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Hello all, I drive a recent leased car with 4 wheel disc brakes and a manual transmission and noticed some issues with the brakes recently. It will soon be time for the 6 month/6000 mile scheduled maintenance but I wanted to know if there's anything I can do short of removing the wheels before then.
The issues I've noticed:
When parking overnight on flat ground, I apply the parking brake and put the transmission in gear, 1st or reverse. When leaving in the morning, I disengage the parking brake (it's a hand held) and notice a sort of lurch before the car moves, as if the rear brakes could be sticky. I also hear a "clunk" sound
This morning I was in a hurry to get to work and took a gravel road for about 2 miles following a big dump truck. The vehicle was kicking up a lot of dirt and some gravel - my car got dirty fast.
This afternoon when leaving work I noticed the brakes seems to be sticking , at least there was a constant scraping sound. When actually applying the brake pedal approaching a stop sign, the scraping sound became more pronounced.
I'm wondering if passing the car through an automatic car wash is a good idea (maybe something is scraping along the discs?) or whether something else can be done to free up possible sticky brakes / troubleshoot the scraping short of bringing the car to the dealer for an inspection. The challenge is that the nearest manufacturer dealer is 3 hours round trip away (live in a remote area now), I work Mon-Fri when it's open so unsure when I can go. Otherwise I could bring it to a general mechanic shop. It's my dad's car so he would have a say about what happens next.
I doubt you have anything embedded in the brake pad. Most likely a rock got wedged between your brake dust shield and the back of the rotor.
OP's symptom description: "When actually applying the brake pedal approaching a stop sign, the scraping sound became more pronounced."
While a pebble could have gotten wedged into the brake shield/rotor in the OP's dirt road driving scenario, the resulting scraping sound would be constant, likely alarmingly loud and get louder the faster she drove, and unchanged when the brakes were applied.
That doesn't appear to be the case here with the sound more pronounced upon brake application.
The critical detail here is that the brakes on the OP's car need attention now and she doesn't need to take the car to a distant dealer. A competent general car mechanic at her local indie shop should be able to isolate a wheel where the noise is coming from and clean out the brake rotor/pad & mechanical areas that appear to be causing the brakes to feel "sticky".
Getting a tech to look over the car now is the key to preventing potential damage as the OP is unable to assess the problem.
Sometimes you can pickup a rock and it can get stuck behind a dust shield and the rotor, causes a horrible grind. I picked one up the other day after driving over a new road (chipseal).
A few good runs in reverse with a hard braking would get it pop out.
Listening to guess work from all of us seems kind of pointless. In any event, the brakes should be visually inspected. Brake issues resulting "scraping" sounds are almost always obvious when you take a close look.
Thanks for the replies especially sunsprit's helpful analysis. I brought the car to an independent shop this afternoon and the mechanic put the car on a lift. He spun the left and then the right rear wheels and claimed the right rear pad (or is it pads) were finished. I could clearly see that the brake disc was damaged, he claimed from metal on metal contact. The grinding/scraping sound does not go away when releasing the brake pedal after stopping at a stop sign / red light.
He claimed the disc doesn't need resurfacing (he inspected it visually). Given my work schedule and the fact local independent shops close at 5pm, I only have a few choices. The car's brand dealer is hours away however there are independent and other brand dealers nearby.
I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with the first shop's quote for pads replacement and labor, the fact the owner and mechanic were both smoking (I'm a non smoker) and that they accept cash only. However given my time constraints with garages' limited opening times and my work schedule, I answered yes to the question on whether I was coming back tomorrow at opening time (just before work). I'm torn about what to do. The shop I visited is also open Saturday but given that Labor day is Monday, the earliest I can expect a parts order and repair to be done will then be Tuesday. How will I get to work without public transit, nor a bicycle? I don't want to spend $$ on cabs each time and walking is too far.
Thanks for the replies especially sunsprit's helpful analysis. I brought the car to an independent shop this afternoon and the mechanic put the car on a lift. He spun the left and then the right rear wheels and claimed the right rear pad (or is it pads) were finished. I could clearly see that the brake disc was damaged, he claimed from metal on metal contact. The grinding/scraping sound does not go away when releasing the brake pedal after stopping at a stop sign / red light.
He claimed the disc doesn't need resurfacing (he inspected it visually). Given my work schedule and the fact local independent shops close at 5pm, I only have a few choices. The car's brand dealer is hours away however there are independent and other brand dealers nearby.
I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with the first shop's quote for pads replacement and labor, the fact the owner and mechanic were both smoking (I'm a non smoker) and that they accept cash only. However given my time constraints with garages' limited opening times and my work schedule, I answered yes to the question on whether I was coming back tomorrow at opening time (just before work). I'm torn about what to do. The shop I visited is also open Saturday but given that Labor day is Monday, the earliest I can expect a parts order and repair to be done will then be Tuesday. How will I get to work without public transit, nor a bicycle? I don't want to spend $$ on cabs each time and walking is too far.
If there are "scraping" sounds and the pads are "finished," this most likely means the pads have worn down to the steel backing plates. In this event the rotor/discs are DAMAGED. Sight unseen, I would NOT trust their evaluation that the rotors/discs are OK. I also would not trust (at face value) a place that demands cash only; this could be the result of a history of customers whom have had bad experiences and used their CC companies to charge back to the shop. Sounds like you need to call around to the well-liked indy shops, see who can do the work and take a half day.
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