Knocking Brakes in the United Kingdom

[Mark Stephens]

First of all, I want to thank you Eric the Car Guy for posting your videos
on YouTube, I used some of your detailed techniques and did a full brake
job last year on my 2004 Toyota Yaris Verso here in England.

On the 20th of August 2013, I had a scraping noise coming from the left front wheel
when I started braking. Here in Britain, the left side is the passenger side since we drive
on the wrong side of the road..ha. The scraping sound was not heard after early morning starts and within the first
10 minutes of driving, but started after a few miles of driving.

I followed ETCG tip which mentioned greasing the calliper pins with silicone paste and with a friend
and a Saturday afternoon was able to replace front rotors and front disc brake pads and solve my scraping
problem.

However, I recently started hearing from that same left wheel, a gentle knocking noise
after I brake from speeds of about 40 mph. Again, it doesn’t do it on cold driving, but
will begin to be noticeable after 10 minutes of around town driving. It’s just a gentle
knocking a few seconds before the car comes to a dead stop.

Since I greased the calliper pins with silicone paste to fix the first problem in 2013, I am wondering if the pins
need doing again, or worst case, replacing the whole calliper assembly?

Does anyone have any history of this on your own car, and how did you fix it, please?

Topic

[Steven Cummings]

Can you raise the vehicle and shake/hit the tire/suspension components to rule out CV, steering linkage, anti-sway bar, etc.

How do your brakes feel when pressing them? Are the spongy or solid? Are your brakes ABS? Maybe the actuator is going bad if equipped. More information is needed

[Mark Stephens]

KingMeander,

I would need to go to my friends house to lift the car on jacks.
If I do lift the car on jacks, what kind of things do I look to observe?

The brakes feel solid, and yes I have ABS.

After reading your comments, perhaps I just need to take it to the shop
where they can examine all those components more closely?

[Steven Cummings]

Hi Marco,

Essentially you’re looking for loose/shaky/wobbly parts related to the suspension. Here is Eric’s video where he goes through the steps he uses to try to isolate a suspension noise.

One thing to keep an eye out for is cracked/worn boots as this can get dirt in the joints. I won’t say the brakes aren’t the problem, I’ve just never encountered knocking directly from the brakes. I have, however, had issues with suspension that were only noticed during braking (I guess due to the forward stress of the car?)

Good luck

[Mark Stephens]

KingMeander,

Thanks for posting that video. I just watched it and it gave me some work to
do in the morning. I’ll check out those things and listen to the noise as I am
driving tomorrow as I do my weekly shopping.

I will post my results as I know more.

Thanks for your help!

[college man]

You should not be using grease on the slide pins.
only brake silicone paste. Our tools page has it also.

[Mark Stephens]

collegeman,

Yes, you are absolutely right. I did use a silicone paste
when I lubricated my calliper pins. I should have been more
clear in my description. Thank you.

[Mark Stephens]

I took my 2004 Toyota Yaris Verso into the shop today and my problem
has been solved. The mechanic took a look at all the steering components
and didn’t find anything amiss, but did notice some rust around the metal
brake clips that hold the brake pads in the calliper and these were lubricated.

Also, the rear drums were removed, cleaned and lubricated the adjusters and
cleaned rear pads.

I paid for an hour labour, and was pleased that it wasn’t anything more serious.

[Author]

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