Thread: Weird Noise help!!!

My first advice would be not to rule things out just because they are new. Its not the first thing I would think of, but I wouldnt completely rule it out.

That said, the cricket sound/noise would lead me to believe that something is rubbing for very short periods in the revolution of the tire. The fact it changes at all when you apply the brakes is a clue and would have me looking at the brakes.

There could be some wobble in the rotor causing it to make added contact with the pads briefly. Though with a high pitched sound like that my thoughts would go to perhaps the wear indicator tabs on the pads making contact but since you said it was there before you replaced all the other stuff that leaves the wheel bearing. But that kind of noise from a wheel bearing is not common in my experience. To rule out the bearing or prove it, you could swap the right bearing with the left and see if the noise changes sides.

Id start with, however, jacking up the front end and looking for any signs of rubbing. Just to rule out something weird. If you cant find anything then I would strongly feel it has to be in the brakes or the bearing. The axle wont make that sound that I know of.

Then finally, to confuse it even more, since you are not hearing it unless you drive by something that reflects the sound throws into the equation the sound reflection and where it may really be coming from. Could be coming from somewhere totally different on the car but when you drive up along something that can reflect the sound it may seem like its up front because thats where you are sitting. I would try and observe if you hear it when you drive with something on the left hand side of the car. Note if you hear it at all and whether it is louder or changes in any other way.

Wear tabs are built in to the pads. When the pad material wear down enough they start to touch the rotor and make the noise. If you replaced the pads you replaced the wear indicators.

I think you're thinking of the anti-rattle clips. They should be replaced on every pad change and can cause squeaking if they're worn out or touching the rotor.

yeah, sorry I wasnt clear on that, but as Sabre stated, the wear tabs are part of and built onto the brake pads themselves and the anti-rattle clips should be replaced when the pads are.

Now, since you stated that one side was worn more than the other, that is a big clue to a brake issue. If the right side is worn more than the other that points to an issue with that caliper.

That said, without seeing the pad and how they wore, its tough to point to something like the guide pins, caliper piston and so on. HOW the pads wore tells you which part is failing. If they work evenly, but just more than the other side, that would point possibly to a caliper piston issue. If they wore more at the top than the bottom that could point to a guide pin issue.

Knowing how the pads wore will tell you all you need. But the fact the right side is wearing more than the other, I would look at just rebuilding the whole thing and be done with it. New guide pins, new caliper piston seal, new rattle clips and so on. Rebuild kits for calipers are not expensive at all. And, dont forget about the brake fluid either. Brake fluid, because of its chemical make up, attracts moisture and over time will cause issues.

Generally speaking its wise to flush the whole brake system about every other year or so.

Yeah places like Auto Zone will have a kit that will have all of those parts in it.