My First problem with the van. I just put on 800 miles on the van since I got it. Now has 56,300 miles. I went to San Francisco and the next day everytime I hit the brakes I hear this grinding noise on the front passenger. NO squeaks or that high pitch sounds. Just sounds like a metal to metal. I contacted the dealer and informed them since its a safety issue and they told me that the front has 90% and rear has 80%. It went away the next day and it came back. I decided to pull out the tire yesterday and visually inspected the brakes and rotors. Brakes pad are still thick almost new, but I played around with the rotor and it moves minimaly front and back. NOt like how my honda where it has two screws holding the rotor to prvent it from moving. So anyways I drove again today and it has that noise again. Any suggestions?

 

So this is the safest way to flush the transmission correct? Using the machine to circulate the oil

 

I like it the best because you get the max amount of fluid exchange with minimal work or chance of leaks.

Figure, you are undoing 2 fittings to hook that machine up.

You're undoing something like 14 bolts and a gasket to remove the pan.

If the pan's not leaking yet, why disturb it to only change @ 1/4-1/3 of your fluid?

I used to be against all dealer-type services but having done this one a number of times and seen the difference in my own cars, I really believe in the trans flush. It's the one thing I will pay for, preventative maintenance wise.

 

Could be a wheel bearing or possibly the caliper mounting bracket bolts are not tight, allowing the caliper to let the rotor "play?"

Hard to say without seeing it. I had a similar sound in my wife's old Hyundai that I could never pin down - and it had the 2 screws you talk about that prevent rotor movement. Is it possible the caliper is not engaging fully? kinked brake hose? That might cause an intermittent grinding if the pads aren't "clamping" tightly.

Some things to think about.

I will be getting into mine shortly -- 2.5 years and @ 40k miles since the last front brake job, it is time to do another one. Pads and rotors. I believe the rotors to be warped, as we went to the mountains to see an old-growth forest a month or two ago, and on the way down some of the more severe hills, you could feel a definite pulsation on braking.

On normal roads, on the flats, normal driving, nothing, but it's enough for me to throw a couple of bucks at the front brakes as these minivans are known to eat them.

 

Finally opened the front brakes. Passenger side is ok with 80%. Driver side is also 80%, but the edge are worn out. What could be the problem.

 

but dont I need to replace the filter?

 

Coming from the old school perspective of my father, I have always done a pan drop and filter change every 30,000 miles. On the caravan that I have now, however, I have installed a drain plug in the pan. I now drain the pan and refill every 10,000 miles, and drop and change the filter every 3rd time. The reason for this is because I use it for work, and it is loaded heavy, and I pull trailer with it quite a bit. I would never do a machine flush on any auto, I always have that nagging fear of dislodging crap from the magnet in the pan, or from the filter, and having it get caught in the valve body, or selenoid pack. My father's 94 1500 ram had 231,000 miles on it, and my brother bought it, did a machine service on it, and by 250,000 or so, it crapped the trans. Yes, I know, it had high miles, and could have gone at any moment, but I have only lost one automatic in a Dodge, and that was because my Neon got dex 3 put in instead of +4. Every Dodge I have had has been run over 300,000 before I have gotten rid of it except my Dakota which was traded on my 05 ram, and our 98 Caravan that was totaled.

 

The corners are not worn out, they are tapered when they are made. Look at a new set fresh out of the box.