i searched and i couldn't find a similar answer.. when i'm braking, or if i recently applied the brakes, i'm hearing a resonating noise almost like a giant tuning fork.. it starts off low and steadily gets louder like speaker feedback.. i'm not hearing it every time i brake, and i can't seem to single out the specific condition that causes it to occur aside from brakes being applied.. it doesn't do it when i first start up the car, but usually after it's warmed up some..

mike

 

Before you possibly do more damage, I would jack up the car, safely support it on jack stands, and then take all of the wheels off...

Inspect both sides of each brake rotor (they might be HOT) for unusual wear and inspect pads for deep wear.

If you find worn pads/parts, replace the parts and lubricate as needed.

Also look for missing bolts (yes, I said missing) on the calipers. I had a car that made some odd noises once, and one of the brake caliper bolts was GONE.

Another possibility is that you're missing springs which are supposed to keep the pads off the rotors when not being used, or you have lubrication issues.

As another test, you can wait until it makes the noise and then coast to a stop safely, parking brake on, jump out, and touch the brake rotors with your fingertip through the open parts of the rim and see if one burns you really bad (heh). If one is scorching hot and the other 3 are cool, you know which area to look in. You MAY get burned!

In short, you may have a braking problem as I'm sure you know... and those ONLY get more expensive to fix if you ignore them

 

i just had new brake pads put on, and the shop said my rotors and calipers looked fine.. the rotors are getting hot though, so it seems as if something is definitely rubbing.. i'll def check for missing bolts or springs.. hoping someone has come across the exact same prob thank you for your suggestions.. going to go follow up on them in the mean time

mike

 

"just had new pads put on"... how long ago?

I used the wrong grease on my Honda one time and it took about a week, but then the grease all melted off and the pads were dragging... solution was to reassemble with the right grease (high temp!).

Brian

 

Or ... you could pick up a cheap temp gun (tool) at a local hobby store ( http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXKAX3&P=ML ) and use it to temp each rotor instead of burning your finger. I have a small hand held one that temps my .21 nitro engine for my 1/8 scale car and temps are very accurate well up to 500-600F and readout is digital. Should be able to tell which rotor is hotter than the others.

 

sounds alot like warped rotars to me..or your tires arent aligned correctly.

 

just had pads put on today, thought the indicator peg might have been rubbing.. friend of mine says it might be the vent shield though? he said it sometimes cracks where it's bolted on and can "resonate" with vibrations..

 

Thanks for the help everyone.. turns out it was the shield on the top of the stock catalytic converter that was rubbing on the drive shaft and resonating like a tuning fork..

mike