Thread: Strange occurrence when applying brakes in reverse.

its the abs self test, it will do it in forward too. you just seem to only start it and leave in reverse. its normal.

they all do it, its normal.

get your abs scanned, fix that issue.

what happens is your now listening and feeling for stuff, well you found it, but its done it for years.

ride the brake pedal as you pull off, you'll feel it do the self test.


what year is your car? 97/98 seem to do it much louder. some times its silent in my car, but i feel/hear it 99% of the time. as well as many others.

if the abs problem is related to a wheel bearing going out that could be the rust on the rotor edges hitting the dust shields/etc in revers with the excessive bearing play.
caliper bolt/pin fell the **** off/out.
parking brake shoe /hardware came apart.

motor mount died and your DP is now vibrating the floor

Checked the caliper mounting bolts yet? If the bottom one fell out, the brakes will feel normal in drive but in reverse the caliper is trying to rotate out and the only thing stopping it is the rim.

if its that loud by all means break out the jack and get the wheel off and start looking for a missing bolt or some thing.

now it only makes this sound when the car is just started up, then backed out the drive way and does it one time only. id still think its the abs self test.

that sounds more like a missing caliper bracket bolt then. the sound you hear when a bolt is missing is the caliper hitting the wheel. you'll see some marks on the caliper and wheel pretty fast.

Just look through the rim at the inside of the wheel. It'll be obvious is a caliper bolt fell out by the gouge inside the wheel.

id love to know how those fall out. not the first time we've seen that happen here.

"Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place."

Originally Posted by ScottyBDoggs

id love to know how those fall out. not the first time we've seen that happen here.

corrosion builds up around the bracket to knuckle ear holes (yay! dissimilar metal corrosion!) when reinstalling most people will crank one bolt down then hit the other, if the ear is out of place and you clamp it on the ridge of corrosion...guess what loosens up when the corrosion crumbles and the bolt no longer provides enough tension to keep it from moving. try not to remove the black zinc/chromate on the caliper bracket but at least run a razor blade over the knuckle and bracket ears to get rid of the corrosion without removing the protective coating (well any more than you have to...)

i just ape em on always, never had one even be loose, never mind fall out. and i only use habd tools/ it it tool a pipe on the breaker bar to get off, thats how it goes back on, with a pipe.