Hi all,

My sons 2010 1.25 Zetec has an issue where there is slight grinding occasionally when braking at low speeds. It is felt through brake pedal, almost as though ABS is intermittently kicking in. Front brake pads/discs replaced, caliper sliders regreased etc and similarly rear shoes and drum stripped down and cleaned up - still plenty material on the shoes.  As well as this grinding feel, there is very slight sensation when braking lightly at slow speed in line with rotation of wheels (almost as though a disc was warped) but as I say new discs installed and still the issue persists.  Happens both when driving and freewheeling. Car brakes fine, doesn't pull etc. Any suggestions welcome as to potentially other possibilities for identifying & fixing!

Cheers.

Something is touching somewhere, that's all it can be.

Or faulty wheel bearings

Thanks DaveT70, I'd had the wheel bearings replaced a couple of years ago - the car has done very few miles since so hoping its not that - just can't figure it or be able to pinpoint where contact is being made (other than the obvious - pads/discs, shoes/drums!) 

As Dave has already said a faulty wheel bearing could be a very real possibility, I'm assuming you've lifted the car and checked each wheel by spinning it & checking for any play? If not, it'd be my next step. 

 

Hopefully that'll atleast let you narrow it down to a specific wheel / axle. 

Are discs running true? Could a lump of rust be trapped between disc and hub when disc installed? 

Hi BP2411, I'll be honest and say I didn't check for play as I hadn't thought about it being the bearings (as I'd had those done relatively recently and the car hasn't been used a lot since - son is away at uni for much of the time). I wasn't really hearing any hum/noise I'd have thought would be heard when driving normally so hadn't considered the bearings - only hearing/feeling through the pedal when braking) but will see if I can sneak out at the weekend to take a look - (my better half is already fed up with my half a**ed attempts at fixing).

Hi isetta, yeah, think the discs are fine - noise had developed before I swapped the discs and gave the hubs a good scrub down etc when swapping for new. I did think originally it might've been some rust getting into the brake mechanics somewhere generally but have stripped down / cleaned up / replaced pads/discs. 

The caliper pistons look alright and wasn't seeing/feeling any imbalance / uneven wear, and they seemed to wind back without too much of a fight, but wonder if one is sticking a bit and that could cause it? But I'll see if I can determine if bearings are the culprit after all as BP2411 and DaveT70 suggested.

Thanks for the suggestions though - really appreciated as it's giving me a sore head.