2012 Ford Focus Titanium

[geraintthomas]

Turns out the caliper was on an angle due to an ill-fitted clip (my fault). Nevertheless, after adjusting, greasing and cleaning, the noise is still there. It's essentially a scraping/scratching noise that happens twice per rotation of the wheel, and a quieter scrape that happens in between, also twice per rotation, meaning there's a scratch/scrape four times per rotation. As suspected, a warped disc pushing the pads. I took the wheel off and spun the brake disc, and the reflection wobbles along with it. The other side is fine, along with my MX-5 which the reflection of the disc doesn't move at all. This has confirmed that the disc is warped, and that it's catching on the pads. Finally an answer.

Rather than trying to faff around, I've just ordered a brand new set of discs and pads. Again. I was quite reluctant from only recently replacing them, but it was a mistake in doing so.

Essentially, I replaced the discs and pads before replacing the binding caliper, and drove to Cornwall on it, which ruined the new disc, hence the problems. Now that it has a new caliper, new boots and new slighting bolts, it's best to just throw a new disc and set of pads on it too.

Question though. The brake disc and pads on the other side are around 1,000-2,000 miles old. Probably a couple of months. Do I replace these too? The new brakes came in a full set, so I could either replace the almost-new side so that both fronts are identical, or just leave it be as it's relatively new?

[bungz]

Would not be concerned about it myself if that recent.

[geraintthomas]

The only thing that's on my mind would be the bedding in. One brake wouldn't be as effective until I bed it in, but I suppose I could do the bedding procedure to fast track that.

[GIYess]

If they have a fairly flat surface I'd say pads will be grand.

My first thought when reading the brake woes was the slider pins but I see you have looked at them. You maybe more experienced than me at brakes but having lots of Japanese stuff I have met about every problem brakes can throw at you! Do the slide pins right in and out freely? I've had a few that will jam when pushed right in and caused the brakes to bind. Needed a new caliper carrier.

[geraintthomas]

GIYess said:

If they have a fairly flat surface I'd say pads will be grand.

My first thought when reading the brake woes was the slider pins but I see you have looked at them. You maybe more experienced than me at brakes but having lots of Japanese stuff I have met about every problem brakes can throw at you! Do the slide pins right in and out freely? I've had a few that will jam when pushed right in and caused the brakes to bind. Needed a new caliper carrier.

Sliding pins are perfect, caliper doesn't overheat anymore, it's greased well too. The pins go through rubber boots so it's all lovely and free, but I think the damage had been done and now the disc is warped and is catching the pads as it rotates. I've got the discs/pads waiting to go on, just waiting for some good weather.

[geraintthomas]

I'm slowly loosing my mind here.

This was the old disc:



You can clearly see the brake pads are being applied on an angle, which could be down to the pads being worn incorrectly, or the disc wearing incorrectly, all from the old binding caliper. This started after I put the new caliper on, and even after new pins and pin boots, it was still wearing like this. Assuming that the old caliper had just worn the disc/pads incorrectly, today I put on a new disc and a new set of pads.

But guess what:



The new disc is doing the same thing.

It's not making any sounds this time, but it's not wearing on the inner part of the outside face, and not wearing on the outer part of the inside face, showing that it's still braking on an angle still.

So a new caliper, new pins, new boots, new disc and pads, and it's still wearing on an angle. This has only started with the new caliper, so at this point I'm thinking that the new caliper is at fault here, and the piston is coming out on an angle.

I'm going to buy a rebuild kit to rebuild the original binding caliper, and will also pick up a used carrier to ensure that mine's not somehow out of shape.

After I do this, it'll all be new. It's impossible for it to still be wearing on an angle with the old caliper rebuilt sitting on a new carrier.

But with my luck...

[bungz]

That's a right pain in the arse.

If it was me I would prob get a scrapper caliper and carrier, it obviously isn't sitting right at all.

I would maybe avoid the cheap reman stuff and just get a used genuine one, they are dirt cheap on the bay.

[BricktopST205]

Maybe the car has been in an accident and the wrong carrier has been put on or something?

[geraintthomas]

bungz said:

That's a right pain in the arse.

If it was me I would prob get a scrapper caliper and carrier, it obviously isn't sitting right at all.

I would maybe avoid the cheap reman stuff and just get a used genuine one, they are dirt cheap on the bay.

This is what the plan is, except I'll rebuild my original caliper that I still have. A rebuild kit is cheap and I've done it before, so I know it'll function well. I'll pick up a second hand carrier too, and will also buy new sliding pin boots as the previous new ones may be warped due to the newish caliper being bad. Should all be sitting fine after this.

