Grinding gear noise when braking to a stop

Have an excellent and well-loved Ford SUV Explorer from the 94's. One out of
seven stops I will hear grinding gear sound and feel it through the brake
pedal. Just a second or less because when the wheels come to a complete stop
the noise stops. So I'm thinking break pedal hitting a drive train gear????
Problem started after replacing torque rod bushing and master break
cylinder. Also seems to pull either right or left just before the grinding
sound. The ABS?

Anybody have a clue?

Wayne in Chula Vista, CA.

You inspected the brakes and the pads are not worn down to bare metal,
correct?

"Wayne Lundberg" > wrote in message
...
> Have an excellent and well-loved Ford SUV Explorer from the 94's. One out
> of seven stops I will hear grinding gear sound and feel it through the
> brake pedal. Just a second or less because when the wheels come to a
> complete stop the noise stops.

They were just inspected and one replaced.

"Happy Traveler" > wrote in message
...
> You inspected the brakes and the pads are not worn down to bare metal,
> correct?
>
> "Wayne Lundberg" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Have an excellent and well-loved Ford SUV Explorer from the 94's. One out
>> of seven stops I will hear grinding gear sound and feel it through the
>> brake pedal. Just a second or less because when the wheels come to a
>> complete stop the noise stops.
>
>

Wayne Lundberg wrote:
> They were just inspected and one replaced.
>
> "Happy Traveler" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>You inspected the brakes and the pads are not worn down to bare metal,
>>correct?
>>
>>"Wayne Lundberg" > wrote in message
...
>>
>>>Have an excellent and well-loved Ford SUV Explorer from the 94's. One out
>>>of seven stops I will hear grinding gear sound and feel it through the
>>>brake pedal. Just a second or less because when the wheels come to a
>>>complete stop the noise stops.
>>
>>
>
>
ONE?????

--
Diving is life! The rest is just details.
W.W.W.I.

"Wayne Lundberg" > wrote in message
...
> They were just inspected and one replaced.
>
> "Happy Traveler" > wrote in message
> ...
> > You inspected the brakes and the pads are not worn down to bare metal,
> > correct?
> >
> > "Wayne Lundberg" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >> Have an excellent and well-loved Ford SUV Explorer from the 94's. One
out
> >> of seven stops I will hear grinding gear sound and feel it through the
> >> brake pedal. Just a second or less because when the wheels come to a
> >> complete stop the noise stops.
> >
> >

A problem I had on my '91 was sticking brake calipers. I finally quit
using brake caliper grease and lubed them with vaseline and WD-40. They
work better than ever and are much quieter and my inside pads don't wear out
prematurely any more. There must be some reason why nobody uses vaseline
such as the danger of the pads getting lubricated so I'll have to add a
disclaimer: "Don't try this at home. This person may be an idiot."

>

Does the noise occur only when the brakes are cold? That is, first few stops
in the morning or anytime after you have not used them for awhile? If so,
problem could be glazed brake pads. One way to check is to make a few hard
stops from 60 or 70 miles per hour (on a deserted road of course). This
causes the pads to heat up enough to cut or break the glaze. If glazed pads
were the problem, the breaks should now be quiet. They will eventually
glaze up again, but could take a few months to do so and you can repeat the
rapid stopping procedure again for a temporary fix.

I have also seen break pads make noise when cold due to the pads having
absorbed moisture, but if that is the case, one or two normal stops cause
the pads to heat up enough to get rid of the moisture.


