Car Help - Rumbling Noise when Braking

Orion21

Orion21

Orion21

Associate
Joined
20 Feb 2006
Posts
343
Hello, hoping to get some help from more car experienced people than myself.

For the past week or 2 I have noticed some noise coming from the front of my car when braking (I would probably describe it as a rumbling noise, almost seems to be coming mostly from the driver's side, but I could be wrong there).

It is only there as far as I can tell when braking and I only notice it at low speed braking say 10-20 mph at most. Above that speed I can't notice it. It is harder to notice if I brake a bit firmer.

As far as I can tell the car seems to be braking fine and I can't say I've noticed a brake performance issue, just the noise at low speed braking.

Any suggestions as to what this might be and how to diagnose?

Is it likely to be an urgent problem that could be a safety issue or cause further damage by ignoring?

Thanks for the help :).
 
Hello
I think, this is initial level problem that showing in your car but it can be big and bigger. so I suggest you to take it to the nearest garage for reparing, otherwise it can creat problem in future.......!!!!

Thanks
 
Ignoring aliajackson which I'm assuming to be spam.

It sounds like you might have a warped brake disc. Often shows up at lighter braking applications. Usually it would be noticeable at higher speed as well, but even so, I suspect its a disc. Probably front, as the rear brakes do very little under gentle braking.

You can either get them skimmed or replaced. It's generally not much more expensive to just replace them. What car? and does it have discs or drums at the back?
 
aliajackson said:
hello abbotsmike

I do not understand, what are you doing this, But I am truly genuine person...All i can say

Thats it
Click to expand...

Fair enough, but the slight mis-spellings, english that looks like it has come from google translate, advertising links in your signature and bumping old posts seem pretty spammy I'm afraid!

If you are genuine, I don't mean to offend.
 
I only notice the weird noise from the front and it is a rumbling / squeak kind of noise.

Not noticed it when braking at higher speeds.

Car is a Vauxhall Astra 1.6 Club 2005 reg. Rear brakes are drum brakes, front disc.

I've had the car for about 5 years now and I can't remember changing the brakes (if I did I did it early on in my ownership), however it's only done about 68k miles.
 
The fact that it hasn't had brake pads changed in >5 years indicates it's likely to be your brake pads have worn out.

Depending on the kind of wheels on the car, you can peer in and look at how much brake material is left. Are the discs perfectly smooth or visually scratched?

Depending on driving style, you could be replacing pads a lot more regularly than 68k miles, they're a consumable item at the end of the day.

Could be a wheel bearing or driveshaft.
 
DaveyD said:
The fact that it hasn't had brake pads changed in >5 years indicates it's likely to be your brake pads have worn out.

Depending on the kind of wheels on the car, you can peer in and look at how much brake material is left. Are the discs perfectly smooth or visually scratched?

Depending on driving style, you could be replacing pads a lot more regularly than 68k miles, they're a consumable item at the end of the day.

Could be a wheel bearing or drive shaft.
Click to expand...


That just reminded me, the guy who serviced my car last week said I had a noisy drive shaft bearing.
 
DaveyD said:
Could be a wheel bearing or driveshaft.
Click to expand...

Unlikely to only notice that on light braking though.
I stand by warped disc, but at 68k and pads & discs of unknown age, even if they aren't worn down the pads could well be past their best. I'd probably change the lot if it were my car, but I DIY and get parts at trade price, so it's a cheap choice!
 
I'd be more inclined to say low pads or disc. The effort required to actually warp a disc is phenomenal and I'm yet to encounter anyone to do it outside of a track...
 
DaveyD said:
The fact that it hasn't had brake pads changed in >5 years indicates it's likely to be your brake pads have worn out.

Depending on the kind of wheels on the car, you can peer in and look at how much brake material is left. Are the discs perfectly smooth or visually scratched?

Depending on driving style, you could be replacing pads a lot more regularly than 68k miles, they're a consumable item at the end of the day.

Could be a wheel bearing or driveshaft.
Click to expand...

I have tried looking at the brake pads and discs through the wheel. Bearing in mind I'm not mechanically minded, it looked like the pads still had some sort of black thickness (which I took to be the pad material and assumed that was ok).

However the disc on the driver's side looks a lot more scratched than the disc on the passenger side. I have been told at last service / mot that some joints / rods on that side have a bit of play but were fine to pass the MOT at that time. Is it possible this has caused the brake system to damage on that side or is causing the problems?

There was no mention at my last MOT / service check of normal brakes needing replacing that I recall.

I've put off the joints as they said they were still fine just starting to go and I had been planning to change car although I put that off a bit due to other circumstances but expect to change within the next year.

However that said if there is a safety risk or risk of causing serious damage to the car by ignoring them then I would obviously need to get them fixed.
 
THe worn joints are probably trackrod ends, wishbone bushes or ARB droplinks. Either way they won't be related to the brake issues.

The pas should have 2 'layers' The metal backing, then a slightly smaller but thicker (on a new pad) layer than is the friction material. google a pic of a brake pad and that should make sense. It is the friction material that wears down. If there is no friction material left they are overdue a replacement.

The scratching you describe sounds like fairly heavy scoring. Can indicate that that pad has overheated or is worn down. I'd probably go with getting pads and discs changed.
 
bJN said:
The effort required to actually warp a disc is phenomenal and I'm yet to encounter anyone to do it outside of a track...
Click to expand...
Depends on the car.

I've had two Peugeots that managed to warp discs quite easily, and in fact a couple of dealers I went to had skimming machines in house due to the frequency. I switched to other makes and I've never had the problem since.
 
Any idea what the likely price is for new discs and pads + labour for front wheels?

I assume if one disc needs changed then the other should be changed at the same time? (Certainly know this would be the case with the pads)

I'll probably take it to the garage on Saturday as I can't really get there before then, unless of course the issue disappears by then (there had been some days and times I noticed it less, including having someone else listen for it too and they didn't notice it, nor did I at that time).

It sometimes almost feels (and sounds) a bit like the ABS is kicking in, but more on one side than the other as from where I am I don't think I notice it coming from the passenger side.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom