turbohye

Hey guys. Shadetree mechanic here and have been doing my work for years. Also an ASC certified well at least back in college i was. For the past few weeks i have been tracing this mysterious clicking noise from the right side of the car. It increases as wheel speed increases. Meaning 1 turn of the wheel = 1 click.
Its actually quite loud from the outside of the car. In the past week i have installed brand new wheel bearings on both sides ( yea i wore latex gloves) the grease was packed nicely as well. Checked the half shafts and had no problems. Lifted the car up and spun each wheel on both sides (to be sure) and no clicking of course. To me it sounds like i have a "dancing frog" and the SOB doesnt want to be found. Today i took it to the a local shop that my buddy owns and he checked it out with me. He thinks that the brake pads might have a mechanism making them click when wear is low. SOOOOO guys.....since my brake pads are brand spankin new....WTF do i do. My friend said that IS300s are notorious for clicking but my car only clicks in a straight line. Its a 93 5 speed all stock and not even lowered. I have about 100k on the ODO but it rides like a cadillac. ALSO when i apply decent brake pressure, the clicking stops. What does this sound like? Anyone experience this as well. I ran a search and it seems that a few people have experienced what i am now. P.S. My wheel studs are not cracked or broken. Thanks in advance guys /gals.
-Tony

turbohye

P.S. I have had Supra TT wheels on there for a while now with no issues and swapped on my factory wheels with new tires for the winter and still no change.....still clicking like a clock

Blizzy

iTrader: (-1)

You might try replacing the spring located between the pads on top of the rotor but under the top of the caliper.

Guys on this very forum have posted about a repetitive "clapping" noise from the brake pads in the past and it all resulted from that spring losing tension over time, giving a tendancy for the pads to not want to be pushed away from the rotor ~1mm after the brake pedal is no longer being pressed.

turbohye

Thanks bro, I am curious if it clicks faster when wheel speed increases. It a PITA because of the Snow and Cold now coming down. I noticed that the sound didnt occur today so i am almost certain is a wearable part much like the spring, if not the spring. Very strange to diagnose an issue that comes and goes as it pleases.

thanks regardless. I will most definately check this out and remove my caliper and take a look.

vwynn

iTrader: (4)

i think i had this problem 2 days ago.. turns out my lug nts where loose =p bad when driving 70 on the freeway hah..

turbohye

Glad your ok and the wheel didnt go flying off. No i have taken the wheels off a considerable amount of times in the last 4 weeks trying to find this out. Strangely since the roads were wet today, i think moisture is lubricating a failing part. I believe it may be on the brake assembly. My studs and lugs are fine though. thanks

turbohye

anyone else have a theory?

574-SC300

Could something be possibly rubbing on the fender well.

Jrad

I have this problem with my 93 Mark VIII. It was off and on, and now its persistent. Pretty irritating.

turbohye

Im assuming its still giving you problems? Its pretty damn annoying and i cant locate it. It has to be on the rotating assembly. Im going to pull the wheel again today if it doesnt snow or rain and see whats up.

DZLEXIK

iTrader: (5)

Maybe its ur wheel bearing, when they get worn out it sounds like that. My brothers car is doing it right now.

techsc400

iTrader: (6)

I had old factory chrome wheel and it was chrome peeled off inside was scraping the caliper. (One turn one scraping noise)...

turbohye

thanks guys. No luck yet. Had the car up on the lift and couldnt find anything yesterday. I decided since i had to drive the car to visit family for christmas to just turn it in and have the mechanic look at it. At least he can tear everything apart. Last night while driving to the shop to drop the car off, there was a very hard dramatic knocking noise that people would drive beside me on the highway and look at my car. The noise was coming from that same wheel. It sounds as if something is going to break if not already has and is just getting worse. I cant fumble around with that BS anymore so once i get word, i will let you guys know so you can keep a look out.

turbohye

good and bad news. My mechanic friend had been suprised from the noise and removed the entire rotating assembly from the front wheel. He said that the bearing was decent but didn't trust to put it back in the hub. He noticed that there was a hairline fracture in the rear of the hub assembly. The crack started in the mid point of the hub and receded into the back and then wrapped around. He stated "HAD this continued, that surely carnage would have occurred and it probably could have resulted in a wheel falling off or a suspension component breaking and hence causing a domino effect on everything. Luckily nothing was damaged and so I decided to have him replace the bearings, caliper, rotor and pretty much everything on that wheel. that the crack is barely visible under the naked eye and was only able to view it once the parts soaked in cleaner and were steamed. The crack was approximately 4 inches long. Good news is I am alive and this is a fixable thing. Bad news, costly and sure was stressful. I guess the moral of the story is ......degrease those parts for a better look. hah