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Kiroshino | Posted: Jan 25 2010, 08:37 PM |
IDW Goldmember Group: FORUM MODERATOR Posts: 2,453 Member No.: 34,203 Joined: Oct 22nd 2009 Location: NJ, USA | Ran into another problem with my Legacy Outback today. As I was leaving the gas station, I heard something making a lot of noise in my front left wheel. Five seconds down the road, going maybe 20mph, whatever it is shoots out, hits the floor panel, and is probably on the road atm. Now, whenever I brake, that front left wheel makes a loud rumbling noise (can feel it too), the harder I brake, the more noticeable it is. Upon visual inspection with a flashlight (already dark outside), I didn't see anything different between the left and right wheel, brakes, etc., but I have a feeling something isn't right. :/ |
Möbius | Posted: Jan 25 2010, 10:23 PM |
IDW Top Poster Group: Advanced Members Posts: 33,844 Member No.: 3,524 Joined: Oct 2nd 2004 Location: Update Profile | I think this is better off in the Tech section, as a separate problem. |
Spaz | Posted: Jan 25 2010, 10:24 PM |
Just a guy towing a car across the country to chase a dream. Group: FORUM MODERATOR Posts: 9,272 Member No.: 30,193 Joined: Jul 25th 2008 Location: Plymouth, MN | Pull the wheel and take a look, it's got to be something fairly major. |
flohtingPoint | Posted: Jan 26 2010, 06:09 AM |
IDW Banned Member Group: Banned Posts: 4,319 Member No.: 1,944 Joined: Jun 1st 2004 Location: Update Profile | Take pictures from several different angles and post. I can think of several things that would cause disruption, but w/out visual evidence, they're just conjectures. |
HorizontalMitsubishi | Posted: Jan 26 2010, 09:16 AM |
Part of the Tessou Signature Series Group: Advanced Members Posts: 2,439 Member No.: 2,022 Joined: Jun 16th 2004 Location: Torrance California | sounds like your tire is falling apart. |
RDvil | Posted: Jan 26 2010, 09:53 AM |
IDW Member Group: Members Posts: 27 Member No.: 34,770 Joined: Jan 25th 2010 Location: Update Profile | One of the balls took off from the bearing If it's not that bad, it may be that you're one nut short of a complete front suspension. |
MetalMan777 | Posted: Jan 26 2010, 10:21 AM |
Snooping as usual Group: Advanced Members Posts: 1,780 Member No.: 32,588 Joined: Apr 13th 2009 Location: what are you doing in my swamp? | I had a similar thing happen to me on my old minivan (I should make a post about it later, that was a hilarious car)But it only happened when I had my foot on the throttle. It turned out to be a combination of wheel bearings and CV joint. But if you heard a Clunk, it's probably a suspension part, or maybe a brake part. If it only happens when you brake and only on that wheel, I'm putting my money on a brake bolt. Yank the wheel, and fiddle with the caliper, if it moves, you're missing a bolt. Then get a new one and tighten it the heck up, those shouldn't come out for any reason. |
Spaz | Posted: Jan 26 2010, 02:31 PM | ||
Just a guy towing a car across the country to chase a dream. Group: FORUM MODERATOR Posts: 9,272 Member No.: 30,193 Joined: Jul 25th 2008 Location: Plymouth, MN |
I'd honestly like to see how that works with the bearing pressed into the hub... I'm going to second a caliper bolt, though, that's the most likely. | ||
RDvil | Posted: Jan 26 2010, 09:40 PM | ||
IDW Member Group: Members Posts: 27 Member No.: 34,770 Joined: Jan 25th 2010 Location: Update Profile |
It's kinda pretty, all you see is a short steaming oil spray and hear a loud-ish bang. The next thing you see and hear is the person whose wind screen you just took out with your ball-bearing-ball. Or it could always be a needle-roller type too, what do I know about scoobies. They fly just as well. Doesn't matter how well they're pressed in, when the stress on the little things wants to finally get out, they find a way. But, yeah, brake caliber bolt. That could do it, with just one bolt the caliber gets in contact with the disc. And the fix ain't expensive either. | ||
Kiroshino | Posted: Jan 26 2010, 10:22 PM |
IDW Goldmember Group: FORUM MODERATOR Posts: 2,453 Member No.: 34,203 Joined: Oct 22nd 2009 Location: NJ, USA | Didn't realize my post was split. XD I'll check it out tomorrow morning... if I get up early enough. Was going to bring it down either to the dealer or to a local STS to take a look, but if it's something small, then I might be able to do something about it myself. Thanks, all. Hoping it's something small. I'm really sick of putting money into this car. If it is the brake caliper bolt, I should probably tighten all of them before driving the car. I mean, chances are that all of the brakes were done at the same time. If one is screwed up, it's possible that the others are too. This post has been edited by Kiroshino on Jan 26 2010, 10:24 PM |
