Brake Pads

[olezip]

I have all of the repair and maintenance records for my 2000 Lexus ES300 with 56,000 miles on the odometer. The front pads were replaced at 34,500 miles, but the rear pads are original. We just started hearing a grinding sound in the rear wheels when the brakes are being applied, especially when making a turn. I wonder whether I just need rear pads or could there be something else wrong. We heard no such noise for the first six weeks we owned the car. What do you think it might be?

[SKperformance]

more info needed

does it happen when you first start driving

when slowing down hard or softly

and anything else

also is it a sharp high pitched squeel or a grinding noise

[m2pc]

As skperformance said, need more info. But here is what I think. Sounds like you recently purchased the vehicle. Could be that the rear brakes have worn past the warning indicators, which give a high pitch squeel when pads are low, and are now grinding into your rotors. Have you heard this squeel? I guess this because you state the rears have never been replaced and you have 54k on this original set.

You need to bring this to have it checked our ASAP if this is the case. You probably need rear pads (check the front since pads ussually wear out 2 front pads to one set of rears). If it is the case where all the pad material is gone and you are now making contact from the metal brake pad backing to the rotors, you may need to replace the rotors as well, hopefully the rotors have not been scored too badly.

Let us know what you find out.

[steviej]

one CL/LOC member had this similar situation. It was his disc in drum parking/e brake that was rusty and stuck. Midas charged him very little to inspect and clean. Noise gone.

mp2c is right, get it inspected. At 54k I would not think you got much left.

steviej

[bbsal]

yes i would get it checked because im also leaning towards shot brakes!

i did have that problem once were the parking brake was stuck!my own fault because i was on the highway and my cigerette pack was stuck under the ebrake so i lifted it a little and then when i got off the highway i heard grinding and it was that.

but i dont think thats your problem.get it check asap to make sure

[olezip]

It happens right away after I back out of the garage and brake softly. It does squeal occasionally, but just about always grinds. We are having it looked at tomorrow morning. I suspect that the rotors are grinding. If is mostly a low-pitched grinding sound and not a squeal. I will report back tomorrow after the mechanic takes a look at it. The parking brake is operating normally. We do not use the parking brake when the car is in the garage because it is on a level surface; the driveway is level for a couple car lengths.

Thanks for the advice.

[SKperformance]

grinds are probably coming from the rotors internal drum brake

if a piece of debris gets intehre it will sit on the endge and gring away

you forgot to mention if the noise stops as you keep driving

another thing to do is always use the parkign brake

flat surface or not

it will help keep it from seizing and adjust the e barake also

and it might eliviate the problem

a grind is usually metal and another hard surface like metal or a rock

[amanda]

you know when i purchased my es300, i did have some grinding noise, if that's what you could call it. it's a really low level "gggggrr". but the mechanic who checked it out for me on my test drive (who probably was on crack so i shouldn't rely on his findings too much) said that i just needed new brake pads and rotors in about another 10,000 miles. funny thing is, i took it to another mechanic a little while later for something else and he said the brake pads were fine. didn't mention rotors, so i don't know about that.

so i've been accepting the "gggrrrr" noise as normal for the next 9,000 miles or so. it's mostly when i apply brakes at very slow speeds during a turn for parking. am i being too naive and crazy?

also, olezip, does your steering wheel not have wood? i thought all platinum editions were supposed to have wooden steering wheel.

[olezip]

I found a "personal mechanic" who works on the Lexus in our area (N. Virginia) via the Internet (CarTalk). All of the reviews on CarTalk were positive, so I gave him a call.

He did the repair in our driveway the same day he visited to diagnose the problem. The rotors were not scored but lightly scratched within acceptable limits; you could see, but not really feel a few parallel lines. He drove to the Lexus dealer to get the parts (brake pads). The repair was completed on 9/2/03. The brakes now work perfectly; the grating or grinding sound that came from the rear wheels is gone.

It was convenient to have the mechanic come to our home and repair the car; but maybe as costly as taking it to the dealer. The bottom line is that he charged us $254.50 to replace the rear brake pads. In January 2002 with 33,200 miles on the odometer, the previous owner paid $183 for front pads replacement at a Firestone facility. The odometer now reads 56,768 miles. [i do not really want to know what it would have cost if I did it myself.]

By the way the color of the Lexus is "Millennium Silver." It is not the Platinum Edition, though.

[amanda]

man, these competent mechanics really take you to the cleaners. as i posted on another thread, the good mechanic i found wants $65 an hour for labor and $50 for an oil change. i am thinking about becoming a mechanic.

sorry about the platinum edition question. i thought someone else fairly new had the edition too.