My front brakes are grinding. They were grinding before and after I replaced the pads, which I just did. I guess the only culprit now could be the rotors, but they seem fine. Could the rotors be glazed over? There aren't any grooves in the rotors and they aren't warped (as far as I can tell since there isn't any pulsing from the brake pedal). Any ideas?

Are you constantly experiencing the noise? Are you absolutely sure it is the brakes and not something like a wheel bearing?

It's not constant, it only happens when I apply the brakes. I'm not really sure what it is. It started on Thursday with a faint grinding sound and then on Friday it was as bad as it is now. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

That rules out the wheel bearings. Is it coming from both sides? If it only happens when you hit the brakes, I agree its likely a brake issue. You can rule out the pads since the noise was present with both the old and new set. I'd take some 120 grit and do a little 'wax on, wax off' motion around the rotors to see what that does for you. How worn are the rotors? (ie, have they been turned several times)

One other thing you might want to check is your caliper bolts.I had one come loose on me for some reason and when I applied the brakes it was making some grinding sounds.This was due to the calipers moving a little while the brakes were applied.I took the bolt out , put a little blue locktight on there and no problems like that since.

The sound seems to be coming more from the right side. I drove it ~15 miles with not much braking (10 miles on freeway) and when I exited the freeway the sound was definitely still there but it was a little quieter. I checked the bolts and all are tight. I'll hit it with some sand paper tonight and see what that does.

Run it on jackstands and listen while your friend starts and stops and see if you can get a better idea. Maybe try with the tires off so you can get closer to the sounds.

STEPHAN, THIS IS GOING TO SOUND CRAZY, BUT CHECK IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FRT DUST SHIELD ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE ROTOR FOR A SMALL PEBBLE LAYING IN THERE , THEY WILL MAKE A HECK OF A GRINDING NOISE AND USUALLY ONLY WHEN THE BRAKES HAVE BEEN APPLIED FOR 4-5 SECONDS , THE ROTOR GETS HOT AND SWELLS A LITTLE BIT TRAPPING THE LITTLE ROCK BETWEEN THE ROTOR AND THE SHIELD , HAVE SEEN THIS NUMEROUS TIMES , , HARD TO BELIEVE HOW BIG SOME OF THEM CAN BE TO GET IN THAT TIGHT A SPACE , I HAVE SEEN THEM AS BIG AS MARBLES ,, JERRY

OK, so I've gone and replaced the rotors. I brought them in to be turned and they were below spec. So after that fiasco I have new rotors on the hub, but not after some casualties. I accidentally nicked the ABS speed sensor ring when I was tapping out the hub from the rotor. The local dealership wants $106 (St. Charles is $87 but 4 days out). Would it be ok to tack weld this ring back together? I know the ABS is very sensitive but can I do that? And what about taking out the ABS fuse for the time being while I'm getting this ring replaced/fixed?

Here's the kicker, after all that work there is still the grinding problem, which makes me think that somehow it is coming from the rear axle, but I hope that I'm not this oblivous. I mean the front rotors were glazed and the front brake pads were wearing thin.

I've taken the day off of work today to try and take care of this. Any further suggestions?

Oh, and the front right brake pads seem to always be tight on the rotor. They don't seem to be letting the disk go. I'll check the pins on both sides, hopefully I can see if they are siezed.