Grinding sound when braking... W202 C180

[PJ Coetsee]

Hi Guys,

I just bought a 1996 W202 C180. She has done alot of km's - 367 000 to be exact, but I got her for a steal out of a deseased estate.

Anyways, back to the problem...

She has new brake pads and discs on. Now the following happens when driving. When braking normal, all is good, no noise. but if you stamp on the brakes, and not to the point where ABS ativates, there is a horrible metal on metal noise coming from the passenger side (Left front in South Africa).

I took of the wheel, calliper, pads and disc, and I cannot find any damage on the disc to indicate something wrong... Im stunned, it only happens when braking.

I adjusted the pad-to-disc clearance slightly with no effect.

Any ideas??

Regards, Jakkie.

 

[renault12ts]

I'm curious as to how you adjusted the pad to disc clearance?

 

[PJ Coetsee]

Hi Renault,

On the 'floating pins' there are two adjusting nuts where you can set the pad/disk clearance to fit new pads.

 

[renault12ts]

Strange.

Anyway, look for things which might grind against each other in hard braking. In particular look at the wheel for damage.

 

[PJ Coetsee]

There's no damage inside the rim, I checked that specifically because I thought the calliper might be grinding against it. There is no visible damage to either the inside of the rim, nor on the brake disc.

Im baffled... Could it possibly be a wheel bearing?

 

[whitenemesis]

Although you think the sound is coming from the front, check the rear brakes. As you say the noise only happens with heavy braking, this is when the rears will come into play, there is very little rear brake effort on light applications..

 

[DRBC43AMG]

Check for uneven pad wear and rusty discs at the rear on the inside face.

 

[PJ Coetsee]

The pads and disc's on the front are brand new.

I will check the rear ones for wear etc.

 

[flango]

Could it possibly be a wheel bearing?

That's exactly what I was going to suggest I had it happen on one of my Volvo's