Brake Groan Question

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jul 2, 2015
Messages
22
Location
Pacific Northwest
I was getting a brake groan on the front passenger side after the brakes had warmed up and only under harder braking under about 30mph. Pads have a few mm of life left but haven't ever been changed with just under 60k on them. No pulsing like with a warped rotor. The guys at O'rielly had no idea either after hearing the noise.

I thought it might be bearing related and I have a few hundred miles left on the warranty so I took it to the dealer. On the test drive the tech said something about the rotor surface being too rough or something like that so I decided to take the car home instead of paying them $100 just to look at it. I moved the rotors and pads to the other side to see if the noise would move to the drivers side and cleaned the metal retainer brackets. No noise anymore.

Any ideas what it could have been? The metal retainer clips had fair amount of buildup on them but I'm not sure what is normal.
 
Last edited:
Welcome to the site. It would be helpful to list the vehicle and model year.

After several years and almost 60K it is likely that the lubricant on the pins and/or pad contact points is gone, and there is buildup that prevents easy movement. If the pads can't quite retract or can't quite compress they will vibrate. Moving them around can break this cycle. A sticky caliper can cause the same problem.

You didn't mention lube. Your brakes may still need some. I like SilGlyde but there are other good choices. You also didn't mention inspecting the pins and/or tracks the pad rides on. These must be perfectly smooth, shiny and ungrooved.

Since you will be doing a brake job in the near future, stock up on brake lube, new shims/abutment clips/whatever, pads and rotor ahead of time, taking advantage of sales and coupons. Then read The Critic's recent thread about how to do a really good brake job.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3726412/1

Basically there are several things that go into a good brake job: quality parts, managing runout, lubrication, and proper break-in. Knowing the FMSI code for your new brake pads is a good step towards choosing a quality set of pads. I prefer FF or better and avoid EE/EF/FE rated pads. Better rotors are guaranteed to have less runout than good rotors, the more you pay, the less runout you get. Nonetheless you have to clean rust and check for runout after installation because the entire rotor can be mounted crooked. I've already mentioned lubrication. Finally good break-in avoids uneven pad material build-up on on the new rotor, which most people (and techs) mistake for the mythical "warped rotors".
 
Good info up there!
You mentioned your pads have a few mm left , which could easily be the cause of the groaning at low speeds. Time for a new set of brakes.
 
Thanks for the responses. It's a 2011 Altima SR. I think I spoke to soon and the groan has started to return on the side where I moved the pads and rotor. The slide pins still felt smooth but ill grease them the next time i take the wheels off. I think this confirms that it's either the rotor or pads and not the caliper or something in the drivetrain. Ill move either the rotors or pads back to the other side after a couple hundred more miles to see if the groan gets as bad as it was before. That should confirm if the pads need replacement or the rotor needs to be turned.

When I said the pads had a few mm left I meant a few mm before the indicators start rubbing. Both wheels also had the same amount of turning or bearing resistance and both sets of pads were worn equally.

This is the great thing about doing your own maintenance. You can take the time to troubleshoot instead of just throwing new parts on because it's more cost effective.
 
Last edited:
I agree. How many shops check brakes, clean and relube? Most just look at the pad or shoe thickness and tell you that you need new ones.

Check the price of turning versus replacement. With prices on rotors at Rock Auto, Amazon or even the chain stores with a coupon, turning doesn't always make sense. I have a speed shop turn mine, the result is plus/minus half a thousandth, you can't get any chain store rotor guaranteed to meet that spec. But, it costs $25/rotor, and that's often the same price as a new one.
 
So, I ordered a one click brake kit from Rockauto.

They included good pads, and terrible rotors.

I had a groaning sound that would not go away in our 2008 Matrix.

After a month of groaning sounds, I just replaced everything again with stuff from Advance auto, I went with their Gold line of pads and rotors.

No groaning. Everything was lubed up properly as well, and all hardware was replaced.

The next time I do brakes I will pickup a dial indicator and see how close I am to specifications.

Slapping rotors and pads on a car doesn't seem to work too well.
 
Originally Posted By: JustinH
So, I ordered a one click brake kit from Rockauto.

They included good pads, and terrible rotors.

I had a groaning sound that would not go away in our 2008 Matrix.

After a month of groaning sounds, I just replaced everything again with stuff from Advance auto, I went with their Gold line of pads and rotors.

No groaning. Everything was lubed up properly as well, and all hardware was replaced.

The next time I do brakes I will pickup a dial indicator and see how close I am to specifications.

Slapping rotors and pads on a car doesn't seem to work too well.


Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Without sweating the details of proper cleaning, proper lube, proper break-in, and managing run-out, the odds can pile up against you.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top