brakes Front wheel caliper noise problem

[Happy Face]

There's been a fairly audible metallic clicking sound coming from my left front wheel. I finally removed the wheel and took a look. Its coming from one of the brake pads inside the caliper.

One of the pads (the outside one), is moving up and down about 3/16 of an inch as the rotor is turning. The metal backing of the brake pad is hitting the caliper bar guides like a little mini hammer.

I can't figure out why this pad is moving up and down. The inside pad does not move.

I'm attaching a link to a picture I made which shows what is happening.

Any help appreciated

thanks

dave

[/img]

[Guest Anonymous]

those don't look like oem pads and hardware - the pins holding in the spring should fit into the holes in the caliper on both sides - that's what keeps everything lined up.

[Happy Face]

These are Tii upgrade front brakes and are not original to the car. The pins do go through to the holes, you just can't see that in the picture.

[dlhoovler]

It would give a loud click when beginning braking, but be fine the rest of the time. I finally traced it to the pad(s) moving as you describe. The problem was that the "ears" on the pads that go around the guide pins had spread slightly (from being removed and replaced multiple times), allowing too much movement.

I bent the ears back down a little (need to be careful here!) and lubed up the guide pins, and it helped a little. The problem wasn't completely solved, though, until I changed out the pads for another set.

Even if you have a lot of pad material left, you may also need to change pads to fix this. They aren't too expensive, anyway...

-Dave

[Happy Face]

Dave

thanks. It sounds like you had a similar issue.

I've talked to the restoration shop who put the brakes on and they said that the problem could be that its a 'sticky' caliper. This translates to a moving pad inside the caliper.

If the fix is as easy however as changing the pads, I'm all for it and its worth a try.

In the meantime, it doesn't appear to be a critical issue. Just a little noisy.

so, are you driving your 'O2 in China?

:-)

[BillWilliams]

I just switched the inside and the outside pad and no more noise.

[dlhoovler]

so, are you driving your 'O2 in China?

:-)

Nope; I doubt there is a single '02 in the whole country--not many BMWs being imported in the middle of the Cultural Revolution... But I do see a number of 3-, 5-, and 7-series around here, even in our small town! There's even a fake X5. I don't know what it really is, but the body shape is similar, and it has BMW badging but a horrid panel putting kidneys in a larger grille area. I haven't seen it when I've had my camera, but I need to get that recorded before I leave.

The Orange Car is sitting in my mom's garage in Pennsylvania, waiting for me to rescue it and start driving it in June.

And let us know what finally fixes the noise.

-Dave