| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 4:40:45 PM | Hi, thanks for helping, my car is making a screeching(metal on metal sound around the wheel base . Mainly when I begin driving or if I am going slow on the side streets, on and off sometimes ok sometimes loud. I will take it to the shop but was wondering......is it a belt, brake pads need replacing? Something else?
Is it expensive to fix? Do not want to get ripped off since I know nothing about car mechanics....I would like to educate myself and appreciate your advice.
Thanks | |
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 4:48:11 PM | Sounds like the brake pads or calipers. But every guy here will give you what they think is sound advice. But no one can see actually see what your car is doing from a few posts.
You are a woman and probably more savvy than some guys out there. Take it to a mechanic. He will tell you what's wrong with it. Get a free quote. Ask him if they give free estimates before doing anything. Once this is done, say you will bring it back when you have time. Do this process a few times over. Decide which mechanic you trust and price is right for you. Simple as that. GL
Tye | |
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 4:49:51 PM | | Sounds like one of two things. Brake pads worn out (there is a thing built into them as a wear indicator that is meant to squeal when they are worn out alerting you to the problem) or else possibly the wheel bearings are shot. Those are my guesses. | |
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 4:50:29 PM | Have you had your breaks checked recently?
If it just started...
it's brake pads(not expensive) and rotors turned(ground down abit. not expensive).
If it's been going on a while it will be new pads, rotor, and possibly brake assembly.
(expensive) | |
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 5:02:28 PM | i would go with the brakes, if they wear down too far you have to have the discs done too!
go to a reputable garage/mechanic and get it checked, its not worth running the risk of having an accident!
caro | |
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 5:08:07 PM | | is it more of a "rink...rink...rink..." sound as the wheel turns? I had this sound for the longest time on a car...it was the bearings...one of them had slipped and was grinding down on all the other ones as they turned. | |
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 5:20:09 PM | If it's around the wheels, then it's brakes. If it stops or diminishes when you apply the brakes, it IS the brakes. Some brake pads have a piece of metal attached to them to start this noise BEFORE your Rotors get irreparable worn.
One way to check to see if it's wheels or your engine is to get on a small hill, turn your engine off (dont lock the steering) and roll forward with the engine off. If the noise is still there, it's brakes for sure.
Brakes are USUALLY around $60 per axle. That is if you only need new pads and they can turn the rotors. turning the rotors makes them smooth so it doesnt pull or pulsate.
Midas Muffler offers brake specials in the sunday paper here in California.
It would help to know the make, model and year of the car. How many miles are on it. Email me directly if you want. I used to own a shop | |
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 5:52:37 PM | OK, makes the noise when you start driving. Doesn't sound like brakes, they'll make the noise only when you apply the brakes. If it doesn't make the noise when sitting still idling it's not a belt. If it's more noticeable when driving slow or especially when cornering at slow speed it's probably wheel bearings, probably expensive, depending on the make and model. Be prepared to shell out some bucks for this... | |
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 5:58:35 PM | It's your brakes.
Based on the screeching, it's too late to turn (machine) the rotars. You'll need new ones and new brake pads. $300-500 depending on the car and the type of brakes you have.
What happens if you listen and apply the brakes? If the sound changes or goes away, you need new brakes. | |
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 6:06:48 PM | If you have a front wheel drive vehicle and hearing a rinky-clickity-clackity noise while going slow and making a turn, it's the CV joints gone bad. They go bad with high mileage or if there is a rip, tear, split in the outer boot, there is no grease and the needle bearings are burned. Look behind the wheel up in the wheel well for grease spatters.
You can't hear bad wheel bearings when driving slow. But at speed. bad wheel bearing make a constant high pitch whine. | |
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 6:28:30 PM | well im a mechanic but rather then get your hopes up without me hearing the noise or trying to qoute prices your best bet is to bring it to a shop and get them to check out the noise ask if theres a diagnostic charge first but if it does sound like brakes most shops offer free brake inspections anyway and talk to the mechanic get him to explain it or even better show you if after that you still dont feel right about it get a second opinion
im sure talking to service advisors always leaves the convorsation alil shady just beacause they dont understand it themselves sometimes so they struggle to put together an explaination for you so its always best to talk to the mechanic himself | |
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 7:07:04 PM | The most likely cause of metal to metal sounds near the wheel base is not a big deal.
