# groaning brakes



## brokenshadows (Jun 11, 2011)

I am driving a 1995 Nissan Quest GXE. In the past few months, I've noticed that my brakes groan when i come to a complete stop. The brakes are smooth *while* braking, but that moment when I actually stop, there is a loud groaning sound just before. I barely hear it when I am braking uphill, and the sound is moderate when driving on a level surface, however it is the loudest when braking downhill. It's much louder that the normal "creak" when coming to a complete stop. I don't notice any shaking. Also, the sound isn't patterned (like "thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk"), nor does it seem to be faster or slower depending on speed. All of that in reverse, if I am driving in reverse...

I've removed all four tires and checked the brakes. Everything looks fine. The rear passenger drum was a little difficult to remove, but once it was off, the drum and the brakes all seemed okay. No visible warping on any of the parts, the pad wear seemed even and almost the same thickness as new pads. There was a fair amount of dust and grime, but after cleaning most of that off with brake cleaner, the groaning sound remains.

The one thing that I noticed different about the installed pads as opposed to the new pads was that even though the thickness was about the same, the installed pads felt "slicker". That being said, it wasn't by much, and they seemed like they would still have more than enough "grip".

Any ideas?


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## Oppie (Jul 23, 2011)

Couple of questions for you. Did you replace the pads yourself with aftermarket pads and did you turn the rotor and or drums? Either of those can definetly cause a groan. Judging by your description it sounds like the front brakes are making the noise (going downhill your fronts do WAY more work than the rears). The pads can come in miltiple compositions: Semi-Metallic, Organic, Ceramic, etc. Replacing them with the same composition would help. Also if the rotors were turned it helps to have them sanded by hand and washed to remove any metallic debris. Are the front brake pads beveled? If not that 90 degree angle betweeen the pads and the rotor can in some cases cause noise. I'm ASE certified in brakes so let me know if you have any other questions. Hope this helps.


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## brokenshadows (Jun 11, 2011)

thanks for the reply!

to took the rear brakes apart again and gave it all a real good cleaning...and now the groan is nearly imperceptible...for now, that's unfortunately all i can afford to do, but it seems to have gotten rid of most of the noise, and it's been braking fine for close to a month now


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