Automotive problem diagnostic corner

[Bread Regal]

margin

[Bread Regal]

My 87 Maxima that I recently bought for 600 bucks has been making some horrible noises lately.

There is this intermittent high pitched screeching noise coming from the right front area of my car. It is of constant pitch and intensity. When I first run the car it's fine, but once everything gets going after about 20 minutes, it starts. It seems to be related to the brakes because the sound will either stop or start when I apply the breaks (depending on what's happening at the time the brakes are applied). I topped off the break fluid (which was between the mix and max fill lines.

I jacked up the car and took the tire off and found no obvious problem visually, although admittedly I didn't know what to look for. I threw the car into neutral (emergency brake applied of course), and threw the wheel back on. I gave it a spin and heard a discernable grinding noise.

The part that concerns me is that it doesnt sound like worn down pads or rotors and I fear I might be doing some expensive damage Just wondering what else to look for if I jack it up again.

[Tuscaloosa]

continue to take it apart

[Bread Regal]

ill take you apart

[duovamp]

Might be your pads are low or might be you have some debris stuck between the caliper and the rotor. Sometimes it pops out on its own or gets ground down to nothing. It's not an extremely expensive or difficult job, maybe a few hundred bucks.

Could also be a wheel bearing.

[Starla]

It could be the rotor. I had this problem with my truck.

[duovamp]

If you let any wheel spin freely and turn it by hand, you're going to hear a slight rubbing sound. The pads are always touching the rotor, basically, but they just aren't pushing against them very hard.

[MyOneAndOnly]

your flux capacitor is probably out of alignment. You need to check it with a hyper spanner and make sure it's calibrated to the correct polarity.

[Bread Regal]

Originally Posted by duovamp

If you let any wheel spin freely and turn it by hand, you're going to hear a slight rubbing sound. The pads are always touching the rotor, basically, but they just aren't pushing against them very hard.

really? that seems...counterintuitive. wouldn't any amount of friction contribute to them wearing down?

[Order 66]

how many miles is on it, out of curiosity? i thought i was pushing it with my last car, which was a 98 4 runner. that thing was falling apart all over the place in its last days. the thought of driving an 87 maxima is mindblowing to me, but i guess it''d be doable if the mileage was low

[Bread Regal]

Originally Posted by duovamp

Might be your pads are low or might be you have some debris stuck between the caliper and the rotor. Sometimes it pops out on its own or gets ground down to nothing. It's not an extremely expensive or difficult job, maybe a few hundred bucks.

Could also be a wheel bearing.

does this require any new parts, because i have some friends who have done their own brakes before and I might be able to resolve this on my own with their guidance.

[Bread Regal]

Originally Posted by Order 66

how many miles is on it, out of curiosity? i thought i was pushing it with my last car, which was a 98 4 runner. that thing was falling apart all over the place in its last days. the thought of driving an 87 maxima is mindblowing to me, but i guess it''d be doable if the mileage was low

mileage at the time i bought it was 190k, which for a 27 year old car is kind of amazing. there was an oil change sticker on the windshield that said "next oil change on 06/01/2004 or 140,000 miles." so it seems it's been driven rather gingerly its whole life.

i try to baby it and not let the tech get over 3500 rpms, take her easy over speed bumps, avoid taking turns too quickly.

she's got no a/c and the sun roof has been sealed with bathroom caulk, but doesn't leak even in the torrential downpours we had within the past month.

i believe there is also a grounding issue that causes the lights to be really dim, but i ouldn't know the first place to look to resolve that.

[duovamp]

Originally Posted by Bread Regal

really? that seems...counterintuitive. wouldn't any amount of friction contribute to them wearing down?

Yes, but it's barely enough to touch them. Plus the brakes don't really have an action that pushes them back. You compress them and nothing pulls them back away from the rotor. It's just a hydraulic cylinder.

[duovamp]

Originally Posted by Bread Regal

does this require any new parts, because i have some friends who have done their own brakes before and I might be able to resolve this on my own with their guidance.

Super easy, to be honest. Pop off the wheel, remove 3 bolts that hold the caliper in place, yank out the old pads, pop the new pads in, then reassemble. Rotors are very easy to service. If you have to replace the rotor, then it's usually just another 2 bolts. Simple design.

You'll need probably 2 sockets, a 14mm and whatever the lug nuts are, 17 or 19mm. You will need a C Clamp to compress the piston back into the rotor. http://www.amazon.com/Great-Neck-210...563026&sr=1-23

[duovamp]

If it's the wheel bearing, you'll have to take it to a shop to press it out.

[slunken]

Upon reading the first post about high screeching from front the first thing I thought of was the fan belt.
Brakes will squeel and grind but a belt will screech.

Also re: dim lights how fresh is the battery

[Starla]

See if your battery terminals need cleaning. Dim lights could be fuses or alternator. You can get the battery tested before buying a new one.

[Starla]

<-- dealing with a transmission issue with mine. I've had it looked at and they say it's not the transmission but I don't know what else it could be. It shifts out really hard when I take off at a low speed, and hangs in neutral for a moment. A transmission specialist is going to cost me :[

[duovamp]

Once the car gets started and is running, it's really about the alternator not the battery. If it starts fine, the battery is fine.

[Bread Regal]

Originally Posted by duovamp

Super easy, to be honest. Pop off the wheel, remove 3 bolts that hold the caliper in place, yank out the old pads, pop the new pads in, then reassemble. Rotors are very easy to service. If you have to replace the rotor, then it's usually just another 2 bolts. Simple design.

You'll need probably 2 sockets, a 14mm and whatever the lug nuts are, 17 or 19mm. You will need a C Clamp to compress the piston back into the rotor. http://www.amazon.com/Great-Neck-210...563026&sr=1-23

looking at some videos on youtube, it does look like a pretty simple process. think i'm gonna go down to this place http://dityautorepair.com/ and take a looksie and maybe change my oil while im at it.

[Tuscaloosa]

look-see

[duovamp]

You can definitely do it, and it shouldn't take any more than an afternoon if it's the first time you're breaking those bolts loose in a while.

[Future Boy]

wipe the HD, install XP

[Trotskilicious]

i think that you probably need to unplug it

[slunken]

Originally Posted by duovamp

If it starts fine, the battery is fine.

PROBLEM SOLVED

[slunken]

Originally Posted by duovamp

it's really about the alternator not the battery.

Yea i think worst case scenario this is what the problem is

[slunken]

http://brandeducationservices.com/wp...re-Kicking.jpg

[Bread Regal]

i have another issue with the maxima too. apparently its a luxury model, and it has a digital instrument cluster that stopped working last week. there are a bunch of them available on ebay, but i don't want to take off the dash if i don't have to. checked the fuses under the dash that might be associated with it and they all seem to be fine.

it's not absolutely mission critical, but it would be nice to know how much gas is in the tank

[Tuscaloosa]

hm, hearing you mention the fuses makes me think that you might want to consider a re-volt ballast. they're available at wal-mart and definitely any auto parts place. sometimes the grommet lozenge can work itself out from under the cluster, simply due to minor vibrations of the frame over time. now, the belt may or may not be the cause here, but it never hurts to remove it altogether and give it a light spritzing of cod liver oil before before disposal.

[Trotskilicious]

dogfucker?