Sporadic Grinding Issue - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

dblhelx · 03-26-2010, 09:25 AM

Ok....another problem with this car. lol

I suspect it may be a brake issue....hopefully not a bearing issue, but I'd like some opinions PLEASE.

On my wife's 2005 Corolla when she comes to a stop the car stops just fine, PLENTY of bite. On the very next stop it grinds like crazy. Sounds JUST like when the pads are shot and the rotors are being ground down. Then the very next stop it's smooth as butter. The point being.....it's random. Can make 50 stops in a row just fine, then the next stop it's horrible grinding.

The pads have PLENTY of meat on them. I'm wondering if they aren't sliding on the clips correctly maybe? Gettting bound up and maybe going against the rotor on an angle maybe? This weekend I'm gonna take them apart and inspect again. Put some new clips in there, a dab of grease on the clips so they slide in and out easier.

I hope it's not a bearing! The fact you have to have them pressed out and in sucks! I hate paying someone to do work for me. I already have to swap in a new condensor this weekend due to a huge rock hole, and 3 weeks ago had to put in a new ECM.

TrdSpeed140 · 03-26-2010, 03:53 PM

damn dude, you're havin' all sorts of trouble lately. hope you can get this fixed soon

dblhelx · 03-26-2010, 05:15 PM

Toyota reliability? lol uh huh

This is the wife's second Corolla. The 1999 we had was awesome. My brother in law still has it after we gave it to him 2 years ago now with 210,000 miles and it runs perfectly. Only put a starter in that over the course of 7 years.

This Corolla is a lump-O-crap. I mean it runs perfectly, but lately it's been nitpicking me to death wasting every free weekend I have in the garage.

ECM
Condensor
Grinding brakes

I'm gonna take the brakes apart, clean everything, grease the bolt/pins that the calipers slide on, the pad retaining clips, etc. See if that helps. if it was grinding all the time that's one thing.....but the grinding is sporadic....weird crap. makes me think something is binding up.

Now the condensor has a HUGE hole in it. I'm just gonna swap a new one in, new O-rings and try to charge it myself with another kit from Autozone. Screw it. If that doesn't work then I'll have a pro vacuum it out and all that crap. I'm fed up.

RyanL · 03-26-2010, 06:09 PM

The brakes on my 07 were acting up too, but it may be different. Usually the first couple of stops I made while driving, it would do this squeaking / grinding thing, but then it would go away. Like you, plenty left on the brake pads. And also like you, I was freaked out because it sounded like metal-on-metal like I was grinding my rotor . . . but just sometimes. Weird.

Since it was still under warranty and I had a belt squealing too, I took it in to the service center. They said the common problem is that those brake pads glaze over. So the dude just took the pads off and sanded them down a bit to take off the "shininess" or whatever - I thought it sounded a bit bogus, but well, it worked. And they fixed it for free for me

Let us know what you figure out!

dblhelx · 03-27-2010, 12:22 PM

Well even though I JUST put pads on this thing at the most 6 months ago the driver's side pads were down to the backing plate!@!@! And the rotor is gouged. TIme for pads and rotors.

Thing is the passenger side pads weren't nearly that bad. Makes me think the caliper on the driver's side is sticking and making the pads wear faster.

I haver never had that problem. Time to do some reading and see how to remedy this.

RyanL · 03-27-2010, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dblhelx

Well even though I JUST put pads on this thing at the most 6 months ago the driver's side pads were down to the backing plate!@!@! And the rotor is gouged. TIme for pads and rotors.

Thing is the passenger side pads weren't nearly that bad. Makes me think the caliper on the driver's side is sticking and making the pads wear faster.

I haver never had that problem. Time to do some reading and see how to remedy this.

Ooh, that sucks. Sorry man. The same thing happened to me in my old car - a 1999 Olds Cutlass (aka re-badged Chev Malibu). And that's what the problem was: a bad caliper. Replaced the caliper and it took care of the problem. Good luck!

dblhelx · 03-27-2010, 03:53 PM

Well I serviced the caliper. Cleaned the piston well, re-greased it and it moves very freely.

Flushed the brake fluid with new DOT4.

Last time I bought rotors and pads I bought the ones from Autozone (Duralast) that have a lifetime warranty. So I walk into Autozone with the rotors and pads and they give me free replacements.

I cleaned EVERYTHING well, scotchbrite scrubbed the guide pins and retaining clips, little thin dab of grease so everything freely slides.

Everything workds great now.

TrdSpeed140 · 03-27-2010, 08:57 PM

finally, someone who does a brake job right! good stuff man.

gideon1331 · 03-27-2010, 11:48 PM

I had a similar problem with my Corolla. Might be different than your problem, but similar enough I guess.

Similar problem. Sporadic grinding under braking. One set of front brake pads was completely gone. Wear indicators were either not installed at the factory (it was built by Americans after all) or just not working.

Since the 2005+ Corollas have electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), the car was able to tell that one front rotor was no longer slowing the car. It therefore pumped all pressure to the other front brake, thus destroying it. The grinding was when it didn't completely cut hydraulic pressure to the worn out pads and they were contacting the rotor.

Just something to look for. The car will sacrifice one front rotor to save you if the other front rotor has no braking ability.