It is likely that the wear indicator on the brake shoes is touching the rotor. It is designed to make a lot of racket so you will get it checked before your brakeshoes dig into your rotor. I have always fixed my own brakes so can't tell you how much they charge. Probably like 100 dollars. I would have a guy take it in for you. A lot of mechanics charge more to women. It would usually cost me about 30 dollars.
In regards to previous posts.
If you are turning it is most likely the cv joints. Never had those replaced so can't tell you how much they might charge.
If your break pads are bad you will get a Metal on Metal noise. If you keep driving, this noise will turn into a crushing noise, this is bad and means you should stop driving, because you are gouging you rotors. You will continue to get noise if you take your foot off the brake. It will diminish more and more until you step on the brake again.
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 7:10:33 PM | if it's brakes, they usually only squeel when you step on the brakes, they would have to be completely bound up with brake dust (and usually your front rims would always be black) to squeel when you aren't braking. To someone who has actually seen a set of new pads beside a set of old ones it is easy to check if they are worn to nothing. As fare as the rotor which the pads grab onto to stop the wheels, usually they become damaged from not replacing the pads, tho a rock lodged between the pad and rotor will also grind a groove in a rotor.Problem is, if you don't know what you're looking for..
belts usually squeel when the engine is cold, and on acceleration, except air conditioner belts which can make noise anytime as the compressor cycles off and on. Checking the tension and as to if they are worn is pretty simple, but I can't guide you thru it in a forum.
Have you opened the hood and started the car and walked around front to see if you can more closely pinpoint the noise? Or is only when moving?
The most tricky one is if the water pump is going out. Has the radiator fluid been regularly changed and antifreeze levels maintained? The lubricant for the waterpump is in the antifreeze. Overheating? temp guage reading elevated? watch very closely for this one, you'll burn your engine up if the waterpump goes out and you keep driving. Four cylinder engines are aluminum and can't take heat like an older car with an iron block and heads
WARNING!!! Tie your hair up , put it in a cap, and away from MOVING belts, if they catch your hair they will pull your whole scalp OFF.....very BAD | |
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 7:28:24 PM | Without more info (mileage, model, year, service history) it's hard to say, BUT. Brake pads (metal backing plate contacting the rotor- see link) are more of a dull grating grinding noise. [li]http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/brakes/brake-types/disc-brake.htm[/li]
Screeching is more likely a belt issue or a bad belt tensioner or idler pulley. A belt might just be loose (possibly power steering as the demand on that is kind of on-and-off). Belts can usually be retensioned, but should be replaced if the rubber is cracked. Again, a lot of this depends on what kind of car you have :) | |
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 7:42:48 PM | I'd say bring it over, and I'll take a look. But there is an easy way.
Does the noise happen only when moving? If it happens while you are sitting still, then it can be a belt, or a bearing on your alternator or water pump. If it does not happen sitting still, then...
Drive slow. Push the brakes very easily. Does the noise get better or worse? If it grinds more, or gets quiet then you need brakes.
If it stays the same, then you need a wheel bearing.
Take it to Sears and ask for an estimate and they will tell you what it wrong. Even if you can't afford to get it done there, Sears will be honest with you, and help keep you from getting ripped off. | |
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| this is about cars...can you auto savvy guys help me?
Posted: 9/1/2009 7:47:42 PM | Almost forgot. It could be just that they are noisy brakes.
There is a can of spray that you can spray them with to stop the vibration noise.
I would not recommend this though because most likely you need new pads.
I don't know what it is called. It's been so long since I have used it. It's called break squeak stop or something like that. There are little tubes of paste too but that only works good if you are replacing them. | |
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