RDvil | Posted: Jan 26 2010, 11:35 PM | ||
IDW Member Group: Members Posts: 27 Member No.: 34,770 Joined: Jan 25th 2010 Location: Update Profile |
Brake bolts should always have thread locking compound in them, blue Loctice or somesuch. If it is one of those bolts, someone's been dangerously neglectnent in leaving the stuff out. It's not like the stuff even costs anything, and apart from keeping the bolts in place it also keeps the threads from rusting together. | ||
Spaz | Posted: Jan 27 2010, 12:28 AM |
Just a guy towing a car across the country to chase a dream. Group: FORUM MODERATOR Posts: 9,272 Member No.: 30,193 Joined: Jul 25th 2008 Location: Plymouth, MN | Locktite? For serious? I just crank that shit down by hand, done brakes for tons of people with tons of different cars, never had an issue. If it doesn't come that way from factory, why would it be needed in the future. Then again, I've replaced a caliper on my car because the bolt seized in it and I couldn't get it out... |
RDvil | Posted: Jan 27 2010, 07:07 AM |
IDW Member Group: Members Posts: 27 Member No.: 34,770 Joined: Jan 25th 2010 Location: Update Profile | Most cars & motorcycles I've done maintance or repairs on _have_ come that way from factory. And I've done part-time work on Yamaha Service and am a regular at Ford service so I know how it's done when the professionals do it Of course that's just german cars & japanese bikes, maybe a few italians. Deffinitely worth it anyway, not one loose nut or a seized bolt, and my daily driver's 23 years old. |
Kiroshino | Posted: Jan 27 2010, 07:12 AM |
IDW Goldmember Group: FORUM MODERATOR Posts: 2,453 Member No.: 34,203 Joined: Oct 22nd 2009 Location: NJ, USA | Are there any visual indicators that Locktite or such was used? Didn't get a chance to check this morning 'cause my Calculus III TA emailed everyone at 11pm saying, "Here's the homework due tomorrow. Sorry for the misunderstanding." Still haven't finished yet. |
RDvil | Posted: Jan 27 2010, 07:21 AM |
IDW Member Group: Members Posts: 27 Member No.: 34,770 Joined: Jan 25th 2010 Location: Update Profile | The stuff always leaves a blue residue on the threads, amount depending on how much was used but if any, there's a blue trace there. Oh, and if the nut's missing or the bolt's seized, they didn't use it or they used something completely unsuitable for the job(which is not blue either, blue's good!) There are replacements for the loctite but so far all the copies I've seen are blue too. |
Kiroshino | Posted: Jan 28 2010, 10:49 AM |
IDW Goldmember Group: FORUM MODERATOR Posts: 2,453 Member No.: 34,203 Joined: Oct 22nd 2009 Location: NJ, USA | Took it to STS. Apparently, whomever did the brakes last did a really crappy job. Quoth the technician, "Did you get your brakes done recently? Did you do them yourself? I have never seen something like this in all of my years working." For both my front wheels, the bolts are on the way out, the calipers were torn apart, and pretty much everything is screwed up. Funny thing is that I've complained about the brakes to the Toyota dealer where I bought the car, and a Subaru dealer where I took in the car for service and no one spotted it. All of them said that the brakes were new. -$500 from my wallet. |
sideways | Posted: Jan 28 2010, 12:49 PM | ||
We're the People's Front of Judea! Group: Advanced Members Posts: 13,123 Member No.: 1,355 Joined: Feb 28th 2004 Location: Las Vegas, Nevada |
We use anti seize and a torque wrench on the vipers . I only use loctite in hard to get to areas where its a total pita to get to and if a bolt falls out its catostrphic system melt down, Things inside the engine, flywheel bolts, things of that nature, things of that sort. Torque thing down right- and you shouldnt have to worry about them falling out. Ouch on your brakes man. Brakes are a very simple matter, id recommend learning how to do at least that yourself for future reference, good way to save yourself a lot of money. | ||
Kiroshino | Posted: Jan 28 2010, 01:04 PM |
