Grinding/Screeching noise returned. SC found nothing.

[hydro 481]

About a week or two ago my rear passenger brake/rotor was making a loud screeching/grinding noise after I made a right turn into a plaza. I thought perhaps some rocks got stuck somewhere. The noise went away when I started driving on the freeway. Well yesterday I was making a right turn out of a plaza and the noise came back again. I got on the freeway and it disappeared again. Took it into service center to have them check it out. They took the wheel off and inspected the rotors and brake but found nothing. Oh, but they did manage to put a chip in one of my wheels lol. Ugh. Just got them not that long ago.

Anyways, I'm kinda lost as far as what could be causing the noise. If it was a rock I don't think the noise would've returned again. Any ideas?

 

[Bill Foster]

check for rocks behind the dust shield.

 

[SD_Engnr]

About a week or two ago my rear passenger brake/rotor was making a loud screeching/grinding noise after I made a right turn into a plaza. I thought perhaps some rocks got stuck somewhere. The noise went away when I started driving on the freeway. Well yesterday I was making a right turn out of a plaza and the noise came back again. I got on the freeway and it disappeared again. Took it into service center to have them check it out. They took the wheel off and inspected the rotors and brake but found nothing. Oh, but they did manage to put a chip in one of my wheels lol. Ugh. Just got them not that long ago.

Anyways, I'm kinda lost as far as what could be causing the noise. If it was a rock I don't think the noise would've returned again. Any ideas?

It's generally a small rock that gets caught between the dust shield and rotor.

Which service center scratched your wheel??

 

[kbecks13]

Did they replace the rear dust shields with the new revision though? As @SD_Engnr says this is a relatively common thing with rocks getting stuck in the dust shield, but they "fixed" it apparently.

See this service bulletin, i'd push them to update to the new parts if you don't have them already: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10151607-9999.pdf

 

[hydro 481]

It's generally a small rock that gets caught between the dust shield and rotor.

Which service center scratched your wheel??

Trade Pl in Miramar

Supposedly a tube hit it when the car was being lowered. Sucks but I’m glad they had the decency to tell me at least. I probably wouldn’t have noticed until I cleaned the wheels. They are compensating me for the cost of one wheel which is fine. Should be able to get it repaired fairly easily.

 

[hydro 481]

Did they replace the rear dust shields with the new revision though? As @SD_Engnr says this is a relatively common thing with rocks getting stuck in the dust shield, but they "fixed" it apparently.

See this service bulletin, i'd push them to update to the new parts if you don't have them already: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10151607-9999.pdf

Thanks. No they didn’t replace the dust shield. According to the invoice they sent me, they “Checked the backing plate and cleaned brake pad and rotor.” If I have the same issue again I’ll make sure to point out the service bulletin. Hopefully if it was a rock, it’s dislodged now.

 

[SD_Engnr]

Thanks. No they didn’t replace the dust shield. According to the invoice they sent me, they “Checked the backing plate and cleaned brake pad and rotor.” If I have the same issue again I’ll make sure to point out the service bulletin. Hopefully if it was a rock, it’s dislodged now.

Glad they're making it right. If you can, switch to the new service center in Kearny Mesa. The team there is fantastic.

As for the rock issue, the smallest pebble can make the LOUDEST sound. Switching from reverse to drive, with a quick stab of the brake pedal in between can help dislodge it. Otherwise, just get down and push on the dust shield in various places until you see a tiny rock fall out.

 

[hydro 481]

Glad they're making it right. If you can, switch to the new service center in Kearny Mesa. The team there is fantastic.

As for the rock issue, the smallest pebble can make the LOUDEST sound. Switching from reverse to drive, with a quick stab of the brake pedal in between can help dislodge it. Otherwise, just get down and push on the dust shield in various places until you see a tiny rock fall out.

I've been to Kearny Mesa SC once and had a pretty good experience. I was just closer to Miramar at the time so I went there instead.

This has to be some kind of design issue with the dust shield? Never had this happen on any other car. The sound is embarrassingly loud. Both times it happened I was in a crowded area too. Now I get anxiety every time I hear rocks or gravel underneath the car lol.

 

[RoBoRaT]

It was a freakin pebble!
For me at least it was.

Same kind of loud, screeching, grinding sound that woke up my neighborhood as I was trouble shooting at midnite.

I gave up that nite, and set up SC appointment first avail 4 days away. This afternoon, I thought I try againo figure - and pushed back on the dust shield a little more than previous tries - then BAM!

Dropped the pebble.

Noise no more.

The end.

 

[hydro 481]

It was a freakin pebble!
For me at least it was.

Same kind of loud, screeching, grinding sound that woke up my neighborhood as I was trouble shooting at midnite.
View attachment 457387
I gave up that nite, and set up SC appointment first avail 4 days away. This afternoon, I thought I try againo figure - and pushed back on the dust shield a little more than previous tries - then BAM!

Dropped the pebble.

Noise no more.

The end.

Thank you. The noise went away but next time I know where to look.

 

[SDKoala]

I wish I would have seen this thread when it was posted last year. I started getting a loud metallic screeching sound from the right front suddenly while driving the other day. It was at all speeds and I thought something really bad was happening to the brakes. It was so loud that other cars and pedestrians kept looking over to see which car was making such a horrible noise.

I took it to a service center (Carlsbad) to see if they would check it out. At first, they wanted to schedule an appointment, but they were more accommodating when I voiced concern that I thought the car might not be safe to drive. The tech knew exactly what it was just from hearing it as I was backing out of the parking space.

Turned out also be a rock between the brake shield and the rotor, like others in this thread have noted. In decades of driving, I've never experienced this. After it started, I probably drove around 40 miles after noticing it, stopping and starting at various speeds, and it was really bad the whole time. I wonder if not having to use the brakes as much in an EV means rocks don't get dislodged as easily as in an ICE? The tech showed it to me and it was at least 4-5x as large as the one in @RoBoRaT's photo, so maybe that's why.

The service center charged $60 for labor, which I thought was fair considering they had it for about 20 minutes, presumably to take the wheel off and fish it out. Next time, I'll know where to look myself and hopefully be able to DIY it by pushing on the shield.