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Today I finished replacing my front rotors, calipers, and brake pads on my 1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. My vehicle has a 3.1L and about 180,000 miles, and is a 4 door. For the last couple of weeks I had noise when braking. Once I took everything apart I noticed my calipers were bad by attempting to push back in the pistons (there are two on each caliper). It was my first time doing this and I believe I did everything correctly, although I was a little unsure about the bleeding. Anyways, the problem is that as I saw in one of Eric’s videos, I turned the wheels in order to get to the bolts for the calipers, and the last time I did it I heard a creaking sound (like a door). Once I put everything back together the brakes made a little noise at first but what concerns me is the wheels are having a very hard time turning. I checked the power steering fluid level and it was very low. I filled it. After filling I turned the wheels back and forth a couple times. Each time I have opened the power steering cap since there was a lot of pressure. Now the fluid is full of air bubbles. I am hoping that there is an easy solution to my problem, although I am unsure exactly what the problem is. Anything helps, thanks! Also, this was my first time working on brakes.
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congrads on your first brake job. I would say the noise is not brake related. The low fluid level is the indicator. I would inspect all power steering hoses for leaks including the brass washer. Check the pump its self. As well as the rack and pinon for leaks. This maybe be difficult to spot if you don’t know what you are looking for. Clean the engine or suspected areas. Start the car and have a person turn the wheel left to right. Don’t forget you safety glasses.
It sounds like your upper strut bearings are siezed. It’s possible that when you raised the car to replace the brakes the worn bearings slipped out of place slightly and now they are binding.
I have noticed myself that on some GM cars there is a little pressure when the power steering cap is removed. It’s not an issue. A few bubbles in the fluid is not normally a problem either. I’m sure the pump is working it’s butt off trying to overcome the binding strut bearings.
Well I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for but hopefully I can figure it out. But as low as the fluid was I expect I would have had at least something drip to the floor, and I didn’t notice anything.
The strut bearings are at the top of the struts above the springs where they bolt to the body. They allow rotation of the strut assembly when you turn the steering wheel.
If you do get in there the spring will need to be compressed before you remove the bearings.
After filling up the power steering fluid last night I took my car for a drive today. The brakes seem to be in working order, they feel the same as they did before. The power steering feels fine, left turns, right turns, u-turns and everything in between. However, when the car is parked, when I turn the wheels all the way to the left and all the way to the right there is still some whining/grinding in the system. What does this sound like? Also, the reason I did the brakes was because my front driver side tire had a squealing when I brake. Now, I still have the same squealing when I brake and if I brake hard, or try to stop fast at a higher speed, I get a wobble sound/feeling from my brakes (this is new). When I put the tires back on I noticed that the passenger side went on just fine, but the driver side bolts were too low, I had to jack the car up higher to get the tire on the bolts. I feel like my problem was not my brakes to begin with, although my passenger side pads showed uneven wear so I think changing all the brake parts was a good idea. Can anyone help me understand these issues? Should I take it in to be inspected?
Without intending to be at all discouraging, this is new territory for you and I think an inspection is both warranted and prudent. It is, afterall, how you roll, and your brakes and steering need to be sound for obvious reasons. Also, there may be some tools you’d need to aid in fixing this, like a spring compressor, that a shop would have.
Why not take it in to have it inspected and then let us know what, if anything, they find unless it’s something that they feel makes the car dangerous to drive. At that point, I’d let them fix it and afterwards let us know what was found and we can discuss it. ;>)
SparksYeah, I think I’m just going to bring it in and see what they find. I will be back with updates when I know more.
Thanks!NO what don’t bring it in yet. Did you replace the rotors? If you feel the pulsation while braking that means it is brake related. I am 100% sure you didn’t turn or replace your rotors.
[quote=”wurdson” post=63448]The power steering feels fine, left turns, right turns, u-turns and everything in between. However, when the car is parked, when I turn the wheels all the way to the left and all the way to the right there is still some whining/grinding in the system. [/quote]
This noise is normal. Meaning the pump is doing its job. Now if you filled up the reservoir and now it is empty then, yes you would have a leak. you can start looking for that.
[quote=”wurdson” post=63448]the reason I did the brakes was because my front driver side tire had a squealing when I brake. Now, I still have the same squealing when I brake and if I brake hard, or try to stop fast at a higher speed, I get a wobble sound/feeling from my brakes (this is new).[/quote]
Cheap pads can cause this. so dont put cheap pads back on.
[quote=”wurdson” post=63448]When I put the tires back on I noticed that the passenger side went on just fine, but the driver side bolts were too low, I had to jack the car up higher to get the tire on the bolts. I feel like my problem was not my brakes to begin with, although my passenger side pads showed uneven wear so I think changing all the brake parts was a good idea. Can anyone help me understand these issues? Should I take it in to be inspected?[/quote]
Not sure about this, it is worded confusing but maybe this video can help. I have also seen brake shields cause grinding noises. Good Luck!
Alright guys, it’s been a long time since I’ve been on here but fear not, I have answers! My power steering is fine. The brake problem ended up being the rear brakes. I thought that this had been replaced before but after bringing to a mechanic he told me that is the only problem. The only thing I had to do was replace the rear calipers, pads and rotors. Job done. The mechanic cost me $20, which is fine because I got professional advice on the job I had done and the job I needed to do. Also, I had my tires rotated and a punctured tire replaced at Discount Tire before I did any of this work and I had asked them to inspect my brakes. One guy told me they looked fine as far as he could tell. However, the rear rotor that was causing my problems was so bent out of shape, I don’t know how anyone, even a person with no knowledge of brakes could think that it was okay. On top of that the pad was completely worn on one side and was actually metal on metal. Overall this has been a great learning experience for me and I am proud to say I can do a brake job by myself. I would like to thank Eric the Car Guy because his videos helped me very much! Finally, I would like to apologize to anyone that has been waiting for my response for many weeks now.
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