I'm the proud owner of a 1993 SL2. I bought it used last year (I prefer the pre-1995 Saturns), and it's just over 100K. Recently (a week and a half ago), there's been a squeaky sound coming from my left front wheel when I brake. It's *slightly* arrythmic. It also sometimes occurs when I back up, without the brakes being applied, but it's almost always present when braking.
I'm not too hip on wasting money on mechanics, so I took the wheel off to check it out myself, but I really am not that knowledgeable about disc brakes..... Anyway, I discovered--
- The left wheel's brake pads are significantly more worn down than the right, and the left one squeaks if I manually turn the rotor.
- The rotor wiggles, just a little bit (equal to or less than 2mm at the edge). Is this normal? I failed to check against the right wheel.
- The pads seem to --ever so slightly-- grip the rotor.
- Disc brakes aren't as scary as I thought they were. They look almost as easy as drum brakes to replace!
My girlfriend (equally knowledgeable about disc brakes) seems to think it's a return spring problem, but I didn't think disc brakes used a return spring....
So, to sum it all up, here's my collected questions-- Why does it squeak in reverse, or why does it squeak without the brakes being depressed? Why does the rotor wiggle, and is it normal? Why is one sides brake pads more worn down than the other?
Thank you in advance, and I hope my information has been good enough to tell what's happening.