Driver's side wheel clicking noise.

[Mide]

So I went out driving in this fine May weather with the windows down and I noticed that there was an odd clicking sound coming from my front driver's side wheel. I did some testing and here is what I found out.

1) Clicks x times per rotation of the tire so if I'm going slower there are fewer clicks and if I go faster there is more in a shorter time spaced.
2) Will go away immediately if I even touch the brakes. This obviously makes me think that it has something to do with the brakes.
3) Don't hear much if I am turning the wheel like making a U turn or something...very noticeable if I'm just driving in the straight line.

Any ideas? I've read some stuff online about wheel bearings or the brake pistons and such. Will take off the wheel and inspect more closely this afternoon.

 

[Fern]

Might want to add what kind of car you're talking about. Also if it's rear wheel drive or front.

Fern

 

[Mide]

Oh, a 2005 Infiniti G35x, AWD.

 

[phucheneh]

Twenty to one somebody installed the brake hardware wrong and it's rubbing against the wheel. Check to make sure the metal tabs are underneath the wear indicators. Super common...that shit baffles people and they decide 'meh, who cares.' You'd think they'd at least grab a pair of dykes and clip those tabs off if they can't figure them out.

 

[phucheneh]

...I circled what I'm talking about. You could probably assume that.

Those little tabs stick out at about a 45* angle, and when you install the pads, you slide end of the wear tab over it and then push the pad into the bracket. It should be pretty natural, 'cause brake pads usually fall into place the easiest if you rest the side closest to the hub in the bracket first, then push the outer part down. Geometrically advantageous and whatnot...

 

[LTC8K6]

CV joints can make that type of noise, but they normally make it when you turn the wheel.

 

[Blieb]

I've had rocks in tread make that noise.

Stopping when braking makes it sound like it's not that ... but you never know. Start with simple

 

[Mide]

I've had CV joints fail and yeah each time you could hear it when the wheel was turned.

phucheneh - You're right about the little tab but it was on the other side. Upon further inspection, the previous owner did a break job on the car and mixed up the pair of pads for the front brakes so the tabbed side for one pad is on the wrong wheel. Judging by the wear and such I'll have to replace both pads for both sides and maybe the rotor too. Not sure if this will fix the noise but it's a good start.

 

[phucheneh]

IIRC those tabs are on both sides and all four pads have wear indicators. They should all be at the top. on the bottom, i belive the inboard pad will hit something. The purpose is just to prevent vibration (squealing), though.

The pad wear may be from sticking slide pins. When you do the brakes, pull them out and lube them. Clean the old lube off first if it's got a kind of gummy consistency.

 

[phucheneh]

Okay, I was using my phone earlier, so your kinda bad pics were compounded by glorious HVGA resolution.

...whoever did those brakes was clueless.

1) It looks like your brake hose is twisted. Like someone pulled the caliper off and rotated it 360 degrees when they put it back on. Makes the hose coil up. Not positive on this; it's hard to see, but it doesn't look right to me.

2) I don't think your caliper bolts are tight. After the rubber boot, towards the head of the bolt, there is a metal shoulder on the caliper pin that looks like a circle with two flat edges. They are not oriented right. See this precision factory MSPaint diagram:

The green is the orientation of the flat spots. The red is a raised area that one flat will sit against, keeping it from rotating as you tighten the bolt. If they DID get the bolt tight, they were probably cursing it the whole time. And the pin is now probably slightly cocked and binding.

3) As stated above, the wear indicators, along with the corresponding tabs on the brake hardware, go toward the top. I'm pretty certain that with factory pads and hardware, said wear indicator on the inner pad WILL hit something if it's at the bottom. Either the caliper or the caliper bracket.

I would strongly advise disassembling the brakes and rechecking everything. It looks like your rotors are probably warped, anyhow. I say that because only Nissan rotors ever seemed to have painted hats, and I got to where I could look at the wear surface on those and say, in cases where they showed the same signs of heat as yours, 'that rotor is definitely warped.' I know it sounds like bullshit, but a test drive always confirmed it. The alternative is when the rotors don't show the same distress, in which case I said 'those rotors are probably warped.'

Anyhoo, if you happen to not replace the rotors, still check the torque on the caliper bracket bolts. They come stupid-tight from the factory.

Also, you've still got the retarded dust shields. Which is to say, no dust shields. There was a TSB on that with a 'fixed' part that is...actually a dust shield. Nissan claimed they were causing warped rotors, to which I said 'you guys are freaking stupid,' but then proceeded to replace them if the car was under warranty and there was a pulsation complaint. Thanks for the 2.3 flat rate hours, fellas!