IDW Goldmember Group: FORUM MODERATOR Posts: 2,453 Member No.: 34,203 Joined: Oct 22nd 2009 Location: NJ, USA | Just picked it up. Guy reiterated what he said earlier and told me that he had no idea how the car could still stop. He demonstrated how bad the brakes were with his hands, basically equating it to folding up like origami. Anyway, the difference is like night and day. Not so much the brakes, oddly enough: they're smoother and more linear now, but the stopping distance is the same (if not a little longer). No, the most noticeable change was in acceleration and deceleration. To put it plainly, I had no idea my car could accelerate so fast. It is as if I were pushing down the brake all of the time. Before, I attributed much of the deceleration to engine braking, but now, I have to start using my brakes much earlier. It's like a completely different car now. Amazing what one little thing can do. They replaced the: Passenger-Side Metallic Brake Pad Both Brake Rotors Both Caliper Bolts And charged only one hour of labor, no diagnostic charge like the dealer. I think I'm going to be a repeat customer, maybe buy two sets of tires from them. |
MetalMan777 | Posted: Jan 28 2010, 01:29 PM |
Snooping as usual Group: Advanced Members Posts: 1,780 Member No.: 32,588 Joined: Apr 13th 2009 Location: what are you doing in my swamp? | Glad it worked out well for you. You should really learn to do that stuff yourself, with the exception of replacing the actual caliper, it's all stupid easy. And replacing the caliper isn't a whole hell of a lot harder than that. Don't be daunted by brakes, they're the simplest thing I can think of on the whole car. You usually only need one wrench for the whole job. Add a screwdriver to pry off old pads and a clamp to drive the pistons all the way back in, and that's about all you need. The rotors just slide on and off. I recommend picking up a Chilton's or Hayne's manual. Either of those books are worth their weight in myrh. |
Rudy | Posted: Jan 28 2010, 03:03 PM |
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Kiroshino | Posted: Jan 28 2010, 03:10 PM |
IDW Goldmember Group: FORUM MODERATOR Posts: 2,453 Member No.: 34,203 Joined: Oct 22nd 2009 Location: NJ, USA | I don't trust myself with brakes yet. They're quite easily the most important part of the car. No matter how easy they are to work with, with my experience, I'm just not ready to undertake such an important task. Drifter: STS Tire and Auto Center. It's a franchise. The one I went to is located in Hillsborough since that's the closest one to me. If you haven't heard of it, they do a lot of basic stuff like brakes, A/C, tires, etc. |
MetalMan777 | Posted: Jan 28 2010, 06:14 PM |
Snooping as usual Group: Advanced Members Posts: 1,780 Member No.: 32,588 Joined: Apr 13th 2009 Location: what are you doing in my swamp? | One of the first things I ever learned to do on a car was replacing brake pads/rotors. Quickly followed by learning the rear drums and at that same time, how to clean and pack a set of wheel bearings. You wouldn't want to work on your brakes, seeing as how you just got them done, but next time, it's a pretty easy project you can do in very little time. Get a friend who's mechanically inclined to help you out sometime, you'd be surprised how easy the whole process is and besides the parts, it should only cost you a case of beer. The only really important rule to remember is that whatever you replace on one side, you should replace on the other. Keeping the front and rear up to the same level of maintenance isn't nearly as important, just look at all the cars with discs up front and drums in back. You gotta start somewhere, but if you're not feeling up to it, get somebody you trust to show you the ropes. Assuming you have or can borrow the tools, you'll save a fortune on labor costs. I know I couldn't afford a car if I had people do all the work for me, heh. |
Rudy | Posted: Jan 28 2010, 06:42 PM |
Unregistered | (THIS POST WAS REMOVED BY REQUEST) |
Kiroshino | Posted: Jan 28 2010, 07:37 PM |
IDW Goldmember Group: FORUM MODERATOR Posts: 2,453 Member No.: 34,203 Joined: Oct 22nd 2009 Location: NJ, USA | Cactus: Eh, I don't know anyone that works on cars besides of Thir13Teen and Drifter and a few people on the MR2 forums. This time around, labor cost me just under $80. Drifter: Yeah, like every franchise, the quality of service varies. Apparently, the Maaco in Hillsborough is terrible (went there for an estimate, didn't seem very knowledgeable; another MR2 guy had the same impression), but the one in East Brunswick is very professional. |