" Clunk " sound when braking - Any ideas ?

[FASTFORD]

Had my front brakes done a few month back - both discs and pads at our local Kwik Fit. Not long after having them done i noticed - now and then - there would be a slight " Clunk " sound , when braking either at slow or higher speeds , more noticable at lower speeds due to less road noise.

Ive had the car back with them today and theyve cleaned the brakes and made sure they were all ok and the " Clunk " which sound like its coming from the front end is still there ! They cant but there finger on whats making it but it does seem to be coming from the front of the car ? !

I also have had my car in for its yearly service with Ian at TR&D in Hucknall and he says that all the clips on the brake pads are there and look ok and hes also checked out all the suspension componets and they all also look good.

I have already checked the frunk and made sure the tool kit is in tight and not slipping about , so any more ideas on this would be appreciated

Anyone had a simlair experiance ? Ive got a Mk2 Rev5 btw

[inky]

Are you sure it's only under braking?

When mine started clunking and knocking I spent a fortune at a specialists replacing bits when all it turned out to be was droplinks. It was the sort of noise you might associate with braking, but it also happened in straight lines in traffic, when it first started I was worried my wheels were loose so kept getting out to check.

I got a set off ebay and someone fitted them and it was silent - lovely. That was a couple of years ago, and the noise is back occasionally - I guess I bought cheap but it's been a nice quiet ride in the meantime.

[FASTFORD]

well i did ask Ian at TR&D and he said he looked at the drop links and thought they were ok , but i guess its a possibility mate - ive heard how prone they are to wearing on the Mk2.

till just this last week i was sure it was only on braking , but ive been listerning whilst driving and weather its pot holes or not i think ive heard it the odd occasion on the road too.

one theory was when i had my brakes done they didnt refit the clips that hold the pads in place , so they were sliding back and fourth in the carrier. Which when you go forward and hear the Clunk , then without reversing and braking , you dont usually hear it again ... same goes if u reverse and hear the clunk and do it again you dont get it. But ive been told that the clips are all there , so this shouldnt be the case ... which i guess brings us back to the drop links ? ! lol

Im taking the word on mechanics here and havent looked into things myself , not knowing much about the 2 i thought it was the best thing to do ... but its looking without some SOLID advice im not gonna be putting my finger on this one any time soon.

[stevenb]

one theory was when i had my brakes done they didnt refit the clips that hold the pads in place , so they were sliding back and fourth in the carrier. Which when you go forward and hear the Clunk , then without reversing and braking , you dont usually hear it again ... same goes if u reverse and hear the clunk and do it again you dont get it. But ive been told that the clips are all there , so this shouldnt be the case ... which i guess brings us back to the drop links ? ! lol

Im taking the word on mechanics here and havent looked into things myself

, not knowing much about the 2 i thought it was the best thing to do ... but its looking without some SOLID advice im not gonna be putting my finger on this one any time soon.[/quote]

This is highly possible. I had it on my old red rev2.
Get the wheel off and check...it's easy...don't just take someones word for it.

[scott64]

i would go for the droplinks mate, mine started out like yours but suddenly got worse within a couple of weeks after they were replaced there was STILL a clunking there every now and then........bushes were the next job so make sure you check them as well as its easier to change them all at the same time

[platmatt8]

Drop links IMHO,

They may look alright but as soon as they start to dry up or get some road grime in there they`ll chunk. funny thing is the sound is often transfered through the roll bar and suspension spring seeming like theres another problem

[^Trickster^]

When fitting brake pads properly you should brind the little dowelly kind of bits "just enough" to keep the pads well held, yeh allowing them to move freely too so that they dont stick and rub all the time when your not braking.

I have had pads that sometimes are so tight its unreal and you can barely get them in the carrier.

If you grind too much away the pad can move up and down in the carrier a bit, you will hear this as a clunking sound, its not bad, just annoying and I have done it myself in the past, youll find if your driving forwards all the time it might not do it "as much" if you reverse and brake because the disc is turning the other way when you brake it will clunk then and then drive forwards and brake so your shifting the pad the other way and it will clunk again, this is how you test for it.

But it could be drop links, but I dont tend to hear them under braking and my front ones are completly shot at the moment, I hear them on heavy cornering and bumps in the road mainly.

Graeme

[FASTFORD]

When fitting brake pads properly you should brind the little dowelly kind of bits "just enough" to keep the pads well held, yeh allowing them to move freely too so that they dont stick and rub all the time when your not braking.

I have had pads that sometimes are so tight its unreal and you can barely get them in the carrier.

If you grind too much away the pad can move up and down in the carrier a bit, you will hear this as a clunking sound, its not bad, just annoying and I have done it myself in the past, youll find if your driving forwards all the time it might not do it "as much" if you reverse and brake because the disc is turning the other way when you brake it will clunk then and then drive forwards and brake so your shifting the pad the other way and it will clunk again, this is how you test for it.

But it could be drop links, but I dont tend to hear them under braking and my front ones are completly shot at the moment, I hear them on heavy cornering and bumps in the road mainly.

Graeme

This sounds exactcally like whats happening Graeme, is there anyway to stop it ?