Anyhoo again, my point was going to be that because your 'dust shield' consists only of a piece of metal sticking down by the lower ball joint, it gets bent and shoved into the rotor really easily. So...check that, too.

edit: ...check the torque on your axle nuts, too. Spec is somewhere in vicinity of 'as tight as you can get it'...or, how about, once it bottoms, about five second of sustained impacting with an axle nut socket and an Ingersol-Rand 2131.

 

[Mide]

Yeah no I'll have to replace everything from what I saw.

1) The rotor totally has less material probably 2mm on the side facing the car vs. the outside. I'm not sure if both sides are supposed to wear down equally but they definitely were not when I took the caliper off.

2) I'm not sure about the twistability of the caliper when I got it off, but I'll take a second look at how it is twisted when I change things up.

3) The caliper bolts seemed OK...when I put them back on, I torqued them to 20ftlbs as per specs.

4) I'll have to take a closer look at the rubber boot vs the bolt. I didn't notice anything peculiar when I was looking at it. Screwing in the bolts didn't seem to have much resistance.

5) You are 100% correct, I also think the rotors are warped because I feel pulsing when I brake after getting off of the freeway.

6) Yeah the caliper bracket bolts have a torque spec of around 113ftlb

 

[phucheneh]

Oh, you took them apart...sorry. Heh.

But I think I'm right on the orientation of the caliper pins. I'm not sure if you're pickin' up what I'm puttin' down with respect to that. Allow me to create another wonderful picture:

Cutaway view. Green is caliper. Black is caliper bolt. Blue is slide pin. Slide pin can be oriented wrong and not seat properly. If you took the pin as I've shown it, and rotate it 90*, it will seat into that pocket properly.

 

[Mide]

Oh yeah I'm totally understanding now. The slide pin is the metal part that can rotate. OK I'll definitely look at this.

I found a vid online that mentions when I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgA7N87Pozw

Separate Question:
Does the black bolt need to be greased up? It was pretty dry when I looked at it, but it confuses me to grease up something that is screwed in and torqued. (Or I'm referring to the wrong bolt. I helped a friend do a brake job on an IS350 and it was very obvious where grease needed to be put on 2 long pins)

 

[phucheneh]

The grease goes between the boot and the exterior of the pin. After the caliper is off, grab the metal part of the pin in one hand, pinch the boot with other, and gently wiggle and pull until they seperate. Leave the boot on the caliper bracket, it can be annoying to put back on- the rubber at that end gets stuffed into a hole rather than simply being popped over a little ridge, like at the bolted end.

When bolted up, the pins are basically a solid piece with the caliper, and are free to slide in and out of the caliper bracket (the 'C' shape of the caliper is what retains them)...after doing a brake job, before pumping the pedal to seat the pistons, I always grab the caliper and give it a shake to make sure it floats freely.

No lube on the bolt. It's static. Some people loctite them (blue, not red), but I've honestly never seen anyone in a shop do it. Not needed.

Do not use a C-clamp on the caliper as shown in that video. Yeah, it works, but it's much better to use the right tool, which pushes against the the part of the caliper opposite the piston, rather than clamping. The screw-type ones work okay and are cheap. I prefer the kind with a handle that you squeeze, though.

 

[Mide]

Yeah I use the cheap twisty tool with an old brake pad.

It'll be 2 weeks before I can give a go at the brake job again but I'll do it and report back. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Carly]

Hi Mide

I just heard the same noise on my car with windows down. I have a brand new Corolla with only 3k miles.

How did you fix it eventually? Was it the brake pads or the CV joint?

Thank you!!

 

[LTC8K6]

Hi Mide

I just heard the same noise on my car with windows down. I have a brand new Corolla with only 3k miles.

How did you fix it eventually? Was it the brake pads or the CV joint?

Thank you!!

A brand new Corolla making such a noise should be driven straight back to the dealer.

 

[Carly]

A brand new Corolla making such a noise should be driven straight back to the dealer.

Thanks. Yes I am going to take it to the dealership but I just wanted to know if it is the brakes or the CV joint, in case they are not honest with me

 

[NutBucket]

Why wouldn't they be honest with you? It's a warranty problem and won't cost you a penny.

 

[thebigscot1987]

I have a ford galaxy 98 model and my car clicks.sounds like its coming from driver side wheel and gets worse the faster i drive.was just wondering what it could be and if its fixable?any help would be great.