kusman

I recently started having this brake problems and it is getting worse. At first, I though something got between the pads and rotors or inside the drums, but after cleaning everything it still happens. Here are the symptoms.

Basically, while driving at any speed, the brakes would start to make a grinding noise (like GRRRRR) and when I touch the brake pedal it would also vibrate. If I press the pedal, the car would pull to the right quite hard. I have to press and depress the pedal a few times to make it go away. After that the car does not pull to either side when braking and there is no sound. I do have to press the pedal almost to the end to make it brake hard (so quite a lot of movement in the pedal). After a while, this would start again.

I am wondering where to look. I have had it serviced just recently and brake pads were replaced and then I cleaned them myself with brake cleaner. Could this be a leak somewhere or a defective brake system component?

rompnXJ

if the jeep pulls when braking, that means you have insufficient/imbalanced braking force on one side.
a pull to the right indicates a LF caliper is not providing braking force, and vice/versa.

my suggestion would be to take a micrometer to the brake rotors and make sure they are past the minimum thickness. a brake rotor is, on average, good for 3-4 resurfacings at the most before it falls below its minimum specified thickness. when they do fall below spec, you get problems with uneven braking force, significantly increased pedal stroke, and they'll warp a lot easier.
bleed your brakes, especially if you've opened any of the lines recently.

as far as the grinding; take the calipers & rotors off and inspect everything for scuffed/damaged metal. if theres any grinding, i can garuantee there will be marks on something.

ALSO:
before you take the wheels off, jack up the front & check the front wheel bearings for play.
i had a wheelbearing that was going out, and when it got to its worst, i had no braking force on that side and there was an intermittent grinding. basically what happened was whenever the wheelbearing allowed the wheel to flop to one side(lots of (-)camber), the piston was too far away from the rotor and couldnt extend far enough to push the pad hard enough. and my grinding was the brake rotor contacting the caliper mounting bracket.

kusman

Thank you for the reply.

I have checked the rotors when I was cleaning them and they are alright for now and I did not see uneven wear on them as well. They looked quite good.

I think the grinding noise is not necessarily coming from the the rotors because it seems like it is just coming from the front of the vehicle. Today I was driving it to put into the garage (don't want to drive like this) until I have time to double check everything and I intentionally did not push the brake pedal when the noise started. I was driving for maybe 30-45 seconds and I could feel the brakes locking up (had to push the accelerator pedal more).

I also forgot to mention probably an important note: when I was wheeling, the brakes were ok. Then I washed it with a hose and the grinding started. Exact same thing was happening earlier: after a wash the grinding starts (and did not stop until I drove it to a mechanics shop).

Since I bought the Jeep not so long ago I did not test systems like ABS for instance. Could it be the ABS working? Does the ABS pump on a Jeep sound like GRRR or more like Tick-Tick-Tick?
Perhaps there is also a leak that I need to check for? I have read that a leak would basically mean more pedal travel, but could it cause noises?

Willys55

Reread post #2 I'm sure you'll find the answer

rompnXJ

a caliper or wheel cylinder that has a slight leak thru its piston bores will cause increased pedal stroke, eventually (soon) the leak will get bigger and the pedal will go straight to the floor.
a leak in any of the lines means pedal goes straight to the floor. no associated sounds.

when your ABS kicks in ( ur sure u DO have ABS, right?) it makes a funky sound, almost feels like a wheel's about to fall off. im a mechanic at a hyundai dealership and even brand new cars feel like that when ABS engages. customers have a hard time believing me when i tell them its normal.. anyway, unless you're really slamming on your brakes on wet roads or slick trails, the ABS shouldnt be coming on. just for giggles, pop your fuseblock cover (underhood) and make sure there is a fuse in the ABS slot.

and again, if you are hearing a metal grinding sound, there WILL be evidence of it somewhere.. u might have to look real good, but i can promise it'll be there.
based on what you've told me, the grinding is definitely related to your brakes.

have you jacked the front & checked your wheelbearings for play?

kusman

Alright, I see. It makes sense with the calipers, but I am guessing a leak somewhere in the brake system would also show the same symptoms as a leak inside the piston.

I went to the garage a bit later yesterday (now early morning here) and did the check of the front wheel and back wheel play. The wheels seemed to be tight, but it was services just a week ago in a car service and they did over 1k euro worth of work on it (parts + labor).
I did press the brake pedal when the engine was off to check if it would stiffen and basically when I pressed it hard to the floor the rear brake line leaked out all the fluid onto the axle (from the driver's side). I checked the brake fluid reservoirs and one closer to the windshield was almost full, but the one farther from the windshield was completely empty. The emergency brake line also on even though the parking brake is off.

I think this is the first thing to look at, but I will be taking all wheels off and cleaning it once more, I didn't feel anything was warped or caught in the system, but I will double check.

And I do have ABS on the Jeep. There is a fuse, relay under the hood, and warning lights for it. I was just wondering if it makes a grinding-like sound when working. I know it is slightly different with every car. In a first gen ford focus the ABS works with a quiet ticking sound, on a second gen focus it is more like a grinding sound (but not as loud as it is for me now). I think after replacing the broken brake pipe and cleaning everything if the grinding happens again I can pull the ABS fuse to disable it.

Thanks very much for the info. Hopefully it is a simple as something getting stuck in there because if its the ABS then only a service could repair it.

rompnXJ

u definitely found something there.. is the leak coming from the hardline or is one of the rear wheel cylinders leaking?

kusman

Well, all the liquid came out, I will buy some more today to see where is it coming from, but it looked like the line was wet, but not the cylinder. I would say it is the line itself, but I will know for sure when I fill the reservoir and press on the brakes some more. I think if its a brake line, I would just have to get a generic line and tweak it to fit?