I seem to have developed a loud rattle from the front right hand side brake disc. I think it started when the wheel dropped down a pothole but can't be 100% sure.

The noise happens over slight imperfections in the road and can be clearly heard inside the car and by pedestrians. I assume it is coming from the brakes because the noise stops if I lightly press the brakes whilst driving.

I took the wheel off last weekend and swapped the pads over from one side of the disc to the other and noticed whilst doing it that they are quite loose in the caliper (backwards and forwards). Is this normal? The disks and pads were new when I bought the car and were changed at a main dealer so they are genuine ones. Unfortunately the dealer is a 4 hour trip and a ferry ride away so I can't take it back to them.

Whilst putting the wheel back on it occurred to me that I may not have sat the wheel squarely over the hub when I had removed the wheel a few weeks previously as I was relying on the lug nuts to pull it straight so wondered if the pothole had dislodged it. It looks like the disc could move if the wheel isn't securely against it. I went for a test drive and the noise had stopped so I assumed that was the problem.

The noise came back last week on a long drive so I checked today and the wheel is definitely on properly. I swapped the pads over again but the noise is still there.

Could lightly applying the brakes affect anything else because the noise definitely stops when I do this. I think the CATS only stiffens the shocks if you break heavily so I don't think it is those changing.

Any suggestions gratefully received as this, along with my random parking aid beeps, is stopping from enjoying my new car!

Regards

Richard

 

your caliper slides could be worn creating loose pads, or the pads could be wrong, or mismanufactured(but not likely) they should be snug, not loose, and are the antirattle springs on the calipers? I would say that if your lubing th epads and there contact points in the slides, its makes the noise stop for awhile till you no longer have that lube cushion after use. you didnt mention, mileage or year so this is all gander(Texas speak that you would pick up whilst you were here )
You can take the pads out, clean the slides to see and inspect for excessive wear. But this would really be a moot point on newer relativly low mileage cars (under 100k)

 

Hi Brutal

The car has done 41,000 miles. There are no anti-rattle springs on the car and I couldn't see any listed in parts manual so assumed there aren't any on the X350. The back of the pad has a soft coating but assume this is to stop the pad chattering against the caliper.

I actually tried greasing the contact points and backs of the pads yesterday and if anything the noise is worse which makes me think it is the pads moving but I can't believe how much noise they are making or how loose they are.

 

I went to see a Jaguar specialist today and he said that the front pads should have an anti-rattle spring incorporated in to the pad. He showed me the set on a car he had and they do indeed appear to be missing on mine.

The pads are able to slop around in the caliper due to lack of springs so that would explain where the noise is coming from.

They are genuine Jaguar pads so does anyone know if the design has changed, can the springs detach or could this be a manufacturing defect?


Regards

Richard
'04 4.2SE

 

On aftermarket pads, I have to install the spring clips that come with the pads as a kit. But, I've seen aftermarket brands that sell the pads without the kit. I haven't used Jaguar replacements, but assume the springs are removeable too.

These springs don't stay on very well if the pad is removed from the caliper. Could a repair have been done to that side where the pads were removed for some reason and the srpings inadvertently left off on reassembly?

 

Hi Steve

I took the other side off this evening and there are no springs on those pads either. I also checked that side because I noticed that the chamfered leading edge on the side making the noise didn't align.

Sure enough, when I took the other pads off they were the same so what ever idiot changed the discs and pads got the pads mixed up (the discs and pads were brand new when I bought the car). The pads are now reunited with their partners and the chamfered edge is the right way up.

If I can't get them replaced, can you recommend an after market brand that comes with the springs?

Regards

Richard

 

Richard,

People will probably kill me for this, but I've installed lots of Duralast gold pads on my customers' cars which are mostly driven by "old conservative" people! These Duralast Gold pads are Autozone brand and they are Ceramics. Now Duralast doesn't actually make the pads, some popular manufacturer does and duralast rebrands them. I'm guessing they're a reputable manufacturer as there are really only a few.

These pads, like most ceramics, are dust free, quiet, and they come with the spring kits (actually two types, one other for a different model app.), and CHEAP. About $60 for the last set I installed on an X350.

I believe the Duralasts are chamfered on both ends so there are no lefts/rights. I also use these same ceramics on all my own Jaguars.

Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a commercial for Autozone and have no ulterior business motives making this recommendation.

 

call your dealer and ask if they can save you the used ones off a set they do and swap them over. The reason you dont see in the parts manual is its not a part avail seperatly, nor 1 that probobly would be listed since they come new in a bag with each set of pads from the brake manufacturer....but in your case someone had a rectal cranial inversion and they them away, or if they didnt come in the bag, they should havwe taken off the old ones from the other set they were replacing

 

Thanks very much for the input guys, I will go back to the trader I bought the car from and see if the can get some springs from the dealer that changed the discs/pads. Failing that I will pay a visit to my local dealer and see if they have a spare set.

Plan C is see what 3rd party pads are available in little old New Zealand. I suspect they will be horribly expensive so I might be forced to import some.

 

Sorry about the Duralast recommendation. I should have read more slowly, the "whilst" should have clued me, but I missed it.

Maybe go to a local parts store and price the VERY cheapest set of pads just for the spring kit and throw away the pads. In my case, that would be about $34USD.

 

Good idea, Steve. That can be my new plan C.

I suspect they will still be a stupid price though which I why I asked for brand recommendations. I can then look at the cost of getting some shipped to NZ.

The standard Jaguar pads create huge amounts of dust so I would probably would have bought something else once they are due for replacement anyway.

I didn't realise that 'whilst' marked me out as a foreigner

 

U102768,

Any ceramic composition pad will reduce the brake dust that accumulates on the alloys. If it were my car, I'd change the pads to ceramics regardless of present pad wear just to improve the dust situation.

"Foreigner", of course, is a relative term. We are all "foreigners" to someone. I gave you a recommendation assuming, wrongly, that you were in the US where my recommendation might have had validity. Then I felt a need to correct my dumb self for not being more astute to the clues you so aptly provided in your post.

Do you have Autozones "down under" BTW? I can always learn new stuff!

 

I thought you were a fellow Canadian.

I had the same rattly brake pads on my S-type, it was simply the missing springs also. Very easy fix, aside from obtaining the springs.

 

No, the main ones here are Supercheap Auto and Repco, both Australian imports from the looks of it.

 

Lol, we just had a tech here quit and is moving to new zealand in a week or 2

 

If he is moving to Christchurch, I know someone who was looking for another mechanic to join his independent Jaguar service outfit.