My son has bought a 2 ltr turbo Astra 2001reg (nice car) However he was
concerned about the brakes making a grinding noise when braking hard, so we
change the brake pads (discs look fine) as the old one were low (about 6mm
left) although we could not see any obvious metal to metal contact. So with
new pads fitted and given some time to bed-in I took the car for a brake
test on local disused air field.
Under normal braking the brakes are fine, under heavy (emergency) braking we
are still getting a grinding noise, The ABS takes over and you get that soft
brake pedal effect and the car stops without pulling to any side, by we
still get the grinding noise.

Any ideas????...Thanks

"Alistair Ross" <asr (AT) eng (DOT) cam.ac.uk> wrote

Did you check the pads all around could be them ?

"Alistair Ross" <asr (AT) eng (DOT) cam.ac.uk> wrote

Were they pattern pads ? I had a similar problem on an escort which was
cured by genuine pads. Obviously the discs need to be in good nick

"Alistair Ross" <asr (AT) eng (DOT) cam.ac.uk> wrote

Could be ABS pump as it kicks in when braking hard. I can't remember
what car it was now but I drove one that made a horrible grinding metal
to metal sound as the ABS pump kicked in. Try temporarily removing the
ABS fuse or disconnect the plug and see what that does.

In article <evfok8$ead$1 (AT) gemini (DOT) csx.cam.ac.uk>,
Alistair Ross <asr (AT) eng (DOT) cam.ac.uk> wrote:
That's about half worn.

--
*Eschew obfuscation *

Dave Plowman dave (AT) davenoise (DOT) co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"redwood" <help (AT) nooos (DOT) com> wrote


That kills the power steering on these, though. Just a heads up.

On Apr 10, 11:24 am, "Alistair Ross" <a... (AT) eng (DOT) cam.ac.uk> wrote:

Is it the body kit hitting the ground? :-)

ABS usually make a vibrating sound.

"Alistair Ross" <asr (AT) eng (DOT) cam.ac.uk> wrote

ABS can sound like a grinding noise on some vehicles.
Also I'm sure astra's relied on EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distributiion)
for the rear brake compensation, which essentially means the ABS on the rear
brakes will kick in under heavy braking.
Provided there's plenty material on all the pads, I wouldn't be too
concerned.

"Alistair Ross" <asr (AT) eng (DOT) cam.ac.uk> wrote

Pads don't normally need changing until the friction material is around 3mm
thick.

You could try filing a lead on the pads to see if it makes any difference,
but failing that I'd suggest replacing the pads and discs with OE ones,
unless you know for certain that they are fitted at present.
If the discs have been replaced by pattern ones, it could be that they are
incompatible with the pads, or vice versa.
Mike.

Thanks to all for your help

We are going to have a blitz on the brakes to try and sort this, as this is
a safety issue we will change all discs, pads fluid etc (relativley cheap to
do) so will not hurt too much. If its still there will check ABS....."now
where did I put my old AVO meter!!"
Will let you know the outcome.....ttfn.....Alistair


"Mike G" <metier (AT) lycos (DOT) co.uk> wrote