowly stopping. If it doesn't want to spin, it's time to give the brakes more attention. Compare with the other wheels as necessary to get a feel for how much it should spin.

Good luck. Things break the higher the mileage and/or the harder you use/drive the car, so try not to take it too hard.

Thanks Will. I did what you said, and the car seems to roll freely, and it doesn't make any noise unless I turn the wheel. I'm gonna see about changing pads to hawks tomorrow and see if that helps.

Skidz,

What are you using to compress the caliper to change your pads, unfortuanatly the channel locks technique doesn't really work with our brakes as they use the "twisting" tool.

birdman wrote:Skidz,

What are you using to compress the caliper to change your pads, unfortuanatly the channel locks technique doesn't really work with our brakes as they use the "twisting" tool.

This only applies in the rear.

Yup, I'm only having the fronts changed so it's easy to do. I'll probably have Vic do it though cuz I'm positive something is fooked on my car other than brakes.

Some new developments:
Took my car for an extended drive which included some highway. There's a vibration when cruising at 70, and it only gets more noticeable as I speed up. On the highway I started at 100 and got a bad vibration, which got downright violent IMO between 110-120. It smoothed out except for a slight wiggle in the steering wheel at 130. I didn't go any faster.

Also, there's a noticeable brake squeal on front right as mentioned above so pads needed for sure. However when I turn left only(like at an intersection), no brake applied, it screeches like a banshee. Sounds like fingernails on chalkboard but 10x louder. Everyone stops what they're doing and stares lol.

So based on this new info plus what I've written above, what could be wrong?

I've cancelled my Canada day plans due to this so I'm not too happy, any advice would be appreciated. Once again thoughts of ditching this car early and stretching my budget into a G35 sedan have surfaced in my head, although I'm sure it'll pass soon enough as I'll come to my senses.

$518 later, and the problem is fixed. *SIGH*

Damn! Did you just change the pads or was there something else wrong with it?

ecrash wrote:Damn! Did you just change the pads or was there something else wrong with it?

I suspect that pothole had something to do with all this. There were CHUNKS missing out of my front pads on the right side. I was braking with the metal backing plate of the pad basically. My rotor was pretty carved up by the time I got to newmarket. Anyway, I couldn't just get one new rotor and pads on one side only, so I got 2 new front rotors and front pads. M-sport drilled+slotted with Hawk pads up front. Also, my wheel is slightly bent. It's impossible to tell if you're looking at it and it's on the inside of the wheel, you can somewhat see it when it's spinning on the tire balancer. Anyway, it still ended up balancing just fine and the car is smooth as silk once again.

As a plus to all this, Vic didn't have the parts in stock for Maximas but he did have them for the G35 and that's what's on my car right now. Woo G35 brakes FTW lol. Non-brembo obviously, or else the pads wouldn't fit in my calipers LOL. Braking power has improved immensely.

I'm surprised that the g brakes fit, I haven't heard of anyone doing this before you. Glad you got it all fixed up.

Thanks Ray, I'm glad as well, even though it cost a lot lol. I guess this makes me a trailblazer, carving the way for future brake upgrades for other people LOL. I had no clue they would fit but Steve made it work. I find it hard to tell the difference in rotor size though, if any.

And my phenolic spacers should be here any day now. They've crossed the border already!

you should have them by friday then

Ouch that was an expensive pothole.