Grinding front brakes

[millmeister]

I did a forum search but most posts seem to be concerned with grinding *rear* brakes.

The front brakes on my 2003 1.9 sdi have been grinding when I brake sharply. This is slightly alarming when I need to emergency stop. In addition I can feel tension on the brake pedal, like it's trying to resist the pressure of my foot.

Any ideas would be welcome - my local garage cleaned and adjusted the brakes before xmas but doesn't seem to have helped much.

[Ootohere]

Welcome to the forum.

It would be interesting to know what kind of adjustment they made to front discs.

Your Discs could have corrosion and would need replaced or possible Skimmed would have helped,

Your Pads were OK or needed replace or may need replaced soon.

They could have cleaned and checked for a sticky caliper.

?? How much did they charge you to Clean & Adjust your Brakes?

Does the car get used daily or sit and get some surface rust build up on the discs?

I would get someone you can trust to inspect the brakes for you.

Even drive into a 'Klick Fitter' Dancer place and ask them to look for free.

Just never let them do your brakes,

or the 'HalfFraud' people.

george

[TeflonTom]

if it's grinding then there is either metal to metal contact somewhere or the surface of the disc is heavily corroded

[millmeister]

Thanks George / Tom -

They charged £50 but that included other investigative work (re. the completely knackered bushes).

On the invoice they wrote:

'Investigate noise on brakes. Clean and adjust rear brakes'

I guess the keyword here is 'rear'

Edited 31 December, 2012 by millmeister

[M1k32102]

I had grinding brakes when I first go my car

Cant possibly think why

[Holmesie]

might sound sill but does the car have mudflaps? on a previous car the previous owner poorly installed front mudflaps. when breaking the top of the front mudflap would fall forwards and catch the wheel.... this also caused a grinding noise

[hutchysrs50]

The rear brakes will be drums on the sdi, so they must have adjusted up the rear shoes. Can you not pull the handbrake on lightly while on a clear road and see if the grinding noise comes on?

This would help narrow down the problem to front or back.

I know you say front brakes but they will only really grind if the pads are really low or the discs are really knack add.

[hutchysrs50]

The rear brakes will be drums on the sdi, so they must have adjusted up the rear shoes. Can you not pull the handbrake on lightly while on a clear road and see if the grinding noise comes on?

This would help narrow down the problem to front or back.

I know you say front brakes but they will only really grind if the pads are really low or the discs are really knackerd

[vRSAnt]

Mine grind a little when the cars out of use, almost worry about stopping to begin with, well only for a short time I give it some PROPER braking to

clean them up !

I don't leave them too long before they can get into a state, so presumably they haven't been standing.

Thats with PAGID discs from ECP but the standard ones were worse.

The best discs I've had were Bosch ones and were £50 for a pair when I worked for them, they seemed to brake perfectly and struggle to corrode.

My dads car had brakes that had been standing unused for about 8 years on his sportscar, they took some banging off and the way forward was some nice new discs. Cheap enough from ECP.

What do they look like, do they look corroded to hell? Or nice and shiny after you have done some braking on them ?

And like asked here, you have checked you still have pads ?

[PD75]

Just sorted this on mine - bit of a gobs**te really, should have got round to it a couple of months ago.

Amazingly the original pads were still servicable after 210,000 km. you could still see the edge of the chamfered edges, but swapped anyway - No, I don't use the brakes much!! Front disks were pretty badly corroded and replaced.

Takes about 45 minutes including tea. Worst bit is getting the little torx bolts that locate the disc onto the hub without rounding them. Suggest dosing them with penetrating oil and then having your tea while you leave them for 10 minutes.

Make sure the callipers slide and lubricate the bolts they slide on with a smidge of copperslip as you put it all back together.

Parts were less than Euro75 ~ about 20 pence? in the queen's real money......

Mintex from major on - line factor. Possibly the same as the SDI as they are the toy town size disc with the drums on the back.

[TeflonTom]

^^^ best way to get the brake disc retaining screw out is to wallop the brake disc with a heavy hammer a few times over where the screw is, this normally loosens it up enough to make them come out first time.

[hutchysrs50]

Also do this ^^

[peter3197]

Impact driver does the job well.

[millmeister]

Thanks for all the comms. This forum is an amazing resource.

No mudflaps so can rule that out and I briefly put the handbrake on last night but didn't notice any strange noises. Interestingly as I went over a bumpy cattle grid I could feel the brake peddle wobbling up and down under my foot. Not sure what that means.

It's going in to the garage on Thursday so I might ask them to take a proper look at the discs...

[TeflonTom]

That could have just been the abs system doing it's thing, i remember my fabia used to do that if you braked and one wheel was on a wet drain cover or similar, it was like a pulsing on the pedal, quite a strange feeling too.

[mogwye]

That could have just been the abs system doing it's thing, i remember my fabia used to do that if you braked and one wheel was on a wet drain cover or similar, it was like a pulsing on the pedal, quite a strange feeling too.

Same with me.

DB

[millmeister]

Same with me.

DB

Cool, that's reassuring.

[dan4291]

My Fabia does that too. A bit unnerving at first but you get used to it.

[millmeister]

Just going to revive this thread again.

Despite having taken my Fabia to the local garage and them confirming that there is nothing wrong with the brakes, I'm still not entirely comfortable with them.

The front ones still don't seem to be locking effectively and it mostly seems to happen over bumpy / uneven surfaces (when the brake pedal is also pulsing). Could there be something up with the ABS?

Might be worth getting a second opinion from another garage.

[peter3197]

This is absolutely classic for the ABS kicking in. Your brakes lock upon bumpy ground, the abs kicks in, as it should, to stop the lock up and skid and you feel it through the pedal and it makes a row.

[TeflonTom]

it is worth cleaning the abs sensor rings on the back of the hub, with all the weather we've had recently they get clogged up with crud from the roads and they dont always function correctly

[millmeister]

Thanks for the responses. So basically nothing drastic to worry about but might be worth cleaning the abs sensor rings.

[Pinchy]

With the recent weather there is alot of grit on the roads. Could be that maybe?

[millmeister]

Well it's been happening on and off for a couple of months now, before the roads were being gritted.

[thesquiff]

If you're getting a shot burst of very rapid pulsating when you brake hard - that's the ABS. However that shouldn't trigger regularly - I think I've only triggered it once or twice in my Octy in two years.

If it's a slower pulsating through the pedal then you might have a distorted disc or worn lower suspension arm bushes.