Rear Brake Popping.

[DavidPIL]

Hey all...I am experiencing some odd popping sounds from my rear brakes. Seems to pop with a light pressing of the brake pedal as the wheel spins... i.e:The popping gets slower as the car slows down. Took it in to a service shop. They said, because I had painted calipers, that I over-sprayed getting paint on a part of the mechanism and the popping was caused by that. The problem is that I brushed it on and took great care in not brushing on any moving parts.I've read that you shouldn't get paint on the Caliper Sliders. On the back brakes, what do those look like? How would getting paint on this cause a popping sound? I would think it would just impede the motion of the brakes, not have anything to do with the rotation of the rotors. ALso noticing the back Rotors are getting circular high spots. Almost like the silent parts of an LP record. Could this be a cause or the effect of this popping? I ask because sometimes service departments blame the first thing they see (the Painted rotors) and over-look what else might be causing the issue. Any insight to this would be helpful.Dave

[Jahntassa]

If the paint becomes tacky and causes part of the calipers to "stick", then yeah, that's perfectly possible. Calipers are wacky things, I had to get my rears replaced three times on my Ford Probe cause they'd keep locking up. The hotspots on the rotor seem to say that the calipers are indeed having issues.I'd the popping might be the ABS trying to keep the wheel from locking, as it might think is happening..

[ragingfish]

Now that you mention it, I remember one time I had a similar problem -- only the pop would occur after I let off the pedal...as if they brakes were sticking to the rotors....Maybe along the same lines?

[Dr. DODO]

I have 03 GT and I have been hearing the same popping noise. It actually sounds more like ABS being activated improperly. I took my Vibe into dealer but they said they could not replicate the problem. It got very cold in Utah last month or so and the sound seem to have subsided but it came back again recently (but not as loud). May be I will take it in to the dealer again to have them look at it.

[DavidPIL]

hi Dr. DODO...Well, it does now seem that it only happens when the brakes are warm. Does seem to be less now but it still bothers me. THere was always a random pop when braking but this sounds like it speeds up and slows up with the rotation of the wheel. I can't believe the ABS would do that. For me, when the ABS in this car kicks in, it makes a very obnoxious scratch sound. On my old truck, the ABS would pulse but at a constant rate, not slowing up with the slowing rotation of the wheel. One Pontiac place told me it was definitely coming from the rear (duh) and blamed it on my caliper paint. Said it was over-sprayed onto a part that prevented it from moving properly. Since I didn't spray and only brushed where I could see, I doubt this is the case. I'm taking it to a brake specialist on Friday to see what they say. If it's a warranty issue, I'll take it to another pontiac place and tell em what I was told. If it's not a warranty issue then I'll have it taken care of elsewhere.Dave

[DavidPIL]

UGH!Ok, in October, over a month and a half ago, I was in South Carolina. I took my Vibe in to the Pontiac Dealer there in Myrtle Beach... Hadwin-White, I believe it was. They're the ones who told me the noise was probably coming from the caliper paint. Didn't charge me a dime to have it checked. (always had good experiences at this place. They installed my hubcentric rings cheaply where Tires Plus kept giving me the run-arround)Went to Shutes Alignments in Danville IL last Friday. They heard the noise but thught it was possibly coming from a spot on the backside of the rotors or maybe even rubbing on the heat shield. They didn't charge me a dime to look at it and check things out. (They opted, not to do any work on it at that time as to not void any warranty possibilities)Today I took it to the place where I bought the car... this establishment will remain nameless... It's a nasty rainy cold day. It didn't make the noise at all. Told me that everything looked ok but if it made the noise again, bring it back. Charged me $36 bucks for basically nothing.I can't believe that 2 places that had no prior relationship with me would be cool and not charge me anything to check things out yet my own dealership would charge me for something that, if they found something wrong, should have been covered under the extended warranty. GUH!Dave

