...intermittent noise...

[coley]

My '76 started making a strange noise 2 days ago...it seemed to be coming from the front passenger side.I replaced the wheel bearings on both sides today and it seemed to be cured during the test drive.When I left my buddy's shop and drove home,by the time I got home(5 miles)it was doing it AGAIN!It is a high pitched squeek/rubbing sound that speeds up/slows down with the speed of the car...any guesses?The car has 74,000 miles on it...thanks!

 

[78SilvAnniv]

Brakes? That is the only thing I can think of, maybe the brakes are sticking?
That's all thats up there; steering, bushings and brakes, but if the noise is concurrent and timed with wheel rotation, it must be either bushings or brakes.
Heidi

I've made a mistake in this post. I meant to say BEARINGS, not bushings. Sorry if I confused anyone.

 

[coley]

...it had crossed my mind...

I thought maybe it was the caliper sticking,but it seems like after having them off to do the bearings,they would have freed themselves up...what is a good solution for sticking calipers?As for bushings,which ones do you mean?Thanks!

 

[78SilvAnniv]

As for bushings,which ones do you mean?

Ya got me!
I've had a monster headache for nearly 12 hours and I see I should get myself to bed. I meant the wheel bearings, like you had changed...not the suspension bushings, which I recently changed on my 78. Bushings must be stuck in my head...they have nothing to do with the wheel going round and round.
Thanks for pointing out my mistake!

Hopefully someone with brake experience can chime in. Since you just did the bearings, the brakes are all I can think of.
Heidi

 

[coley]

...thanks...

...I'm doing a search on brakes now...hope your headache gets better...thanks again.

 

[wishuwerehere82]

Get somebody else to stand by the side of the road and tell you where the sound is coming from. If it's from the front, it's probably a glazed brake pad since you already eliminated the bearings from the equation. Is it a squeek, squeek, squeek, or a constant squeal? If it's the first, check the rods that hold your calipers on and put a tiny bit of grease on them. And check your brake pads for a stone imbedded in the pad.

I chased a squeek for 3 years on my '82 and it finally turned out to be rear brakes. I replaced the calipers and pads and the squeek was gone.

 

[coley]

squeek,squeek,squeek...

...that's what it is!It slows down coming up to a stop sign...and it is not doing it constantly...maybe the caliper is not sticking everytime I hit the brakes.Thanks!

 

[photovette]

Squeak, squeak, squeak-->

It's the rotor runout. That is what is causing the noise. My '77 did the exact same thing after I changed the wheel bearings.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

When the squeaking starts, try applying the brakes very lightly. If if it stops, you've found your culprit. C2 and C3 calipers by design keep the pads in contact with the rotor 100% of the time. If there's any irregularities on the pad or rotor surface it can show up as squeak or ticking sound.

 

[ruby76]

ticking!!!??? me too!

When the squeaking starts, try applying the brakes very lightly. If if it stops, you've found your culprit. C2 and C3 calipers by design keep the pads in contact with the rotor 100% of the time. If there's any irregularities on the pad or rotor surface it can show up as squeak or ticking sound.

Aha! mine has that ticking sound and was wondering. I'll take that tire off next time I get around to it and have a look at the brakes, mine is driver side front.

Man I love this forum....

 

[82ColEd]

Bingo here too.. Mine's been squeek-squeek-squueek until i thit the brakes.. Guess i have to do some working.. So, would you just replace the rotors/pads or cut the rotors ? I am not a wrencher by any means, so if someone could give me a to-do i'd appreciate it.. The CAC

Stefan

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

I'd pull the pads and clean them with brake cleaner, rough them up with sandpaper and see if that solves it. Works for me.

You DON'T want to 'cut the rotors' - do a search on rotor runout and you'll see why this does not work on C2 and C3 Corvettes.

 

[coley]

sounds good...

...I'll do that,Mikey...I have just about reached the conclusion that the noise is brake-related.Oh well,the wheel bearings were rough anyway...they needed to be done...I'll try the pad thing.Thanks,everybody!

 

[82ColEd]

I'd pull the pads and clean them with brake cleaner, rough them up with sandpaper and see if that solves it. Works for me.

You DON'T want to 'cut the rotors' - do a search on rotor runout and you'll see why this does not work on C2 and C3 Corvettes.

Thanks for the how-to Mikey..
I found a good thread (http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2971&highlight=cut+rotor) explaining it.. Even a non mechanic like can understand that one..


-Stefan