Back in June or July this summer I had to replace both rear calipers (they were sticking) and put on new discs and pads. Aside from having air trapped in the lines (which I got a shop to bleed) all went well. I was sure to put on liberal amounts of grease/lube where called for (for example on the glide pins and such), torq everything correctly and follow the manual to the 't'.
Fast forward a few months.. I've noticed a shimmering/pulsating/vibrating when coming to a stop that has gradually started to intensify. I don't feel it at all in the pedal or the steering , but it can definately be felt by the occupants in the car. At first I thought it was just the road at certain intersections, but it has become pretty consistant. For some reason (could be my imagination), the pulsation seems to be a higher frequency than when a disc has warped. The car (Mazda MX3) does have power brakes but no ABS.
I was thinking it may be the new discs I put on, but then again probably not. They were brand new (as were the pads), and I've only done 2000 or so kilometres since the brake job and generally I'm not heavy on the brakes (I always downshift). Nothing is sticking or draging either-- the other day I had to travel about 150-200km roundtrip on the freeways and at both ends of the trip I checked the discs to see how warm they were-- all four were warm enough to keep my finger on for a second or two.
The next problem, which is probably related: there is now a loud noise coming from the back (I can't tell which side)-- sounds sort of like being in a subway train. My guess is that it's probably a wheel bearing; 2 years ago I had to replace one of the front wheel bearings, so it is a possability; though when I replaced the front one it sounded more like a jet engine :P
Questions that I have:
- Would the vibrations be related to the brake job during the summer?
- How about to the possibly bad wheel bearing?
- What about the wheel bearing going bad because of me fixing the brakes? :P
- Whats your recommendation to fix it all up or check?
Thanks in advance, Dan
(please reply to the group! :)