Hi all,

I hope someone on here can help or give me some idea of what may be happening.

First, let me preface by saying that we got NEW front brakes on May 28, 2012. We also got NEW rear brakes, but not by the same mechanic who did the fronts.

Now, for about a month or so, my husband and I have been hearing a very slight, low grinding sound in the front brakes, when braking, and only toward the end of the brake—as in, when you actually stop.

But, NOW, after driving home from visiting family, that sound seems to have escalated. Now, since I have more car knowledge than my husband, so I will describe the sights and sounds the best I can.

When you start braking, because you need to slow down or you will eventually have to stop, there is a grinding/scraping sound. As you continue braking, because you really DO need to slow down and stop, the grinding/scraping/low squealing sound gets louder, and other kinds of sounds seem to join in, I can't describe them (maybe sounds like a thick cable moving ...). Then, as you continue braking and do stop, the sound gets to its loudest point, and also there seems to be some kind of bumpiness or vibration that you feel in your braking foot, coming through from the brake pedal. It's not a lot, but something doesn't feel right when you depress the brake pedal all the way down.
THEN, when it is time to go again, and you take your foot OFF the brake pedal and place it on the accelerator, the grinding/scraping sound is still present, but a lot less. As you gain speed, and your foot is still OFF the brake pedal, and you get to maybe 30-40 KM/hour, the grinding/scraping sound continues to lessen and eventually disappears as if nothing was wrong in the first place .... Until you need to slow down/stop again.
So, with my limited car knowledge, here is what I think may be happening, and someone can please correct me or assist me, if I am wrong:
Possibilities:
1) the brake pads have somehow worn all the way down, and we are now braking on metal. Although, I really don't know how the pads would have worn down after less than a year ....
or
2) there is something—perhaps a rock or a piece of metal sticking out—that is grinding against or scraping the discs (or rotors, I'm not sure of the terms), this is happening in both front brakes in exactly the same way ....... yeah, right!
or
3) there is some other thing wrong with the brake pads and I have no idea what it could be ....
ALSO,
4) Either way, I'm pretty sure that both front brake calipers (I supposed it could be one, but it certainly sounds like it's on both sides) are not functioning correctly. Maybe, when we brake, they are sticking and not opening again all the way, or they just currently aren't open all the way and open even less after braking. Either way, I'm pretty sure the calipers are not "undoing," especially since we still hear the grinding/scraping sound after we take our foot OFF the brake pedal.

Soooo, if anyone has any ideas on what could be going on, this would be very helpful. I will be calling the garage who replaced our front brake pads tomorrow (Tuesday); I want to see what they think it could be, and if their new brake pads have some kind of one-year warranty (since we are withIN the one year) and, if so, will they replace for free?

Also, we bought the car used in February 2010, and we are in Ontario, Canada, so I think our 36,000-kilometre (or maybe it's another mileage amount, but it's not that much higher) warranty is done. I think any brake coverage we had is now done, since we are at about 74000 KM now.

Also, I was wondering about that recall on brake calipers (I believe it was the calipers) I have been reading about online (the TSB 05-004-09) ..... I don't know if that was ever done on this vehicle, and, if it wasn't, I wonder if we could get it done and if it would cost, since it was a Dodge recall? I also wonder if that recall was only on Grand Caravans manufactured in the United States or there AND Canada?

This sucks, because, otherwise, we really love our van. It's been a great fit for our family. I hope we won't have to spend a fortune on this ...

I hope someone can help .....

Thank you so very much for any help/ideas.
Samantha

 

Been there, seen that, fixed that.........

I bought a used 2008 withe same setup about a month ago and it did the exact same thing. I do all my brake work myself, so I investigated and repaired it. Moral of the story, some lazy mechanic threw a set of new pads on your van without following proper service procedure. As a result, your brakes will prematurely wear out due to perpetual dragging and your gas mileage will suffer. To make matters worse. the rotors may become cracked and/or warped from excessive heat buildup which leads to pulsation feel.

You need a competent mechanic that does not take shortcuts. A brake job is more than just fresh pads and rotors. Your floating caliper mechanisms are rusted and stuck because they did not: 1) replace and grease, or 2) clean and grease them and/or, 3) TSB kit you mentioned needs installed (but I thought that was for rears only). When the floating caliper mechanism or pad mounting slots become jambed with rust, the brakes will not wear or perform properly.

More likely than not, they saved themselves about 70% of the labor time it takes to do the job right and they did not install a $14 sliding pin and rubber boot kit (cost for each side). The alternative to installing the new hard parts kit involves cleaning the sliding pins, cleaning out the pin holes and greasing everything after verifying the protective rubber bellows boots over the pin assembly do not leak. Again, this hardware can be reused if it's not rusted too bad, but it needs cleaned and inspected. It is also possible they did not clean out the pad mounting slots on the spindle and/or replace the springs that install into the slots. These springs only come with certain pads, most require you to buy the springs separately. Failure to clean the builtup rust out of the grooves will cause the pads to bind up and never release.

PS: read my recent posts for lots more info on this topic. Just search on my username.