[DavidPIL]

grrrrr... ok, this problem is pissing me off. 2 places have told me that the brakes are fine so I guess I shouldn't be too worried but while tinkering with the brakes (while the calipers were still on), I noticed the driver's side brake pad, the one on the inside rotor, was loose. Not wiggling like it was hanging there but would move back and forth slightly on the slider things, and funny enough, when it moved, it made a slight click sound.SHould that pad basically be free to move on that slider or should there be something keeping it from moving? Does this mean the lines need bled? Is there a pin or something missing that I should have replaced? I tried to lube that slider thing, popping went away for about 2 days then came back. I can probably grease it better with a more appropriate brake grease. Do you think this what I should do or could there be something else?Hope someone can help. This is driving me batty.Dave

[soldierguy]

I have the exact thing you describe going on with the rear brakes on my Kia (but the rears on the Kia are drum brakes). Took it to a shop about 6 months ago...they cleaned the brake dust out and lubed what they could, and the noise went away. It's back now. So I guess it has to do with brake dust and lube.

[DavidPIL]

The latest issues...Well, it got cold and the sound softened a bit. Not completely going away but got less noisy. Now, I'm not sure if I posted this here but I did take it into my Pontiac Dealer and it didn't make the popping noise at all. In fact, it didn't make it for several days afterward.Now, this past weekend I drove to Knoxville TN. Noticed that now the whole rear end rattles over small bumps or minor road imperfections. Like there is something lose in the rear end. The sound goes away with typical slow speed stopping pressure on the brake pedal. I looked up an old TSB about the 4 bolts that join the rear brake assembly to the rear axel being loose. Was this a problem on 4 wheel disc brakes? This was a TSB that came out in 2002 but my Vibe was made near the end of the 2003 run. Could this be my problem? UGH! This is a pain. Hopefully going to Pontiac tomorrow to get it checked. Wish me luck...Dave

[DavidPIL]

Hello...Just an update to this issue. Not sure if anyone has ever had this same problem but I had the rear wheels off, looked at the calipers then tried to see what could be popping (ok, to clarify the popping sound first, it's more like metal against metal clicking). Noticed the pad behind the caliper jiggled... about 1/8" between touching the rotor and resting againt the caliper. Figured that maybe the brake line had air in it so, with a lot of help from a neighbor cuz I don't know how to do this, bled the rear brakes. Now, no popping/clicking and the brakes seem more secure in stopping. So, if this happens to anyone else and the Pontiac place can't find the problem... this might be it.Dave

[Ponyota]

Good info David... I'll keep this in mind if I have any problems with mine... BTW.. good catch. You see, sometimes no one knows your car as well as you do.. Good job!

[DavidPIL]

One quick update on this...Since posting my solution to this problem (2 weeks ago), I have driven over 3000 miles. A lot of stop and go construction traffic on I-75, rain, stormy driving through TN and NC. City driving in Myrtle Beach. The brake popping noise has not come back and I do feel more secure with the way I can stop now. I hope this was just an issue with my braking system but if you have any popping noises when lightly pressing the brakes, might want to have the brake-lines bled. After having to pay Pontiac nearly $40 to not find the problem, this was a very simple solution.Dave

[Smokin' Rubber]

Interesting I had the same problem when I lowered my car, the front right brakes were popping a bit. Later I found out that I had bent the rotor hat (the little piece of metal behind the rotor that supposedly prevents dust from getting on the rotor) which the caliper was "knocking" on as it clamped the break and rolled back a bit. After I unbent it the clicking stopped and hasn't come back. If that had been the problem with your car mechanics would definitely have a hard time finding something wrong with it because the onyl way to see the problem is to be able to see the wheel during light breaking

[DavidPIL]

Hi,That hat thing is exactly what a different shop assumed it was but suggested I go to a GM place first just in case it was a warranty issue. It seemed like a logical cause of my problem but luckily when I was checking my own brakes I noticed the outter pad was free to move on the driver's side. Probably would have never of found that problem because it wasn't visable and only noticable when slight hand pressure was applied to the pad. I have to assume that with the little bit of air in the line, the pad wasn't pressing tight to the rotar when the brakes were lightly applied causing the pad assembly thing to jiggle slightly. I think my rotors are slightly warped which actually accentuated the problem and maybe somehow caused it? I dunno but the warpedness is very noticable when they're damp but still, it's slight.Dave