Hi All
I have a VW Golf Mk2 1300 82,000 miles.
After a few miles driving (i.e. when the car has warmed up) a high pitch noise occurs when the road veers to the right. This noise therefore occurs when I turn the steering to the right, it?s comes from the front of the car most likely the driver side wheel.
When I turn the steering to the left the noise will automatically go. Also when the noise is occurring if I tap on the brake pedal it will go for a few seconds.
I have noticed that after a fair journey the driver side wheel is fairly hot, especially after driving on a winding road. The passenger side wheel is not as hot.
The front wheel bearings seem ok ( I have lifted each wheel and there was no movement or clicking when I tried to move it laterally).
I assume the problem is due to the driver side disc brake. The upper caliper bolt metal sleeve could be seized, could this be the cause? should I replace it?
Is it likely that the actual caliper is seizing (the outer brake pad is 2mm thinner than the inner pad), if so do I replace?
I doubt though the disc is warped as there is no noise when braking.
Any suggestions please.
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I think if you recounted these symptoms to my local mechanic he would say 'wheel bearing'. I've no experience of VW problems, so don't know if this is a sensitive area, but a noise from the front which varies with direction of travel sounds like a bearing to me.
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Bit of grit jammed between brake pad and disc?
Terry
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I have removed the brake pads and cleaned off the brake dust. I have also applied copper grease to the caliper to pad surfaces.
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I assumed it was not a bearing problem as when I tap on the brake pedal the noise will go for a few seconds.
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I'd have said a brake problem was the most likely culprit....sticking caliper or slider?
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It's possible that the noise stopping when you apply the brakes is because it re-aligns the bearing momentarily. Have you tried waggling the wheel top to bottom when its jacked up. (wasn't sure what you meant by laterally)
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The fact that the noise stops when braking might be because the torque of the brake contact is re-aligning the bearing.
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Sorry I meant to say have you waggled the wheel (when jacked up) from top to bottom; I wasn't sure what you meant by "laterally"
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Yes I have tried waggling the wheel (when jacked up) from top to bottom; was no movement or no clicking sound.
Does this imply that the bearing is alright?
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Just because you can't feel it doesn't mean it isn't duff, but if its not getting hot and doesn't look like it has lost its grease then the brakes are still in the picture. I was really saying that you shouldn't ASSUME that when the noise stops under braking, that that rules out the bearing being faulty.
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Thanks JB. After having driven along a winding road the wheel (outside) feels hot, one can just about touch it. The right wheel feels hotter than the left.
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I had the same problem on my car. I would here a squeaky squeeling noise when turning to the right and then it started making a noise when braking. The wheel with the sticky caliper was so hot you could feel the heat from about a foot away and smell it inside the car!
When you travel down hill with your foot off the gas can you feel the car 'grabbing' then freewheeling? I ended up getting a new set of calipers as taking the old one to bits showed up the fact that the piston was corroded and that was causing the sticking.
I thought wheel bearings hummed & rumbled when they were worn or can they squeak too?
teabelly
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Nope, usually just a humming noise, no squeaks
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Hi
By replacing the calipers did you solve the noise problem?
If I replace the caliper is it advisable to replace the caliper on the other side, i.e. replace in pairs?
Did you get your calipers from your car dealer?
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Replacing the calipers, disks (mine were warped and worn) and pads solved the problem completely. Having the piston knocked back stopped the grabbing but heavy braking just made the squeaking and pulling return. I would always recommend replacing braking components in pairs as otherwise you can find you get a big difference in braking strength on one side of the car to the other. I would replace both sides as if one has gone you can be sure that the other side will probably fail sooner rather than later. You can probably get away with doing one side on the rear but I wouldn't on the front. I got calipers from the garage that repaired the car. I couldn't find any reconditioned ones through the fiat/lancia garages I tried but the garage had a set off another different model of car that mine shares breaking components with.
www.brakesint.co.uk/pages/html/home.htm These people seem to have a good range of reconditioned calipers so they might have some for your car.
If you do the whole of the front brakes then be wary that for the first 50-100 miles or so the brakes will feel useless and spongy as everything beds in. It can be very scary pressing the pedal half way down before anything happens!
teabelly
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morning. I'm going through this at the mo with my driver. if you take the calipers off and the rubber sleeves and inserts out you might see corrosion insude the bore.
this corrosion decreases the i/d of the bore and increases the friction on the slider.
I had a go at this last week and it has improved a lot but its a very tedious job filing out the bore by hand and I think I stopped too soon.
So I'm going to get a drill powered sander to fit the bore and try again
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That is interesting. I assume you are refering to the caliper bolt bores, not the piston bore.
I think I will do that first as the option of replacing the caliper is costly, as I have been adviced to replace in pairs.
Was the insert and metal slider seized in the bore, if so how did you manage to get them out?
How did you file out the bore?
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yes the caliper bolt bores
the slider wasn't seized but was very stiff. to get them out I had to hammer a 12mm socket on to the end of the bolt.
I first attacked the corrosion with a very small file but this is very slow going so I bought a small wire wheel from B&Q last night and plan to get this sorted ASAP.
the file did improve things but it still squeaks sometimes so it must be binding slightly still
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