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View Full Version : Extremely annoying noise from brakes (I think?)



Xoth
08-18-2008, 07:25 PM
Ok, so this could turn into a long explanation, but I really hoped that fellow Legacy owners could help me solve this mystery. I just bought my Subby a couple of months ago, and I love it to death, but I do understand it needs a few kinks to work out before I can claim it to be completely problem-free :lol:
Laughing aside, however, after fixing most of the problems, I find that from my left-front wheel area, I get this very annoying noise. It sounds like sort of like a ratchet, but obviously much louder and more pronounced. It only seems to occur when I have my foot on the brake in a certain spot- light braking doesn't cause it, and neither does having the brake mashed to the floor. However, right in the sweet spot between, where my brakes are most frequently used, this noise occurs. I've heard it at speeds as high as 40 mph and as low as 2 mph. My dad and I spent weeks trying to figure it out. The previous owner put new brake pads on both sides of the front end, a new rotor on this side (from Advance Auto -.-), a new axle in the front end, and new CV joints. However, these replacement parts were in an attempt to take out a shimmy in the front end, which they later found out was caused by a washer that someone had put on one of the lugs (most likely a potential buyer, who was trying to get the price down). Anyway, we purchased the car after the shimmy was taken out, and have noticed the sound ever since.

We've done everything I can think of. So far, we've went through 3 rotors, which is what we're thinking is the problem. All of them, however, have been from Advance Auto, so we're thinking they have all had cracks in them. Still, I'm not so sure that's it. I even purchased a brand new brake caliper for it. 80 bucks out of my own pocket, and that still didn't fix the problem. My mechanic, however, did find that the slide on the caliper was stuck, and so he fixed that. But regardless, this still hasn't taken out the problem. I find the sound extremely annoying, as well as embarassing. Sometimes I get the feeling my wheel's going to fall off or something (don't ask, long story about my last car). Does anyone know what could be causing this racket?

Please help :grin:

decke48
08-18-2008, 07:57 PM
dust sheild. semi-metalic pads?

Huffer
08-18-2008, 10:15 PM
I have an extremely similar problem... for me it is a whrring sound that is present at all speeds - it's metal on metal but everything brake-wise works fine.

I think it is either my bearing (but it doesn't act like a bad bearing) or my axle, which I know needs replacing.

Xoth
08-21-2008, 06:49 PM
my dad's current idea is to take the rotor from the left side and put it on the right to see if the noise changes sides. Obviously, if it does, it's a bad rotor. If not, he's just gonna keep changing parts out until it changes sides.

track8
08-21-2008, 07:48 PM
After replacing both front wheel bearings to get rid of the whirring sound that Huffer may be describing, (which worked BTW) I had forgotten to bend one of the dust shields back into shape, sort of. It caused a metallic clicking/rubbing sound 5 times per revolution due to contact with the mounting bosses of the ABS reluctor.

Look back there to see if that is rubbing while you have the rotor off.

shazapple
08-22-2008, 08:15 AM
I'd check the dust shield, or maybe the brake pads are loose and rattling. Maybe take a look at the caliper to see if its working properly

Xoth
08-22-2008, 11:29 PM
I'd check the dust shield, or maybe the brake pads are loose and rattling. Maybe take a look at the caliper to see if its working properly

My mechanic fixed my caliper, and he said the slide was stuck.

As for the pads, they were too tight when they were still making the noise, so my dad filed the edges down a bit so they would fit in there, and it's still making the noise. I plan to go buy two new rotors from O'Reilly tomorrow.

Xoth
08-25-2008, 10:49 PM
Ok, so we went to Advance Auto once again -.- Picked up another rotor, and this time, swapped the passenger side stock rotor onto the driver's side. We put the new one on the passenger side, and so, this way, we'll know that if it keeps making the noise, then it's definitely not the rotor on the left side. So far, though, I've driven the car for three days with no similar noise. I'm hoping it's fixed. *knock on wood*