This is on my 3000GT SL...

Just started this morning...when I drove off my driveway my brakes started making a very dry scratching sound. But the trick part is, they make the sound whether my foot is on the brake or not.
The sound goes away after about 5 minutes of driving. It goes away quicker if I hold the brake down while the clutch is engaged and my foot is on the gas (sorta powerbraking I guess)... but I really hate to do that...lol. The sound will only appear when the brakes are cold...once I've driven around a bit it goes away.

It sounds like the scratchy brakes are on the passenger side...probably the front wheel. What could it be?


For the last month or so I have felt a really turbulent shaking when I hit the brakes at high speeds. If I really push on them, the shaking calms down and it brakes more evenly. And when I brake for a stop light or stop sign from 30 mph, the wheel shakes pretty violently. I can still control the car, but I do have to keep a grip on the wheel.


Whatcha think? Failing caliper? I already sprayed a load of brake cleaner on the rotor and caliper of the wheel that the sound seems to come from. Seemed to help some...but the sound is still there.

 

Mmmm, have you pulled a wheel and taken a look at it? maybe the warning clips are digging in? loose anchor bracket bolts that hold the caliper to the spindle or axle? loose bolts holding caliper to anchor bracket? no material left on pads? there could be alot of things wrong, gotta take a look!

 

I'll take a look asap...unfortunately I wont have time tomorrow... So hopefully my brakes don't give out or destroy a rotor in the 30 or so miles I need to drive tomorrow for work...

 

Sounds like that could have already happened if you wore the pads down too much.

 

Well I've looked at the rotors and they still look normal. There are no gashes or scoring. I really can't tell if they're warped from here, but if they were it wouldn't be because of low pads, right?

As a matter of fact, the front pads couldn't be too low...we replaced them 6 months ago with Bender Semi-Metallics.


Now you guys have me worried

 

could be the type of material used in the pads. The type of Calipers these cars use are called low-drag when the pedal is released a square cut seal inside the caliper draws the piston back in the bore slightly. You could possably have one that's old and not working like it should causeing the piston to stick slightly you say the sound is coming from one side so this would be my first guess or it could be old brake hoses which are deteriorated on the inside causeing a restriction in the line, sort of like a check valve effect, not allowing the piston to retract right away. Or another possability could be the master cylinder

 

you cannot tell by looking if rotors are warped because all you need is a couple .001" of runout, if the brakes pulse when you brake then they're warped. the only way to check is to put them on a lathe for turning rotors. did you look if the pads are worn or are you just assuming they're not? your caliper might also be sticking