Are my brakes okay?
Discussion
I've noticed a very faint whirring/grinding sound coming from my brakes. It's very quiet — you really have to listen to it, and wouldn't hear it over even a very quiet radio. They work fine — the car doesn't judder or pull to one side under braking.
My first thought was my brake pads, but they look like they've got a bit of meat on them.
I will take this to my mechanic on Monday morning, but I thought I'd ask better-informed people than me on here in the meantime.
My first thought was my brake pads, but they look like they've got a bit of meat on them.
I will take this to my mechanic on Monday morning, but I thought I'd ask better-informed people than me on here in the meantime.
That's quite common and unlikely to be anything to worry about. It's quite normal for pads to rest against the surface of the disc when the brakes are off. You wouldn't normally hear this unless you have you ear up agaist it, but if any dirt got trapped on the face of the pad it may produce a slight grinding noise. The witness marks on that disc suggest something has been caught at some point.
If you want extra reassurance then look around the disc to make sure you don't have any loose wires or anything like that in contact with the disc, but that would be pretty unusual and also not safety critical in any case. From what you've described there's no reason not to drive the car while you figure out what's going on, and if it was me I'd give the problem a couple of weeks to go away on its own before I considered paying somebody to look into it.
If you want extra reassurance then look around the disc to make sure you don't have any loose wires or anything like that in contact with the disc, but that would be pretty unusual and also not safety critical in any case. From what you've described there's no reason not to drive the car while you figure out what's going on, and if it was me I'd give the problem a couple of weeks to go away on its own before I considered paying somebody to look into it.
Rear pads look a little low but not critical. If there’s a mechanical wear indicator that could be causing noise once the pads get down to 3mm or so?
Otherwise I think brakes often benefit from the equivalent of an ‘Italian tuneup’ - find an empty road and do some good hard stops from 70 down to 30 to get some heat and friction through them and clean up the surfaces
Otherwise I think brakes often benefit from the equivalent of an ‘Italian tuneup’ - find an empty road and do some good hard stops from 70 down to 30 to get some heat and friction through them and clean up the surfaces
The discs aren't in brilliant condition especially the rear, the inner surfaces may well be worse.
If it were mine I would be replacing discs & pads all round.
Having said that, they are still likely to pass the next MOT bit possibly with an advisory, and as you say they clearly still work, so it is up to you what to do/not about them.
If it were mine I would be replacing discs & pads all round.
Having said that, they are still likely to pass the next MOT bit possibly with an advisory, and as you say they clearly still work, so it is up to you what to do/not about them.
E-bmw said:
The discs aren't in brilliant condition especially the rear, the inner surfaces may well be worse.
If it were mine I would be replacing discs & pads all round.
Having said that, they are still likely to pass the next MOT bit possibly with an advisory, and as you say they clearly still work, so it is up to you what to do/not about them.
These were an advisory.If it were mine I would be replacing discs & pads all round.
Having said that, they are still likely to pass the next MOT bit possibly with an advisory, and as you say they clearly still work, so it is up to you what to do/not about them.
PositronicRay said:
E-bmw said:
The discs aren't in brilliant condition especially the rear, the inner surfaces may well be worse.
If it were mine I would be replacing discs & pads all round.
Having said that, they are still likely to pass the next MOT bit possibly with an advisory, and as you say they clearly still work, so it is up to you what to do/not about them.
These were an advisory.If it were mine I would be replacing discs & pads all round.
Having said that, they are still likely to pass the next MOT bit possibly with an advisory, and as you say they clearly still work, so it is up to you what to do/not about them.
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