Hi,
My '95 Outback has about 90K miles on it, and I had my rear brakes fixed about 6 months ago (pads and rotors, I think). Sometime after this repair, the brakes started making a crunching sound under just about any circumstance. It doesn't always happen, but it's frequent; probably more often than not when I step on the brakes I hear the crunching as the car comes to a stop.
It sounds to me like the sound is coming from the front. When I had the rear brakes done, the mechanic warned me that the front brakes were getting worn and would need replacement soon. I figured that was the source of the noise, so I had the front brakes done about a month ago. The crunching has not stopped, however.
I'm thinking maybe the ABS is engaging when it shouldn't. The crunching happens on any kind of pavement, any weather, at even low speeds. I can't be sure it started when I had the rear brakes done, but it was around the same time.
Could a brake job have screwed up the ABS sensors somehow? Is there a way I can confirm whether this is an ABS problem? Is there a more likely cause? Thx!