Vehicle Grinding Noise

[.455_Hunter]

So on my wife's car, we had all the brakes/rotors done about two weeks ago and the tires rotated this past Saturday. On Sunday afternoon/evening, she and the kids drove from Boulder to Kearney, NE, and on Monday the rest of the way to Sioux Falls, SD without any issue, but they did drive through some precipitation near their destination. The car was parked outside at my in-laws for two days since then.

Today, my wife starts to drive it and their is a loud grinding/scraping noise coming from the front. My brother in law also drove it a bit and confirmed the sound.

What do you think- rusted pad\rotor issue in the mid-west humidity/road salt environment? They just drove it 750 miles without a problem immediately before. It's hard for me to diagnose being two states away.

Thanks!

[ferrum]

Both wheels or just one?

Could be as simple as the dust cover touching the rotor. Been there done that.

Does it go away when the brakes are pressed?

[ray1970]

I?d have someone look at it. Even though the brakes were just done and had been working fine there is always the chance that something isn?t right- stuck caliper, lining came loose on a pad, etc.

I?ve lived in humid, wet environments where things would get some minor surface rust if they sat for days. Generally once you braked a few times the noise would go away.

[JohnnyEgo]

The last time I had my brakes done, my car developed a high pitched whine whenever I turned left. Didn't do it when parked, didn't matter if brakes were applied or not. I thought it was power steering related, so I took it back to the guys who did the brakes. Stumped them as well. They confirmed they could hear the noise, but advised me my power steering was fine and no apparent brake issues. I asked what I should do, and the guy actually told me 'learn to live with it'. Which I tried to do for about two weeks, until the squealing sound I got every time I went through the drive-thru was about to drive me nuts.

I was absolutely convinced the sound was coming from my left front tire, so I jacked the truck up and took the tire off and gave the hub a spin with the wheel cranked all the way over. Brakes were fine. Realized the sound was actually coming from the opposite side. Went over to that side, and brake pads and caliper looked fine. But I could tell the squeal was coming from behind the caliper, so I pried it off and looked around. Turns out there was a tab on the pad retaining clips that wasn't bent all the way down, and on a hard left turn, it would briefly graze the rotor, making the squealing sound. The solution was to bend it down all the way, and the problem went away forever.

So as with Ray's thoughts, I'd have someone look closer at the brakes, regardless of the fact that they were just done.

[.455_Hunter]

Thanks for the comments!

I guess it sounds like both sides according to reports, but not sure.

It does change when the brakes are applied.

They just dropped it off at a shop for a onceover tomorrow, so we should know more.

[00tec]

Somebody screwed up, most likely.

[sniper7]

Considering who is most likely working at auto repair places or brake shops, unless it is an old school guy who has been around for a long time, I wouldn?t trust it.
I don?t even trust the dealership to do my free oil change on my truck. I mark the oil filter, oil cap and drain screw before I dropped it off. Then verified it before I left. They did a good job this time, just too many times with issues.

Grease monkey left a oil filter wrench jammed between my fender and hood. Got home, saw the hood didn?t line up quite right on the body panel, popped the hood and there is an oil filter wrench.

When I was 19 went to get my brakes done at just brakes. All it needed was pads I just didn?t want to spend the time working 3 jobs and spending time with GF, they came back with I needed new pads, rotors, all calipers were failed or failing and they wanted $850. Told them put it back together, went to auto one got new pads and drove it for 50k with zero problems before I sold it.

Took my brand new 1500 Silverado in years ago to Johnson auto plaza. It developed a leak at the rear main seal at 5000 miles. They fixed it, I came to get the truck, saw a kid drive it to the parking lot and walk the keys in. Paperwork finished and I walk out to the truck l, just as I?m getting in, kid comes running out yelling he still needs to fill it with oil. I give him a WTF look, walk right in and explain that my truck was just driven around the lot and parked with no oil in it and I?ll be leaving with a brand new truck as that one just got 100k put on it or worse. And I did.

Not dogging on anyone in the business but I?ve been burned or close to burned enough and worked at a car dealership for 3 years to know how crappy and inexperienced some of the ?mechanics? were.

and I type this as I?m replacing pads on my side by side taking a quick break.

[thedave1164]

Could be the rotors have a coating of rust on them from the moisture and sitting a couple of days, high carbon content rotors will get a layer of rust in a couple of hours if there is enough moisture in the air.

If so, driving around for a few minutes should clean up the rotors.

[.455_Hunter]

The shop just called. Of all things, we had a stupid rock jammed between one of the dust covers and the rotor. Probably happened in my in-laws driveway. No damage (soft rock), no charge, and they were happy to take a look at it.

[Linkless]

I was going to suggest it was a rock, same thing happened to my aunt a long time ago.