For about 2 weeks I have been hearing a faint noise coming from my new rear brakes. I got the pbr disc brake setup from Ed. Today that faint noise got really bad. Don't have time to take it apart till this weekend but here's some pictures of the rotor. Any ideas to what might be the problem would be helpful. Also not sure if it would matter or not but the ebrake cables aren't installed yet.

 

looks like they got real hot. sompthing may be making them drag. The springs from the e-brake cables not holding them releaced could be the problem. I don't no about therd gens. but some cars have preshure valves to hold a little preshure on the brakes about 2psi on disks and 10psi on drums. I would check the e-brake ajustment first. Jack it up and see if they are tight.

 

check to make sure the e brake lever return spring is installed. Im actually trying to find one right now. without it, there is a chance that the pads will drag slightly

Crap, just saw u havent installed ur ebrake cables yet. I dont think it would do that unless the cables are installed, but I could be wrong. Is the sound only when you apply the brakes, or is it constant? Does it go away or drown out at certain speeds or when braking? I can kinda see a groove in the rotor in that 2nd pic, that might be it. Could have been an imperfection/hard spot in the pad that ground down on the rotor. Can you give any more details as the the sound though?

 

It is a constant sound that starts around 10 mph and stops when I apply the brakes. The tires do lock up when I slam on the brake. The hole setup is only about 3 weeks old. I will try to take some pics of the calipers tomorrow and see what I find.

 

Looks like to me that something is eating into the rotor. THe second pic you linked shows a huge groove in the center of the rotor, that shouldn't be there.

The lack of e-brake cables will have nothing to do with your issues, the calipers have their own piston return springs, one on each side of the piston actuator.

Take a closer look into what is cutting into the rotor, that's not a good thing.

Ed

 

My rear brakes just started grinding/knocking coming to a stop or around a turn,off the brakes or on lightly.I found that my brake pad on the dr side is moving around in the caliper where the others aren't.May want to check for a broken pad or something.

 

Alright today I got a chance to jack up the car and take a look at what might be wrong with the brakes. Boy was I shocked at what I saw! The first picture is of the left side. Well If I'm not mistaking that's the right side caliper. Not only that but one of the pads is missing the spring. Well I'm going to take the car back to the shop where they got installed and make them buy me new pads and maybe new rotors too.

 

ya, uh, i think that could be your problem. Sux to hear that, which spring is missing? If it looks like this one, Id ask ebmiller about it. I could not find a GM part number for it anywhere, but he seems to have small parts like that.

 

Alright took the car back to the shop and they shaved the rotors and put new brake pads. But the problem continues. They can't figure out what's wrong. It sounds like the brake pad is slightly on the rotor. What could be causing this? Could it be that they didn't tighten the panhard bar, trailing arms or sway bars while the suspension was loaded? Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

well, they did swap the calipers to opposite sides right? If not, then that could still be ur problem. Which spring was missing? Best way to find out would be to jack up the rear, pull the wheels off and spin the axles. Just gotta have a good ear and see which side and which pad is causing the sound.

Oh, I dont think the suspension would have anything to do with the brakes squeeling. maybe a bump around corners or something, but I cannot see how it would affect the brake system.

 

Oh good golly....this just goes to show you that you can't trust anyone to do a job right. The suspension will have nothing to do with the brakes making noise. My guess is that something isn't installed right and you need to have it checked by another shop, and I'd make the first shop replace the rotors that they screwed up for you, I can send you and invoice if you need one.

Good luck.

Ed

 

Yes, they swaped the calipers to how they should have been. The spring that was missing was the one that's on top of the brake pad. But since they changed the brake pads that isn't an issue anymore. I spoke with the manager today and he said that he will personaly work on it today to fix the problem. He said that the guy that had been working on it is new. That's too bad that this happened since I been going to this shop for a long time and after this problem is fixed it will be the last time. I will let you know if I need that invoice Ed. I think he will replace them without any fuss. I will pick up the car tonight and will post what happens.

 

Hey Ed is this the GM 1LE spec prop valve you sent me? I don't think they installed it.

 

I can't tell, they will all look the same from a distance. It does look a bit dirty for a new one....that shop must suck. They didn't give you the old one back? I really think they took you for a ride..what did they charge you? I'd ask for the old one back or proof that they installed the new one.

Ed

 

Problems of this nature is why I like to do the work myself--most of this stuff is simple unbolt/bolt up. With a little forethought and a manual and this site, much is possible.

JamesC

 

True..they're all just nuts and bolts.

Ed

 

They charged me $400.00 but that's because they installed my rear end,front and rear sway bars,panhard bar, struts, shocks, springs, trailing arms,front suspension kit, strut tower brace and lastly the rear brakes. So as you guys can see it's alot to keep track of but not only that I also have a 1 yr old boy that takes up most of my time at home. That's the main reason why I can't work on my car. I was just wondering if you could tell the difference before I asked them that way I knew if they were lying. Thanks for all the help guys.