Okay so I drive a 98 Ek coupe with ABS

For the better part of a year now I have experienced on and off crunching coming from my brakes when I press the pedal. The noise isn't constant and almost sounds as if my rotors are warped. I have replaced the callipers rotors and pads and the noise will come back every time after a few weeks.

I had a family friend who is a mechanic take a look at it and he couldn't figure it out. He did find however that the hub should be replaced since it was rotating out of spec. One of the four studs was marked with a felt as being the high point of the travel when you spin the wheel... if that makes sense.

I also have found that if I play around with the brakes at all (take out pads and put a little pit of anti seize on the shims) it will go away for awhile. This problem is becoming quite annoying as nothing seems to permanently get rid of the noise. I would like to fix the issue but no one can tell me what to replace in order to solve the issue. Right now I'm in school ft so I can't afford to replace something that doesn’t actually need to be replaced!

Any advice would be great.

Also if anyone has had this issue please let me know what stopped it FOR GOOD!

 

Your "high point of travel" doesn't make sense to me. Are you talking about the face of the hub has more in and out travel (with respect to the body of the car)?

Also, your description, crunch, isn't very helpful. Does it continue to make the noise the whole time you press the pedal, or just when you first put your foot down? Are you hearing any funny noises while driving?

 

Sorry... its a hard one to describe.

The easiest way to describe what I meant is that my rotor spins like its is warped but in reality it is completely flat. I think its the hub that is warped or something since the wheel wobbles a little when I drive. You would never be able to notice it by looking at it but I checked it with a guage as I slowly spun the rotor into different positions.

As far as the noise is concerned it only happens when I press the brake. It is a pulsing crunching noise that becomes louder as I come to a stop. Its not always there. I can go a week without any noise... but generally it begins to get more frequent as time goes on... eventually happening all the time.

 

anyone...?

 

As for the hub it sounds like it needs to be replaced, but on to the noise, are the rotors blanks or are they slotted at all? It is not uncommon for slotted brakes to give off noise that has been described as pulsating. And the fact that it gets louder as the brakes heat up is also common to the pulsating sound occasionally heard from slotted rotors.

 

No they are OEM rotors and pads. Sometimes it will even creak and crunch when the brakes are cold. If I was to drive 30km and lightly press the brake you can hear a pulsing crunching noise as the wheel turns.

Ive heard people say its the axle, hub, shock, caliper, pad, rotor, shim... etc

Its absolutely frustrating how no one can figure this out. No mechanic has been able to pinpoint it yet!

 

I am just confused about the description of the sound being crunching.

 

Have you inspected your wheel bearing? Take off your axle nut and you can get a little better idea if there's a significant amount of play in there.

 

Okay so today I went to pick up some parts from Honda and thought I'd mention it to them. The lady at the parts counter got her husband to look at it quickly as I drove him around the block. Almost instantly he told me that it is the hub that needs to be replaced. He seemed almost 100% sure that it was the issue and said he has seen it many times.... And the best part was he came out and listened to it for FREE!!! How many times have you heard of a dealership doing something for nothing? haha

Anyways so I have ordered the hub and bearing since I don't want to take everything apart again if the bearing goes. So cross your fingers for me! I'll update after this weekend when everything is done so that anyone else with this issue can benefit from my experience!

Thank you to everyone who offered advice!

 

I have the same problem with my brakes. I have a 93 civic with slotted rotors. Have no idea what causes this noise but exactly how you explained it... as soon as i step on the brake it makes a noise that would sound like a worn out spring is being pressed against with warped rotors. Pretty hard to explain but you're right. it pulses and gets worse every time.

 

Ok, so this weekend I pulled out the whole spindle knuckle assembly out of the car and inspected the hub and bearing. Both seamed to be in okay shape. We wire brushed the hub and it seamed to make the surface variance smaller. A mechanic friend of mine said that everything seamed to be fine and that he recommended not wasting money replacing the hub and bearing at this time.

So when I was in there I noticed that my upper ball joint and tie rod end were both blown. I replaced these on both the driver and passenger side. So now it has been 3 days and the noise hasn't returned. I'm crossing my fingers that that the noise was from the movement allowed by my tie rod and upper ball joint being toast... we'll have to see!

 

Cool, I'm hoping that's all it was. You did get it aligned, didn't you? In for final results

 

I just had an alignment done yesterday morning. Everything feels and sounds good. ***fingers crossed***