When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
New member here, I have a 2004 RX 330, after replacing front brakes with new pads, calipers and resurfaced rotors I now have a clunking noise coming from the front end as the brakes are being applied when coming to an intersection. More noticeable as the vehicle slows coming to a stop. The brakes feel smooth and dont feel anything inside the car just the sound. I have been doing my own brakes for years on different vehicles and have never run into this. There is no noise applying brakes when coming to stop in reverse.
Is this a one-time clunk, or does it keep clunking until it comes to a stop? Is it a solid (iron - heavy, dense metal) sound, or tinny sound?
How easy was it to slide the new pads in with the pad shims? Did the new pads have the shims, or did you re-use the old ones?
The sound repeats continuously until the vehicle comes to a stop. The sound is a continuous clunking/knocking sound that gets more noticable the closer I am from coming to a stop. New pads had shims on them.
It sounds like it's something rotational. Have you tried lifting the whole front off the ground, removing each wheel at a time, and spinning the wheels to carefully look for anything that could possibly be rubbing or touching anything? If it were more of a tinny sound, I'd point to the dust shield just touching the rotor. Being a heavier clunking sound, I'd have to rule that out.
The resurfaced rotors... how do they feel when applying the brakes under heavy load or hard, higher-speeds? Personally, I don't recommend resurfacing front rotors, especially on a heavier vehicle. Resurfacing means taking away thickness, and it will weaken/warp them much faster. The RX isn't a lightweight. Advance Auto Parts has rotors for $58 - $67 each, and I've always had pretty good results with them.
It sounds like it's something rotational. Have you tried lifting the whole front off the ground, removing each wheel at a time, and spinning the wheels to carefully look for anything that could possibly be rubbing or touching anything? If it were more of a tinny sound, I'd point to the dust shield just touching the rotor. Being a heavier clunking sound, I'd have to rule that out.
The resurfaced rotors... how do they feel when applying the brakes under heavy load or hard, higher-speeds? Personally, I don't recommend resurfacing front rotors, especially on a heavier vehicle. Resurfacing means taking away thickness, and it will weaken/warp them much faster. The RX isn't a lightweight. Advance Auto Parts has rotors for $58 - $67 each, and I've always had pretty good results with them.
I did lift up the front end and turned each wheel manually while someone gradually applied the brakes. Did not hear or notice anything unusual, I tried a new rotor and still no change. Could a CV axle or bearing be making this noise. The dealer charges a minimum of $150 for diagnoses.
So, just to be clear, it only does it when applying the brakes, correct? If so, I wouldn't think an axle/CV joint or bearing would be the issue. It's only doing it when applying the brakes going forward, which tells me it's related to the downward force on the front caliper(s). Can you narrow it down to one side, or are both sides doing it?
Now I'm leaning towards an issue with the calipers. Were your old calipers faulty, or did you replace them as precautionary? Have you checked the caliper slide pins? Are the slide pins in the old calipers in good condition? I think the next thing I'd try is pulling each slide pin and compare them to the old ones. Some vehicles can forgo the rubber bushings on the slide pins, while others will cause noises if they're absent. Were the new calipers fully loaded, trusting the slide pins were correctly installed and greased?
I found a thread on here talking about the front pad change. I know you're experienced in this job, so I'm not implying you're not, but there is mention of anti-squeal shims being transferred to the new pads. I'm not sure that would contribute to this issue, though. I wouldn't think so.
I'm still leaning towards the calipers/slide pins. They're the only moving parts that you replaced, and this definitely sounds like it's related to moving parts that are different than before this issue started.
If all else fails, the slide pins appear fine, and the old calipers are still in working order, I'd be tempted to swap them back out to see if the issue goes away. It's a fair amount of work, but it'll save you any potential diagnosis fee, let alone labor costs that you could do yourself.
Wow... weird. At least you found a way to silence it, even though that's one strange fix.
I came to this conclusion after talking to a mechanic friend of mine, although he suggested focusing on the pads to make sure their wasn't a difference between the inner and outer pads. After looking at all the pads I could not see a difference in them that would tell me their was an inner and outer pad and then out of desperation I did the 1 pad swap and what you know its gone.
01-22-17, 08:54 AM
Noise after new brake install?
