2006 Sonata brakes

I hit 22,000 miles just last week on my '06 Sonata GLS V6. Today I was driving around my campus at work getting some coffee with the window open and heard a noise that sounded like the brake wear indicators. It only happened on right-hand turns. I figured maybe some debris got stuck somewhere. Not seeing anything obvious, I took off my left front wheel. To my surprise, the inside brake shoe is actually worn down to the wear strips. The other pad is fine, and the other side of the car is fine too (like maybe a bit under half life). What in the hell would cause this to happen? Anyone ever see anything like this before? The earliest appt. I could get at the dealer was next Tuesday. The only thing I can think of is something is wrong with the caliper.

Eric

Reply to
Eric G.
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Certainly sounds like it. I've had that happen (not on a Hyundai yet) when a caliper got sticky.

Caliper should be under warranty. Pads usually are not, but under the circumstances, they should cover them, IMO. If not, talk to the dealer.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I didn't think disc brakes had an inside "shoe?" :-)

Seriously, this is typically caused by the caliper binding and not being able to float in the mount to equalize the force on both pads.

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

Matt Whiting wrote in news:tIdYh.9437$ snipped-for-privacy@news1.epix.net:

Alrighty then Mr. hair splitter, I meant PAD :-) The confusing part to me about what you say, and what I initially thought, is that it only happens when I am turning right. If the caliper were binding, wouldn't it bind when I turned left too? Especially if I didn't touch the brakes.

Honestly, I am having a hard time not tackling this myself. But I know the more I do myself the less likely they will cover ANYTHING under warranty. I am also dying to know if the inside of the rotor is shot. I assume it would at least have some nice grooving.

Eric

Reply to
Eric G.

Hi Eric:

When one pad wears much faster than the other, it's a caliper issue. Not necessarily a bad caliper though. More often it is the slider sticking from rust or other crud. Take the caliper off and clean the slide surfaces well. Make sure that when you put the new pads in that they go in freely and can slide along the caliper. A judicious application of never-seize won't hurt either - right where the pads slide. Look closely at how the pads fit on the caliper. The ears on many pads fit too tightly and benefit from a touch on a grinder.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

Don't tell us what you meant to say Mister - we don't care what you "meant" to say...

The bind really has nothing to do with your turns Eric. You're only hearing the noise because of the stresses that occur when a wheel turns. The problem remains one of a hung caliper. You're up in the wonderful northeast, and you're susceptible to the corrosion issues we all are up here. Clean up the caliper sliders and lube them up. Make sure you have nice, free movement of things and put it back together.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

"Mike Marlow" wrote in news:67db5$4631ed1a$45289499$ snipped-for-privacy@ALLTEL.NET:

Thanks, Mike. I always do clean and lube the pistons when I do a brake job...is there any other way?? I am going to leave this to Hyundai to fix since I am under warranty. Maybe I'll get a new set of pads at least outta the deal.

Eric

Reply to
Eric G.

Yeah Eric - there is another way. The piston don't require lube - they get it from the brake fluid. The fixed part of the caliper and the floating part need to move across each other freely. That's where the bind usually occurs. Corrosion builds up and the caliper does not move properly. One pad will remain somewhat pressed against the rotor after you let the brakes off. That's why I suggest a good cleaning (wire brush) and some never seize. As well, the ears on the pads are very often a tight fit in the caliper. Make sure the caliper is clean to receive the ears of the pads and that the pads fit a bit sloppy in them. Often, this requires grinding off just a tad of the ear. If you don't, the pads stick in the caliper. Floating calipers are designed to be a moving system. Anything that binds in a floating caliper is a problem and will result in premature pad wear. Very seldom does the piston present itself as a problem. Most times it's the two halves of the caliper that prove to be the problem.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

Hey Eric - sometimes the visual is worth thousands of words. The next time you take a set of disk brakes apart, take a close look at how the caliper works. You're a smart guy... you'll be able to look at it and figure out how it should work. There's really nothing magical about it. Pretty much common sense stuff.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

"Mike Marlow" wrote in news:4f1e7$46324fe9$45289499$ snipped-for-privacy@ALLTEL.NET:

Yes, Mike, I do know how the caliper works. I'm just not using the right terminology here. Mostly from a lack of sleep and some new medicine the old doc has me on for cholesterol. Seems to be taking a toll on me for some reason. My son turns 5 next week and my daughter just turned 1. I figure in about 10 years or so I might get a good nights sleep again :-)

Anyway, what I clean and lube are the caliper bolt sleeves. You know, the thingies that typically have a rubber boot over them to keep some of the crud out. I wouldn't even begin to touch the pistons themselves, except to push them in a bit with a C-clamp and piece of wood to make room for the new pads.

On front discs I really DO know what I am doing, even if I am not writing it correctly. I just think Hyundai should do the work on this one for me. And since they will give me a loaner car this time, I really have nothing to lose.

Rear discs, OTOH, have given me a bit of a problem in the past...especially with the type of piston that THREADS back into the caliper. It's not brain surgery, but I have found that they are usually corroded enough to be a real PITA.

Eric

Reply to
Eric G.

It does seem odd that the left front inside pad would bind more on a right turn than a left turn, but the disc does flex left or right with the force applied by the tire when the car is turning so it isn't out of the question for a difference to be noticed when turning one way vs. the other.

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

It may be the caliper binding in the mount, not the piston binding in the caliper. Mike was referring to lubricating the caliper where it slides in the mount. I haven't had the brakes on my Sonata apart so I don't know exactly how they are designed, but most disc brakes are made to "float" in their mount.

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

To follow up to my own post, and to add to the statement I made about not being able to wait for Hyundai, I put the car up on the lift at work today. I have to report that my pads are fine all around. When you look at the inside pad in poor lighting, and with my 40-year-old eyes, it can be very deceiving.

Anyway, I removed both calipers. On the left (drivers side) caliper, there was tons of crud inside the caliper pin shoes. Likely a result of some flooding that has happened here a few times over the last two weeks. I didn't drive through anything deep, but it was likely enough to cause this.

I cleaned and greased the pins on both calipers and the noise I had has disappeared. It is really strange that the sound was so similar to the sound that the pad wear strips make. Even the mechanic at work heard it and told me my pads were probably gone.

Anyway, case closed for now at least. Thanks for everyones opinions and help.

Eric

Reply to
Eric G.

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