MikePDX

Gents,

Hi, I'm having a pretty strange issue with my 2006 F-150 FX4 (15k Miles) that I'd really like to get some opinions on. About 3 months ago I my truck made a quick grinding noise, followed by a light "Thump" or shudder as I was depressing the brakes and coming to a stop in town. While it was quick, it sounded like it originated at the front drivers side wheel and I assumed a small piece grit had gotten between the rotor and caliper and been ground up, end of story no big deal. It happened a few more times, several weeks apart, but it was quick and I always managed to come up with some logical reason it might have happened (e.g. the thump was from a 2x4 in the bed sliding, must have caught a pice of gravel in the caliper, etc...) until last week that is, when it happened 3 times over the course of my short drive to work, with nothing in the bed, and the grinding went on for several seconds - and definitely sounded metallic.

Detective time. Each time it made the noise I was stopping or just pulling away from a stop and the origin seemed to be my drivers side front tire so... I crawled under, looked for gouging on the rotor (nothing), a loose caliper (nope), something dropping down onto drive shaft?? (nada), huh??? Which then made me set out to see if I could find a way to MAKE it happen, and after trying everything I could think of, no luck. Just perfect, quiet, braking. And since it seemed mostly harmless and the truck was still under warranty, I decided to keep driving it and see if I couldn't isolate the problem further before taking it into the shop with the dreaded "Un-replaceable Mystery Noise" complaint. So, I drove it for a few more days and it would occasionally (apparently 100% randomly) make the noise. And then things got strange. On my way home from work later that week at about 35 mph, I heard a god awful metal on metal grinding noise, that telegraphed through the steering wheel and pulled the truck ever so slightly to the left, almost like I'd hit a shallow puddle of water (it was dry out . The grinding noise and pull lasted for about 10 seconds then abruptly stopped, without any action on my part (no thump this time). All of which made me call into my dealer to have them look at the truck ASAP, since it was happening while driving instead of just during stop and start. The quickest appointment they could make was a few days out and since I don't have another way of getting to work, I kept driving it (slowly on side roads) and it kept making noises at stop and start, still at random, but now with the fun addition of the occasional grinding while in motion and without fail, it happened EVERY TIME I DROVE THE TRUCK.

So, on the day of my appointment on my way to drop off the truck... no noises, no grinding, nothing (classic). Anyway, so I drop it off and tell the shop supervisor everything I've just said above and also ask to have the 15k service done at the same time - since it involves pulling all 4 tires, checking brakes and bearings for endplay, etc... so hopefully they'll find something right? Well, they didn't. Nothing is wrong with the truck that they can see and during the course of a 14 mile test drive, nothing happened. So I pick up the truck, drive home, and no noise.

Well, to wrap this LONG post up, in the 3 days I've had it back I've heard the noise once but, it was so quick I almost missed it, which tells me the issue isn't gone but, something has helped it a bit. The only other factor I can think of is that the weather has turned rainy (in fact they day I dropped it off at the dealer and it didn't make any noise was the first rain in a long time) and before when I was having the problem, it was dry. And finally just in case you're wondering I'm the first owner, don't off road, and it's never been in an accident. Any ideas or thoughts are VERY MUCH APPRECIATED as I'm 100% stumped.

Thanks,
Mike

walliso1

brakeleen the crap out of it, jack it up, take the front left wheel off and just clean your rotors and pads and such...where i live there are pretty much only dirt roads and one day my pontiac vibe started making similar noise from the front brakes and i was getting worried...evidentially there was a massive accumulation of dust and dirt just stuck in the brakes.
i did what i just said and it fixed it, also spray it out with an air compressor first before you do it

dustbiker

Mike, Walli has a good idea there. If that don't do it, replace the pads. Sometimes you get hard spots on them that make noise.
All the best to your new ride!