[Ray32825]

Capt. Slow, thank you for appreciating my work, I try my best to do things the right way. Pretty sure many people do the same here as far as using petroleum based grease is concerned. For example Toyota specifies a Lithium Soap Base Glycol Grease, but I have heard that some technicians just apply anti-seize instead.

I guess you could get away with wheel bearing grease when the application is metal to metal, after all the seals in the hub are also made of rubber. But for metal to metal and metal to rubber brake caliper applications, I would still use a synthetic Molly or silicone-based grease.

The tube of sil-glyde is around $6 and the bottle off ceramic extreme is around $18. At first I used some cerami-glyde I had this in packet form - these are available at most auto stores and I usually displayed near the checkout. They cost around $1.50 but if you buy them online you can get them for as cheap as $.50.

The ceramic extreme by Permatex (purple) is a superior product with a much higher temperature rating and that is why you will notice the initial application was blue but I went back and took the calipers apart and use the purple stuff.

I am sure with a little bit of searching you will be able to find a silicone-based grease and decent break lube for the pads/calipers.

[1self]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

Changing the Caliper pin doesn't solve anything, the caliper itself is the problem.

Sir, you are partly right. The annulus's diameter does increase but due to wear, the pin size also reduces. So, a new pin will solve the problem, at least for quite some time.

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by Ray32825

Capt. Slow,


The ceramic extreme by Permatex (purple) is a superior product with a much higher temperature rating and that is why you will notice the initial application was blue but I went back and took the calipers apart and use the purple stuff.

I am sure with a little bit of searching you will be able to find a silicone-based grease and decent break lube for the pads/calipers.

Ray, I was doing some research into the caliper noise and I found a couple of interesting things. ->

1) using a the wrong grease on the calipers/brake system can cause premature failure

2) Some grease/greases can also case the rubber bushing and seals to swell up. (causing the caliper/caliper bushes to fail)
Some cars have a caliper pin bushes. If the pin Bushes swell up then your breaks are going to start making all kind of noises.
If the caliper seals swell up then your brake can fail completely!


http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...r-failure.html
Here is one such scenario, back then I did not understand as to how a caliper can fail. But I think this was because of a caliper seal gone bad, *(could be due to bad/wrong grease)?

[Ray32825]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

Ray, I was doing some research into the caliper noise and I found a couple of interesting things. ->

1) using a the wrong grease on the calipers/brake system can cause premature failure

2) Some grease/greases can also case the rubber bushing and seals to swell up. (causing the caliper/caliper bushes to fail)
Some cars have a caliper pin bushes. If the pin Bushes swell up then your breaks are going to start making all kind of noises.
If the caliper seals swell up then your brake can fail completely!


http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...r-failure.html
Here is one such scenario, back then I did not understand as to how a caliper can fail. But I think this was because of a caliper seal gone bad, *(could be due to bad/wrong grease)?

Yup! unless you drive a Dacia Sandero, in which case any grease will do.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

Changing the Caliper pin doesn't solve anything, the caliper itself is the problem.
When we drive over broken roads the caliper pin moves around shaking a bit causing the caliper pin guide hole to become larger and larger. Eventually the gab becomes too wide and nothing other than a full caliper replacement or metal shim when is permanently welded on the caliper can solve this problem.

I am quoting years old post. However, since i have faced the issue and the root cause matches with your analysis thought i will share.

The front right caliper and rear left caliper on our i20 started making pretty bad noise over bad roads. Changed the pins to brand new ones with a hope of solving the problem. But the new pins did not solve the problem.

Now the solution is to replace all 4 brake calipers since all of them have some amount of play in them.

From my analysis, the kind of roads that the car drives on also plays a factor in how fast the pins will wear out the caliper hole. The car has done 1.3 lakh kms and of these around 1 lakh is on not so good roads. I guess i will take this as a wear and tear issue and replace the calipers. The sound is unbearable for me now.

[vigsom]

The local solution is to have polymer bushes fabricated from a local machinist and fitted in the caliper

While the pins move in the bush the clearance between caliper pins and the bushes would be at bare minimum - that would arrest the rattle.

