ugly front brake noises

[Rick Fields]

I own a 2002 touring and not all the time does it happen but i get some real bad grinding like a rock between the disk and rotor, or your pads are way shot sound. I have had the brakes continuely inspected and thet just keep tellin me there fine and still 70% lining left[:I]how can i resolve this ugly sound coming out of my handsome cruiser.

[MichaelDay]

Have you checked for warped rotors? You brake pads could be glazed. Are your caliper slides moving freely? If not, they will not move away from the pads and potentially over heat the brakes which will warp the rotors. The PT is a fairly heavy car for its size but a bad grinding sound is not normal and is never good. Give us some more details as to when it makes this sound, hot, cold, light braking, heavy braking, turning, etc. to help us narrow it down.

[Rick Fields]

IT has made this noise since it came off the showroom floor as i said it does not do it all the time and it makes no difference if its hot, or dead cold. REally does seem to come and go with all kinds of weather conditions as well.Hope this helps,and am i the only one out here with this problem as i've already lost the tranny in it at 43000 miles,maybe its a lemon?

[Grouch]

What you are hearing might be the same thing that I have. If my cruiser sits for a couple of days or we have a rainy period the rotors rust. When this happens the first few times you apply the brakes they will grind like they are shot. After the first few stops they are fine. Unfortunately there is no cure for this other than replacing the rotors with a good quality aftermarket set

[Rick Fields]

thanks for your info but mine will do it even after driving it for hours, it will do it one time and not the next i drive this car lots in one year i put on 44000 miles so i find it does it when ever it wants to no pattern to it at all.

[kgdptblue]

The wear indicators are designed to make noise when the brakes are "not" applied. I'm no mechanic but if your hearing the noise a lot there must be something wrong with the rotors or calipers. Mine will act like Greg's after sitting overnite! Also if your mechanic is saying that there is nothing wrong make sure your getting it writting everytime! Rotors and Calps ae not cheap! Good luck and keep us posted!

[tpscruiser]

Your best bet would be to replace the pads.I had a set of rear drum brakes that develpoed small cracks in the lining and would make all kinds of noise. They may have overheated at one time and cracked or the rivets holding the lining to the back plate may be loose from when they were made. Depending on the temperature, etc. the noise had no set pattern or time when it would occur. A new set of brakes fixed the problem.
Since you said this has happened from day one, you should have insisted that the dealer at least replace the pads under warranty.
Intermittent problems like this are the hardest to diagnose.
Good Luck.

[LoriGB358]

Rick -

I have a Limited Edition 01 with 32,000 miles on it and I know exactly what you are experiencing.

I have the same problem, took mine to the dealer, same answer. My husband changed my pads, and one of the four on the front was metal-to-metal, while the other three still had over 50% left. Common sense tells you that it appears that there is a problem. My husband is a mechanic "extraordinaire" and also ASE Certified in brakes, and he said it acts like one of the calipers is dragging. I argued this with the service manager at the dealership to no avail, but he said if the problem continued, bring it back.

However, I feel like I am going to get the same treatment if I do, so I'm not sure what to do. What bugs me the most is that calipers are covered under the original warranty as well as my extended, so to replace one or all would cost the dealer absolutely nothing, so why make a customer mad when you could just do a little warranty work and have a happy lady drive out of there?

Any similar experiences???

Lori
[8)]

[Grouch]

Lori

I hate to burst your bubble but any part of the brake system is only covered for 12 months or 12,000 miles. The brakes are considered a maintenance item. Just so you don't think I know what I'm talking about I'm a retired Chrysler service manager who spent 20 years explaining why things weren't covered by the so called " Bumper to Bumper " warranty

I'll bet you never bothered to read the fine print but nobody does till something happens that is going to cost them money

[bikerken]

I have something similar. I have a silver 2001 LE. 20k miles. Bought it used about a year ago. It has a mid frequency hum that occurs on the highway, usually several hours into a trip. Doesn't happen very often. I can't tell where it is coming from yet. It is not consistant with speed, weather or road conditions. Just starts up out of the blue for maybe 10 minutes or so, then goes away. When it occurs, it is a steady hum. If I tap the brakes, it stops but just for a second and then comes back. I can sometimes changes lanes and it stops while I am in that lane. (I think it has something to do with the camber in the road.) Happens very infrequently (but really bugs my wife when it does.) Have never been able to reproduce the problem for the dealer. The dealer did replace a caliber but that did not fix the problem.