1996 850 rattling noise from front drivers side

cronce66 · Post by **cronce66** » 04 Jun 2010, 17:06

Hi all,

I know there is a current thread in here about rattling calipers, but I thought mine may be a little different. I just redid the pads and rotors all around about a month ago. No problems since. All of a sudden, I've got a rubbing/rattling noise coming from the driver's side front caliper assembly area. The first thing that comes to mind is that the inside pad is loose within the caliper piston. I haven't checked that out yet, but I will be shortly. I installed slotted rotors all around, and it sounds like the inside pad is catching the slots ever so slightly that I can hear it and feel it, but it's not dragging the car down any bit. The peculiar thing is that the sound goes away when I speed up; however, it gets worse when I let off the gas. Has anyone experienced this before, and do you know what the problem is? Again, I haven't checked it out myself yet, but I'll be doing that very soon. I will post back on what I find out, but I wanted to get any information prior to me doing that, if possible. Thanks.

-Lee

cronce66 · Post by **cronce66** » 04 Jun 2010, 17:07

I also forgot to mention that the noise goes away when applying the brakes fully, too.

zanzabar · Post by **zanzabar** » 04 Jun 2010, 17:12

Are the strut mount and upper spring seat intact?

cronce66 · Post by **cronce66** » 04 Jun 2010, 17:17

Yes, they are intact. This is a noise that only occurs while the car is being driven.

Post by **vjaneczko** » 04 Jun 2010, 17:23

One thought is that you're correct; the pad is loose and hitting the grove in the rotor. When you apply the brakes, it'll get squeezed flat against the rotor so the noise would go away. When you speed up, the time interval between grooves hitting the pad becomes shorter. If the pad wobbles after a 'hit', that time interval might just cause the pad to 'hop' over every other groove.

Or something like that. I'm just making it up as I go . . .

Be sure to check it ASAP. whatever the problem, noise coming from the brakes is never a good thing!

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 04 Jun 2010, 17:55

Grease the pins and the joints between the calipers and the mounts, it sounds to me like you have a caliper that is stuck on one side. I use SilGlyde for the grease.

...Lee

cronce66 · Post by **cronce66** » 04 Jun 2010, 19:08

I've figured out the problem, and it's all a fault of my own. As I got ready to take the wheel off to diagnose the problem, I noticed that ALL 5 lug bolts were VERY loose. Wow! Kind of scary, actually!

Could have turned out a lot worse. There was definitely enough play in the rim to shake it back and forth. The fact that all 5 lug bolts were loose leads me to believe that I didn't torque the bolts on that one wheel, since all the other wheels were fine. I guess the takeaway point from this is to double or maybe triple check your torque on each bolt. Thanks for the responses!

-Lee

Post by **Hoov** » 04 Jun 2010, 20:31

cronce66 wrote: As I got ready to take the wheel off to diagnose the problem, I noticed that ALL 5 lug bolts were VERY loose.
Lee

WOW! That is scary but I can see how it could happen.
Attended a Chrysler Outboard Motor Certification class in order to do warranty work on the beasts. Passed w/flying colors but was issued TWO diplomas.
One of which I could hang on a public wall & the other with a big red asterisk at the very bottom with a comment.

*“Excellent student with a genuine regard for fine detail. In paying attention to the finer points of the “Engine Rebuild Exercise” every detail was so exact that unfortunately, there was obviously no time left for the “Final Torque Specification” of the power head to be accomplished” … OOPs!

Good thing the instructor had a sense of humor. (& fairness as well)

This is the diploma I still have, is displayed on my office wall & I honestly have NEVER made that particular mistake since! Hehehe
Glad you got this figured! Truth is, I was following the thread w/great curiosity because I had no clue either. Was anxiously waiting to see who or what solved the mystery. (I’ll be doing brakes within a year)
Thanks for the update & telling on yourself. Never would have thought about loose lugs.

Hoov

WoodEye · Post by **WoodEye** » 05 Mar 2015, 11:34

I lost a lug bolt and almost lost the wheel on my "94 850 Turbo Wagon. I had torqued all of them to 81 when I had them off to paint the wheels. Now I am going to re torque to 100.

Post by **scot850** » 05 Mar 2015, 11:41

When you paint a wheel or have then powder coated, you should remove paint/powder coat from the mating surface with the lug bolts as the material can come loose with tightening the lug bolts/nuts leading to the issue you had with the 94 850.

Neil.