[Mortis]

Guys just get a slightly oversized caliper pin made from a turner. The problem with will be pretty much solved for a few hundred bucks.
The calipy rattling noise was a common and perpetual problem with the Chevrolet Beat and no amount of greasing and wrapping solved the problem for more than a couple of months. Then I found a mechanic for servicing as the ASS was too far and he suggested and made oversized pins for my car and that has fixed it permanently 6 years and 30000km later

[Sridhar K]

Originally Posted by vigsom

The local solution is to have polymer bushes fabricated from a local machinist and fitted in the caliper

While the pins move in the bush the clearance between caliper pins and the bushes would be at bare minimum - that would arrest the rattle.

This solution worked for me on my Swift ZDI and my friend's Alto. I changed the bush 3 times over 70K kms, costing me Rs. 700 odd each time.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by vigsom

The local solution is to have polymer bushes fabricated from a local machinist and fitted in the caliper

While the pins move in the bush the clearance between caliper pins and the bushes would be at bare minimum - that would arrest the rattle.

Can you please share more details on who exactly should i look for to get the bushes? I assume these will be inserted in the caliper hole where the pins will slide.

Also, how to decide what is the thickness of the bushes that need to be machined to ensure that the rattle stops?

Originally Posted by Mortis

Guys just get a slightly oversized caliper pin made from a turner. The problem with will be pretty much solved for a few hundred bucks.
The calipy rattling noise was a common and perpetual problem with the Chevrolet Beat and no amount of greasing and wrapping solved the problem for more than a couple of months. Then I found a mechanic for servicing as the ASS was too far and he suggested and made oversized pins for my car and that has fixed it permanently 6 years and 30000km later

Well, this will not work if the caliper pin has a small integrated rubber sleeve at the end. The i20 has this rubber sleeve. So, an oversized caliper pin will not work

[locusjag]

Interesting. My FNG mechanic has also diagnosed a faulty caliper as having to do with the rattling on mildly uneven roads in my used A Star. He suggested me to give it to him for 2 days by when he'll get the help of a nearby lathe shop to solve it. I haven't given it yet.

[gus]

I Know I am late to the party, but I have been facing the calliper rattling problem since long on my Scross. The problem started after my scross clocked 20K kms and since then the problem had been on and off. I visited the service centre multiple times and got the following done by them
1) Greasing
2) Teflon taping on the calliper pins (as told by the service guy)
3) Change of calliper pins
4) Soldering and then shaping (on a lathe) (after this the problem went out for around 30k kms before reappearing again)
The service centre guys told me that the problem is inherent due to bad road conditions in India (I am in Kanpur) so if the problem again comes back then…..

In the mean time, the stock tyres on my Scross needed change and i wanted something which did not shout in my ears every time I was on the road. The stock tyres lasted me over 60k kms and could have gone further but for the noise, bumpy and uncomfortable ride.
After reading on TBHP forums and talking to the local Michelin dealer I decided to give michelin a try. Michelin The tyres were costly (appx 1500/tyre) compared to what the competition had to offer but I took the plunge any ways because of the following perceived strengths of the tyres :
1) Noiseless
2) Better grip
3) Better braking
4) Comfortable tyres (better shock absorption)

And let me Tell you I find that each and every penny spent was well worth it.

If you wondering how does it all connect then let me tell you that there has been No calliper noise since the tyre change.

The service guy told me that the calliper rattling noise mostly occurs when the car is driven over bad road and given the road conditions in India, this can hardly be avoided. Add to that, the Hard rubber compound stock tyres (which were there on the S-Cross) which have extremely poor shock absorption. All that combined together results in a very harsh ride.
From all these I deduced that may be, the problem started at the first place because of the poor set of stock tyres driven over poor roads which took its toll on the calliper and maybe changing the tyres at the beginning itself could have kept the problem at bay to some extent.
Of course the calliper noise could also be due to defective calliper assembly, style of driving or some other reason. This is solely an observation and I may be completely wrong but can others comment on this?