brake help please - grinding noise

[stevef182 0]

On my way home tonight i noticed a loud grinding noise when braking coming from the front of the car, i presumed i'd need new font pads, job done.

 

But whilst pulling into my drive i used the handbrake to slow the car (to save as much of the front pads as I can until I can change them) and I heard the same noise.

 

Now the noise im sure is coming from the front wheels (although I havent had a chance to test propery) so am i missing something, but i'm sure the handbrake is only supposed to lock the real wheels? Or am I being really stupid??

[dukest 0]

maybe rear calipers siezed and therefore only applying light pressure even when using handbrake? are the rear discs clean?

[stevef182 0]

the handbrake still stops the car fine and locks on and off well, its just the noise it made from the front that worried me??

[stevef182 0]

and to add, i had been driving for 10 mintues before the noise started, and its very noticeable so I wouldnt have missed it, it just started mid journey.

[pete_griff 0]

sounds a lot like your brakes have seized up.

 

the only way you're going to know for certain is to get underneath the car and have a look!

 

when the brakes seize, it tends to be the inside edge that gets all the wear and the outside stays relatively clean. (hence why you won't have noticed it until now).

have a look at the insides of your discs - if they have seized then you'll see the discs are pitted and showing score marks from where the pads have worn right down to the metal and now you're getting the horrible graunching metal on metal noise.

 

this happened to my corrado when i first had it, but it's defo not corrado exclusive - any old car which isn't festidiously maintained can suffer from it if the mechanics haven't bothered to put copper grease etc on.

it had also happened to my M5 when i bought it - had to replace all the pads and discs shortly after buying it. they weren't worn down to the metal, but braking performance was pretty shocking when pushed hard. they were seized so badly that the carriers had grooves worn into them from the "ears" of the brake pads - you can check out some pics of just how bad it was here - http://the-corrado.net/showthread.php?46731-Pete-s-M5-Fresh-Paint-inbound...&highlight=pete%27s

 

if they have indeed seized that means you'll need new discs and pads - now would be a good time to upgrade to the 288mm or 312mm setup from a mk4 (or newer).

it's not an expensive upgrade, it brakes the car much better and it will hopefully be a little less prone to seizing (especially if fitted correctly! - speak to DG Autotech for that one if you're not doing it yourself)

[stevef182 0]

thanks pete, already got 288mm brakes on the front, and it turned out to be a stuck stone..so problem sorted.