Brakes Grinding?

Tiny
MARK CAVINEE
  • MEMBER
  • 2010 KIA SEDONA
  • V6
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 100,000 MILES
I just replaced the rotor and brake shoes on my daughter's car, and it is still grinding like it did before I replaced the parts. The only other part is the caliper, but they looked okay, and the pistons pressed back in fine. What options are there to check? Thanks, Mark
Tuesday, July 12th, 2022 AT 2:20 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
AL514
  • MECHANIC
  • 4,101 POSTS
Hello, when you replaced the rear brake shoes, I assume you used the old brake drums, you didn't replace those? Thats the only area I can think of that might be grinding against the new brake shoes. Some rush build up on the drums.
Or you have a bad wheel bearing. A wheel bearing will grind just like a brake pad will when they get down to metal against metal.

Is this a noise that only happens when applying the brakes, or is it all the time while driving?
If it's only when braking, then another look at the pads is in order, but if it's all the time, I would suspect something else.

It can be difficult to identify which wheel bearing is making the noise if you're not really used to hearing them. If you're pretty sure it's not a brake issue, it's not the parking brake hanging up or anything like that.

What I do for wheel bearings is identify if its front or rear first. But most of the time, we will put the vehicle up on a lift at the shop and have someone sitting in the car and running the wheels while another technician listens to each wheel, sometimes with a stethoscope. Because of road noises you won't always be able to identify which one it is by just driving. Did you find any brake pads that were worn down to the point of metal-to-metal contact and were grinding? I am putting a diagram of the bearing and hub below; another possibility is a bearing in the transmission. You can try having someone else drive and sit in the back seat, to see if you can identify which wheel it is that way.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/symptoms-of-a-bad-axle-or-wheel-bearing
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Tuesday, July 12th, 2022 AT 3:21 PM
Tiny
MARK CAVINEE
  • MEMBER
  • 36 POSTS
Thanks for the fast reply. It was both front rotors and new shoes not the back. No noise unless the pedal is pressed. Semi metallic pads. The old rotors were bad, but the same noise is there with the new.
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Tuesday, July 12th, 2022 AT 4:31 PM
Tiny
AL514
  • MECHANIC
  • 4,101 POSTS
Okay, if you're hearing a noise in the front and everything is new, some possibilities, the pad shims that come with the kit can make a lot of noise, usually squealing type noise if there is no brake quiet put on them. But it's not a grinding noise. It could be the rear pads; I would inspect them next. The parking brake could be hanging up and it's causing the rear shoes inside the rotor to grind. The parking brake on these is inside the rear brake rotor assembly.
If you jack up the rear of the vehicle, see if you can turn the rear wheels by hand. Just be sure to put some blocks in front of the front tires so it doesn't roll on you.

It could be a front axle joint has gone bad. If the axle boots are ripped or have grease coming out the edges of them, then dirt is getting in.

It can be a wheel bearing that's just starting to go bad. Usually, they will make noise all the time, but again it really depends on where the noise is coming from.

Since this is a 2wd transaxle, it could be a bearing in the transmission making noise. The transmission in this vehicle is up front with the engine. That would need to be put up on a lift as well to diagnose any noise issues.
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Tuesday, July 12th, 2022 AT 5:01 PM

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