Drives well though with no sounds, so there's no rush.

[GIYess]

Can I suggest one more thing if you don't mind.
The spring clip, that sits in two holes in the caliper and over the caliper carrier, could it be out of shape?

[geraintthomas]

GIYess said:

Can I suggest one more thing if you don't mind.
The spring clip, that sits in two holes in the caliper and over the caliper carrier, could it be out of shape?

That's not a bad shout. For how cheap they are, I wonder if it's worth replacing that first...

[geraintthomas]

GIYess said:

Can I suggest one more thing if you don't mind.
The spring clip, that sits in two holes in the caliper and over the caliper carrier, could it be out of shape?

I think you may be onto something here. I don't know why I didn't compare the 'look' of the calipers before, from side to side. Doing so yesterday, I found one was sitting differently.

This is the O/S/F caliper, that's functioning perfectly:



This is the N/S/F caliper, that's not using the inner part of the disc:



You can see there's a much bigger gap as it's not being pulled towards the carrier as much as the other side. This could well be down to that clip, so I'm going to swap the clip with the other side and take it for a drive to see if that fixes it.

Any other ideas as to why it's sitting like this if it's not the clip?

[bungz]

The reason the spring looks wonky is because you can see the caliper is skewed in the carrier, something not right with it.

[geraintthomas]

bungz said:

The reason the spring looks wonky is because you can see the caliper is skewed in the carrier, something not right with it.

The spring looks wonky? I can't see a difference between the two photos, they look the same to me. The only difference I see is the caliper sitting higher. I'm not sure if this is because of the clip itself not pulling it down as far as it should, or because of a bad carrier.

What I may do is put old binding caliper back on as a test fit. I won't link it up to the brake line, I'll just bolt it up as if it's a finished job - clip, pads, etc. I'll see where it sits as if it sits the same, it has to be the clip or carrier. If it sits lower then it could well be that the holes which the sliding bolt boots fit into aren't straight on the new caliper.

I'm struggling to think what else it could be.

[bungz]

From the picture it looks like it isn't sitting flush because the caliper doesn't look to be sitting true.

Swap it back see if you can get the old one to sit nicely, may be better if it has tension on it though from being hooked up though.

[geraintthomas]

bungz said:

From the picture it looks like it isn't sitting flush because the caliper doesn't look to be sitting true.

Swap it back see if you can get the old one to sit nicely, may be better if it has tension on it though from being hooked up though.

I see. The other side looks the same to be in the photos mind, but I could be looking at something different.

It's alright I'll be hooking up the old one fully, the clip and everything, just not the brake hose (the other caliper will be connected to it, hanging out of the way) so I can see how it would sit. I have a shock absorber to replace on my MX-5 first, and then I'll be tackling this.

I've never had such a simple job turn into such a mess.

[bungz]

Sorry to keep replying to this but just look at the caliper, the quality of the casting is awful compared to the original

The area that the spring goes into is completely different...

Lob it in the bin.

[geraintthomas]

bungz said:

Sorry to keep replying to this but just look at the caliper, the quality of the casting is awful compared to the original

The area that the spring goes into is completely different...

Lob it in the bin.

Not at all! It's all helping.

I painted the good side silver, the new caliper is silver that hasn't been painted, so it looks a little different. But you're right in saying about the area that the clip goes into. Hadn't noticed that before...

I'll hook up the old caliper. If it sits good then I'll rebuild it with new a piston and seals.

[geraintthomas]

Before I sort the caliper problem out, I have a new problem. Engine problems!

Very strange tapping (or very light knocking) noise. Has only started a few weeks ago, but the main thing is that it doesn't happen all the time. It does happen more than not, but some days the engine is totally smooth without this tapping at all. Very inconsistent.

Here's what it sounds like from the inside:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZX0rgrFKec

Here's what it sounds like from the outside (the noise doesn't come from the belt area):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcyftgbnG4E

It's on 141,000 miles and had its timing belt replaced about a year ago. Full service with oil change was around April. Engine's oil level is normal and there's no leaks around the engine.

One thing: the temperature gauge only seems to heat up to about 25% on the gauge, and it fluctuates now and again. This seems to be a bad thermostat which I'm going to replace soon, but I thought I'd throw it out there in case it's somehow weirdly related to this noise.

[Smiljan]

Have a good look at the exhaust manifold for cracks, other than that if you go around the engine with a long screwdriver against your ear and the other end against various (non moving) parts of the engine it’ll amplify the noise and make it easier to narrow down,

Lastly check all of your spark plugs are nice and tight too.