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Scraping from Right Front Wheel 700 1989

I have a very alarming scraping coming from the right front wheel of my car. I have recently installed new rotors, calipers, and pads so I assumed it was a case of the calipers not retracting. However, I need some sage advice on diagnosing this since I have another suspicion that affects my approach to getting home tonight from work.

If it were the caliper failing to pull the pad back from the rotor, wouldn't the noise change, even slightly, when I apply the brakes? Wouldn't it mute a bit or go away completely?

It is not the dust shield. I have checked that, actually a couple of times.

My fear is it's the wheel bearing. It is a grinding sound that increases with speed. It will sometimes go away, usually at higher speeds. However, it is pretty consistent at lower speeds. Now it has started a more high pitch sound as well.

What do you think? Is my wheel going to fly off on the drive home? Is there a gremlin tearing apart the wing?

UPDATE: a mechanic has told me that the caliper might have a bracket that doesn't match the vehicle. Apparently he has seen this before with rebuilt calipers.

-JSBB
--
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. —Bertrand Russell








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Scraping from Right Front Wheel 700 1989

A grinding noise, if coming from the brakes, is usually caused by a foreign object, such as a piece of gravel, lodged somewhere that it can contact rotating parts, or embedded in the surface of the brake pad. A similar situation can occur if the rotors are worn and have a ridge at the edge, and the pads are replaced. the old ones would be worn to accomodate that ridge, but the new ones would contact it first and this can cause noise (and poor braking) Another related possibility is a buildup of flaky rust on the rim of the rotor, which can also cause noises. These last two are probably not your problem, as you mentioned having recently replaced the rotors.

A sticking caliper will not cause noise until it has worn the pads away to nothing and the backing plates are starting to eat into the rotor. It would also cause the car to pull noticeably to one side.

An incorrect caliper bracket is quite obvious. I had this happen when I did mine. I have the 10 1/2" rotors on my 745 GLE, with Bendix brakes. One of the rebuilt calipers came with a bracket for a Turbo, with 11 1/2" rotors. Everything bolted together more or less normally, but when I put the pads in, it was apparent that something was wrong. The pad was radially displaced by about 1/2 inch, so that the friction material was halfway off the rotor. This would definitely cause noise, and poor braking, if one were to drive on such a mismatch.

If your problem is a failing wheel bearing (rare, in my experience) the noise will get louder when cornering in the opposite direction, which increases the load on the affected wheel. In your case, the noise is on the right, so it should get louder when turning left, if it is indeed the wheel bearing. If the noise does not vary with cornering load, it is probably something else.








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Scraping from Right Front Wheel 700 1989

I figured it out. There was a buckle in the dust shield that I did not notice. It was pushig the bracket out enough so that the bracket was rubbing the rotor.

Thanks for the ideas though.

-JSBB
--
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. —Bertrand Russell







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