Brake Noises

oldminiclub · Post by **oldminiclub** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 9:03 pm

My brakes have started to make a grinding noise in the last few days..
I am assuming that the pads have worn down to the metal, I have a look at the pads and it all looks normal to my novice eyes.
Does this mean I might have knackered my discs too?
Its a VXT which has done 27k, does that sound about right for pad/disk life?

Post by **simon** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 10:33 pm

Are the pads sticking on when you're parked?

27k on one set of pads must be down to driving miss daisy though

In 22k I'm on my third set and I don't brake all that hard!

oldminiclub · Post by **oldminiclub** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 10:49 am

simon wrote:Are the pads sticking on when you're parked?

27k on one set of pads must be down to driving miss daisy though
In 22k I'm on my third set and I don't brake all that hard!

Yep the pads stick after I leave the car standing for a couple of days, is this doing some damage?

I bought the car 6 months ago so don't know if the pads/discs have been changed by the previous owner. But if they usually last only about 10k then I'll assume they'll need a new set.

cheers.

Post by **simon** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:03 pm

I don't know if it's doing any damage, I don't think so but someone else will probably answer that. Do what I told Dezzy to do, get heat into the pads/disks before you park it (a little left foot braking helps here

). That helped with mine when I parked it outside but they still occaisonally stuck. A few hard brakes from a decent speed should clear them up when it happens.

You should be able to check the pads without taking the wheels off. Just look through the wheel at the pad and you should see the bacing plate then a slight lip before you see the pad material touching the disk. You should have a few mm of pad material left. If you can't see the pad material, you need definitely new pads

oldminiclub · Post by **oldminiclub** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 9:18 am

Had a closer look yesterday in the sun!! Looks like I have a few mm of pad left so will get the new ones ordered up. Now all i have to do is get a VX brake recall done, and find out the why the ABS is so incredibly rubbish.
Hopefully after the brakes are done I can contemplate heading off to Knockhill in the spring.

robin · Post by **robin** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 2:14 pm

oldminiclub wrote:Had a closer look yesterday in the sun!! Looks like I have a few mm of pad left so will get the new ones ordered up. Now all i have to do is get a VX brake recall done, and find out the why the ABS is so incredibly rubbish.
Hopefully after the brakes are done I can contemplate heading off to Knockhill in the spring.

What's rubbish with the ABS - does it cut in too much, or does it just not work at all?

Cheers,
Robin