Ashton89iroc

Alright guys, I wasn't sure where to post this so bare with me if there is a similar thread out there...

Ive had this weird squeaking noise coming from my car. it seems to be rotational..at walking speed it starts out as a click, then once i speed up it turns into a squeak. its coming from what I'm assuming to be the brakes, as i hit the brakes to slow down it starts to click again ONLY when i apply the brakes. I took it in to my Mechanic who does ALL the work on my car that i can't do on my own. I've never been unsatisfied with him before now...

so we jacked the car up and i had him listen to it, he turned the wheels and listened around a bit and after spending like 1 minute under there he crawls out and tells me i need ALL new bearings in my rear end..carrier bearings and pinion bearings (cost around 130 for a kit) now I'm obliged to believe him...but it seems to me that its something else.

Reason i think that is whenever i wash my car, i make sure to flush any and all dirt out of my rims, wheel wells and i even stick my hose in between the spokes of the rims to get deep in there...whenever i do this, and drive it immediately afterwards the squeak/clicking noise is MAGICALLY gone.

sorry for the long story....any clues on this? bad pads? something is bent in there?

TreeFiddy

How worn are the pads? Might be the wear indicators dragging on the rotors, just like they're supposed to when worn.

Raz

I was gonna say the same thing... did he shake the wheels sideways to check for 'play'? Ball joints (from car rebounding when braking)

ex-x-fire

Did he even remove the wheels?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Forget "mechanic".

First, figure out which wheel it is.

Put your car up on 4 jack stands in the driveway, on a level surface, SECURELY.

Turn each of the front wheels. Do you hear it?

Being DOUBLE DAMN SURE the car is SECURE on the stands, start it up, and put it in gear. Do the rears make it?

OK now you know which wheel it's coming from. Was it a front or a rear? Come back and tell us, and we'll give you things to look at. Meanwhile, take the wheel off, and look real close at the brakes on that wheel. Watch the rotor and see if it wobbles. See if there's any kind of an uneven spot on it (weird metallurgical things happen sometimes). See if you feel any roughness in any bearings, turning things by hand. Look closely around the rear axles for signs of fluid leaking; if it does, then the axle bearings are almost certainly bad, since the seals basically don't fail.

On the fronts, with all the parts as SUPER CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEP as they are, wouldn't hurt to just shotgun the whole shebang, and not even bother with any "troubleshooting"... rotors w new wheel bearings, calipers, pads, rubber lines. Should cost around $100 for THE ENTIRE THING. Hardly even worth dinking around with troubleshooting if it's a front; "when in doubt, swap it out".

Ashton89iroc

I know for a fact its coming from the back half of the car, and I'm FAIRLY sure its coming from the driver's side..but its tough to tell when you're trying to drive at the same time. i'll throw it up on stands this weekend and tell you guys what i come up with. I just replaced the outer axle bearings a few weeks ago as well.

91 outlaw

If you have drums in the rear check the hardware over time they tend to wear disc you could have a caliper sticking check the slide pins. If brakes are good re check the grease quality on the bearings did it start after you replaced the bearings? Could be a bad one. When checking them repack them. They come pre packed but if you are going to pull it out grease it up.

Raz

AHAHAHA

Ashton89iroc

the noise was already there before i replaced the outer bearings, originally thought it was that and clearly i was wrong. no he didn't take off the wheels, just turned them and listened. oddly enough the rear driver's side wheel was harder to turn the the passenger side one...

ChrisC

Not so odd in context if you think that is the problem wheel. Caliper could easily have been frozen and caused your issue (assuming disc rear end).

If he didn't have time to take the wheel off and properly diagnose then you shouldn't have time to bring the car back to him. DIY once and then you'll know for the next thousand times you have to do it!

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

He probably thinks theres a bad bearing in the diff, if you're gonna replace one you might as well replace all of them. Kind of stupid to take it all apart and only replace one bearing, and if you dont know which one it is until you tear it apart.... might as well just get them all from the start. Shouldn't be that expensive and perhaps should be regular maintenance. Axle bearings and carrier bearings and maybe the pinion bearing, shouldn't be a big deal as long as he checks the gear pattern and clearances before he buttons it back up.

You dont need to remove a wheel to check that, although I would imagine you'd need to remove it to verify that its not something in the brake system.

He may be wrong, but I dont think he's trying to screw anyone.

Ashton89iroc

true, i only took it to him because i didn't know what to look for.

also, i put on brand new calipers and when i did that i put new pads on as well. that was only a few weeks ago and pads usually last me a few months.

regardless ill have to wait till saturday to put it on stands and take everything apart.

do the sliders for the rear calipers need to be greased/lubed?

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

I had a weird clicking in my 9-bolt that I just ignored for a year or so. When I put the 3.70's in it, I found this bearing. The rollers looked just as crappy as this race. Im not sure Id call it a squeak, and Im not saying that its your problem, just saying that it happens and this is probably what he's thinking.

Ashton89iroc

thats exactly what he said, he thinks its both the carrier bearings as well as pinion bearings. the only reason i disagree with him is because when i was my car and get the brakes area wet or I'm driving in the rain, the squeaking and clicking noise goes away...and that makes me think its the brakes because the water is acting as a lubricant. then when it dries...it goes back to squeaking and clicking.

water wouldn't effect the differential bearings because they're sealed inside the pumpkin...

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

I agree, but any issue on the brakes should be fairly obvious if you've got disc brakes. Take the wheel off and look at it. Put the car in neutral and jack up the car in the air and see if you can hear/see anything.

Ashton89iroc

Alright, ill do that this weekend and come back with any questions i might have and post what i found. my last question is this...on the rear calipers, it has that little bar that slides into a socket, i assume this part is what allows the caliper to float back and forth....does this bar need to be lubed up?

91 outlaw

It should slide but you should have 2 pins that slide you can go to autozone advance napa whatever your pleasure and get a caliper bolt kit it will include new slide pins and other bolts I paid like $12 for mine I did it before I put the pbr calipers on.

The cost can add up but if you are going to do any type of work on your car for instance brakes if something looks slightly off replace it espically if the cost if under $30 and you are possibly replacing a 20 year old part.

Also if your mechanic supplies the parts he will mark them up and you do not know the quality ex. moog vs drive works front end parts he could charge you moog price for parts with a 3 yr warranty instead of lifetime supply them as much as you can in your research you might find its better to do it your self. Brings me back to my point if you do it yourself you can see things like that brake line rubbing etc.

light sanding on the pads have your rotors checked for runout so you dont turn them if they dont need it change the pins and rock and roll

ChrisC

Yeah the slides need to be greased and pads should last you much longer than just a few months

Ashton89iroc

sweet, when i had him install my calipers he didnt lube the slides, they were bone dry...so maybe that is causing floating issues and is making a squeak. I meant that as a generalization, they last me a heck of a long time. haha

91 outlaw

Mechanics do get tired of looking at the same car. Thats a common sense thing to check the slide pins. Chris is right a few months something is wrong like the calipers hanging up burning pads and causing alot of drag. If you can pull a caliper do it yourself but have the rotors checked you dont want to pull it back down next weekend due to a vibrating warped rotor.

Ashton89iroc

I tossed on new rotors as well, that took down the loudness of the squeak by about 40%