[SSSIERA]

i took the zook up the power lines last weekend.
on the way home it had a grinding noise coming from the front drivers side! and my mate who was driving it noticed that the brake indicator light would flash on for a second every now and then! when i got home and washed it the next day i went over the car! pulled the front wheels off and gave the brakes a good squirt with the water incase there was any mud in there! but it hasn't seemed to fix the problem. the brake fluid level is also now on the LOW line!
the grind noise pulses relevant to the speed! and when the brakes are applied it changes pitch! theres also a bit of a shiny streak on the disk! but I'm not sure if that was there before!

any ideas? I'm supposed to be going to lanno in it this weekend so I've got to try and sort it out on friday!

cheers troy

[Fatzook]

Pads worn out? Sounds like you have no friction material left....

[sogone]

Yeah ya brake pads. Your brake fluid drops as it pushes the piston out. Undo the bolt closest to the fire wall and loosen the one closest to the front. Tilt caliper up. Check pads. If farked replace both pads on both sides with a new set. When ya spread the brakes the fluid will go back into the brake resovoir. Dont top up until both sides are done as it will cause it to over flow everywhere.

[Fatzook]

sogone wrote:

Yeah ya brake pads. Your brake fluid drops as it pushes the piston out. Undo the bolt closest to the fire wall and loosen the one closest to the front. Tilt caliper up. Check pads. If farked replace both pads on both sides with a new set AFTER YOU HAVE HAD YOUR ROTORS MACHINED. When ya spread the brakes the fluid will go back into the brake resovoir. Dont top up until both sides are done as it will cause it to over flow everywhere.

Fixed.

[sogone]

Yeah. I missed that step. thanks fatz.

[SSSIERA]

fucking expensive heep of shit! if its not onbe bloody thing its another!

[sogone]

They aren't that expensive. I think I paid $70 all up for two new sets of pads for the front, two new wheel cyclinders and a new set of shoes for the rear.

[missmyljdaze]

SSSIERA wrote:

:evil: fucking expensive heep of shit! if its not onbe bloody thing its another!

you will find it REALLY expensive if you dont replace those pads IMMEDIATELY!

dunno if you have realised- that grinding noise is the metal backing of your worn out brake pads grinding the disc away.
low brake pads should really been spotted well before this happens.

As the fellas said- get the rotors skimmed- or replaced if they are too far gone.
If you reeeeeaaaaly have to, as a temporary measure you can just bung a new set of pads in- but they must be regarded as both temporary and disposable as they will not last long- or work as good as new or reskimmed rotors with new pads.
They will quickly develop a wear pattern to match your worn out discs, and be no good for your new or reskimmed discs.

As your brake fluid level seems to have been missed during your pre-start checks, or regular maintenance and servicing- I recommend you check your rear brakes as well.

You might think this is just another painfull expensive- but its a reality check.

You need to pay more attention to the important bits of your car- and listen to what it tells and shows you, instead of farting around with amps and sound systems so much.

stephen.

[SSSIERA]

it hadnt been missed in the pre start it was not that low!
and yes i understand the importance of it. ive got a funny feeling its isnt low pads because the car would be lucky to have done 1000kms since its last service that was done by a mates dad (who i trust would have fixed somthing like that if it needed) i know that he did inspect the brakes!

in the morning the brake fluid level was was half way between high and low! we drove up greenmount hill (i live at the bottom of it) to mundaring! drove the powerline track then drove back down greenmount hill. i only noticed the noise when we got to midland were it was reasonably faint! and over the 10kms or less it is from midland to my house it got worse. it hasnt moved since!
ill go have a look at the pads in a minute! i did a thorough pre start that morning because id only finished swaping the transfer case the night before! and wanted to make sure everything was inorder especialy because a mate was driving it not me!

having said that! i will be checking like every one has suggested and thanks everyone for the help so far! I AM HOPPING that this is the problem because it sounds cheep to fix

[303zuke]

It may have been a cheap fix that was the cause.

Some dodgy brands of brake pad from a certain large Asian country to our north have been found to be defective and rather than wearing out, the friction material will separate from the steel backing of the pad, even on an otherwise healthy brake pad. Saving a few bucks on buying the cheapest parts is not always a saving (especially on safety critical components). Buy a decent brand of pads to replace them with. And whats with the !!! on every sentence!!

[3cyl]

Some types of mud are pretty hard on brake friction material and worn out brakes sounds like your problem to me too, either front or rear brakes. Quicker you check it the cheaper it will be to fix!