Ive done a bit of a road test today on some twisties and listerned for it when "weeving" on the road and theres no sound (other than my seat giving a little groan on the leather lol) , so doing the forward brake and reverse brake thing you get alot more often. Like i said before as well this didnt come about till i had my front discs and pads replaced by kwik fit.

[^Trickster^]

Only way really is to replace the pads and not grind them too much when fitting, it wont do any harm, you could try and shim it up with something, but i really wouldnt be keen on that.

Graeme

[FASTFORD]

Ok mate , only thing is i proberly paid over the odds for a disc and pad change (front only) with Quick Fit because they offered the LIFE TIME GURRENTTEE , it was £287 i think. Only thing is theyll no doubt replace the pads in with like for like, but its nice to put the finger on whats finally making the noise ! Just a shame cant do much about it.

[^Trickster^]

I would take it back and complain if you think this is definitely the problem.

Graeme

[swisstony]

same thing happened to me , i got new pads to fit myself , they were too tight to get into the carrier so i ground down the edge of the pad to make them fit. kept getting a clunking noise and took m ages to figure out what it was. sounds like you need to get new pads fidded again like graeme said or just put up with it untill they need changing again ? or you could take advantage of that lifetime garentee and do a couple of track days to wear them out !

[FASTFORD]

Im going to go back again , armed with this arsenl of info lol . Thanks for the heads up Tony.

Me and my pal have done some testing today with me in the car and him right next to the wheel and its DEFFIENTLY 100% the drivers side front wheel thats doing the "clunking" , you would have thought the pads would have been straight out the box and onto the car with no problems. Ive never heard of people having to grind pads to fit but obviously he must have done it to these to fit slopply. Were due to move into our first home together in a few weeks plus the missis mother is in hospital atm and i hate it when my car isnt right , so its just another ball ache atm ... the garage is 12 mile away so its not like i can call in anytime either ! *sigh* lol at least the weekends nearly here !

Thanks for all the input lads , im prepared now to give them a grillin

[m121]

I recently had a similar problem turned out the brake caliper was sticking.

Try jacking the front of the car up and see if you can spin the wheel easily will give you some indication if something is binding.

[^Trickster^]

Most "good" garages will take the time to grind the pad fitting points to get smooth movement to prevent pads from sticking from being too tight.

You shouldnt really just force the pads in there.

Graeme

[FASTFORD]

Right , well ive been back to Kwik Fit at Derby this time , apart from having a hurried Manager all seemed well. Tried to explain and Demo the problem to him but he said theyd have to road test it to assertain the problem for themselves anyway ? Fair enough ...

Anyway got the car back and the lad who worked on it said the " Heat Sheild " was catching ever so slighty ? , i never realised there was a heatsheild on or neat the brakes ? weather he was reffering to the tyre well skin ? i dont know.

Tried moving forward and back and it seemed to do it slightly once but then didnt do it when moving and braking either forward and back ... so a slight result, as before each forward and back movement made the " Clunk " sound.

On the way home with the Tbars off it starts to rain lol ... pull in sharp down a side road and get the Tbars on , do a 3 point turn and i hear it faintly again. Arrive home and reverse park in (almost full lock on) i hear the louder "Clunk" almost like a ping sound .... *sigh*

Its making me wonder if it could possibly be one of the surspension components now on that side ? That only moves when under braking , but it only does it it once in the same direction , so its not constant.

Its making me wish id bourght the parts myself and fitted them myself, and not gone for the super dooper " lifetime gurrenttee " and get some 10 year old fit the brakes !

Anyone ever had simlair problems with their droplinks when they started to go ? im wondering if it could be that now ?

[^Trickster^]

Personally I would look at the problem myself, get the wheel off and have a look, grab stuff and rag it around see if anything is knocking.

I wouldnt touch kwik fit with a bargepole personally, a set of standard front pads is 20 quid and you can fit them yourself in no time.

Have a look at it

Graeme

[FASTFORD]

Doing my nut in to say the least now.

Were moving into a new house next monday , so ill have to see if i get time to get in there myself and have a look about. Its not effecting how it drives tbh its just annoying.

Im wondering now if i can get some stuff off ebay or a motorcraft place (standard stuff) and put it on and take there ... ones ... back and get a refund. I paid through the nose for there super dooper service and £290 quid and ive got this ? !

[going4the1]

The 'fault' can be repaired using the existing pads. The clunk described/explained by trickster is quite common (on this and other Toyotas of this vintage).

It is a simple case of identifying the offending pad. Then

(i) remove the pad and then remove either the upper or lower clip (doesn't matter which).

(ii) Cut a small square piece of thin metal the same size as the part of the clip which sits against the pad carrier. see:

http://www.mr2turbo.info/pics/frontbrake.html (third image down)

If you note the black square on the clip. This has a tendency to rust and disintegrate. This is probably what has happened on yours. Use something as thin as a bake beans tin can. This will take up the 'slack' in the brakes. and will stop the pad striking the pad carrier.

[FASTFORD]

Nice pics ...

I think im going to have to make a project out of this , i was planning on painting my calipers red at some point too , so now ive got an excuse to get it done, whilst im having a fettel with the clips.

I did think about packing it before but wasnt sure if the " bodge route " was the way to go lol

Nice to hear its a commen fault and hopefully easily sorted. Thx for post Going4the1