"Ulysses" /> wrote in message
...
>
> "Wayne Lundberg" > wrote in message
> ...
>> They were just inspected and one replaced.
>>
>> "Happy Traveler" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > You inspected the brakes and the pads are not worn down to bare metal,
>> > correct?
>> >
>> > "Wayne Lundberg" > wrote in message
>> > ...
>> >> Have an excellent and well-loved Ford SUV Explorer from the 94's. One
> out
>> >> of seven stops I will hear grinding gear sound and feel it through the
>> >> brake pedal. Just a second or less because when the wheels come to a
>> >> complete stop the noise stops.
>> >
>> >
>
> A problem I had on my '91 was sticking brake calipers. I finally quit
> using brake caliper grease and lubed them with vaseline and WD-40. They
> work better than ever and are much quieter and my inside pads don't wear
> out
> prematurely any more. There must be some reason why nobody uses vaseline
> such as the danger of the pads getting lubricated so I'll have to add a
> disclaimer: "Don't try this at home. This person may be an idiot."
>
>>
>
>

"sf/gf" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> Does the noise occur only when the brakes are cold? That is, first few
> stops in the morning or anytime after you have not used them for awhile?
> If so, problem could be glazed brake pads. One way to check is to make a
> few hard stops from 60 or 70 miles per hour (on a deserted road of
> course). This causes the pads to heat up enough to cut or break the
> glaze. If glazed pads were the problem, the breaks should now be quiet.
> They will eventually glaze up again, but could take a few months to do so
> and you can repeat the rapid stopping procedure again for a temporary fix.
>
It's not the break pads. It's exactly like gears not meshing, just like we
did when learning to drive a standard shift with unsynchronized tranny
gears. But only momentary as the suv comes to a complete halt, and starts
only momentarily before stopping. Just as if the brake pedal were hitting a
gear somewhere.

Wayne

> It's not the break pads. It's exactly like gears not meshing, just like we
> did when learning to drive a standard shift with unsynchronized tranny
> gears. But only momentary as the suv comes to a complete halt, and starts
> only momentarily before stopping. Just as if the brake pedal were hitting
> a gear somewhere.
>
> Wayne
>
If you were to put the truck in neutral and brake to a stop would it still
do it ? try to isolate the condition by removing the drive train from the
equation. .........ps .doubtful the brake pedal is "hitting a gear
somewhere"

"Darby OGill" > wrote in message
news:7STfi.6265$oo5.3073@trndny09...
>
>> It's not the break pads. It's exactly like gears not meshing, just like
>> we
>> did when learning to drive a standard shift with unsynchronized tranny
>> gears. But only momentary as the suv comes to a complete halt, and starts
>> only momentarily before stopping. Just as if the brake pedal were hitting
>> a gear somewhere.
>>
>> Wayne
>>
> If you were to put the truck in neutral and brake to a stop would it still
> do it ? try to isolate the condition by removing the drive train from
> the equation. .........ps .doubtful the brake pedal is "hitting a gear
> somewhere"
>
Have tried this, but the problem is so intermittent that I can' prove
anything. What comes closest to repeating is when at the last m oment before
stopping I turn the wheel and the brakes seem to grab in the direction I
turn and the grinding sound comes in for a split second. Is the ABS system a
kind of gearbox?

Wayne

"Wayne Lundberg" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Darby OGill" > wrote in message
> news:7STfi.6265$oo5.3073@trndny09...
>>
>>> It's not the break pads. It's exactly like gears not meshing, just like
>>> we
>>> did when learning to drive a standard shift with unsynchronized tranny
>>> gears. But only momentary as the suv comes to a complete halt, and
>>> starts only momentarily before stopping. Just as if the brake pedal were
>>> hitting a gear somewhere.
>>>
>>> Wayne
>>>
>> If you were to put the truck in neutral and brake to a stop would it
>> still do it ? try to isolate the condition by removing the drive train
>> from the equation. .........ps .doubtful the brake pedal is "hitting a
>> gear somewhere"
>>
> Have tried this, but the problem is so intermittent that I can' prove
> anything. What comes closest to repeating is when at the last m oment
> before stopping I turn the wheel and the brakes seem to grab in the
> direction I turn and the grinding sound comes in for a split second. Is
> the ABS system a kind of gearbox?
>
> Wayne
>
>
For what it's worth if anybody is following this thread. My mechanic said
that the sound is definitely not grinding gears, but most likely the
solenoids controlling the antilocking device which are out of synch with the
whole system. The ABS sensors show normal on the diagnostic system and all
brake items check out normal.