Grinding noise fixed, but still puzzled....

[Steph]

Has anyone experienced hearing a grinding\rubbing noise at low speed (walking pace) when car been sitting for a while?
I did, and they basically turned the tyres round on the wheels to get rid of it. Apparently they've had it before. I just can't get my head round how the fix made the noise go away. Pity they did that after replacing my rear discs and pads at 170 quid :(

[Duncan Stewart]

Yes. handbrake binding on - wears the inner rear pad which is NOT checked at services and pre 03 minis have no wear sensors so can result in damaged rear disks - what mileage is your car and why did they replace the rear discs & pads?.
This happened to me at 25,000 miles but as I have brake pad wear sensors I picked it up before it scored the discs. BMW (Morrisons in Kirkcaldy) insisted this was "normal" and made me pay for new pads although the inner pad (which the handbrake works on) was much more worn than the outer and that on any car the rear brakes should last much longer than the front brakes. IMO it should have been a free warranty repair.
They said the handbrake was OK but I am still getting a grinding / squeal from the rear which goes away if I worked the handbrake up & down a bit but soon comes back. I kept old rear pads with the intention of taking it further but have never got round to doing this or found the time to take the car back to Morrisons to get the rear brakes checked agian.

[macblob]

Are they not directional tyres? on the MINI in which case if they had been facing the incorrect way they may have made a funny noise.........only thing i can think of.
I wouldnt have been paying for the work on the brakes unless it solved the problem or actually needed done irrespective of the funny noise

[Steph]

Only started noticing noise a few weeks ago. May have been there longer but usually stereo gets switched on full blast before I set off :)
My mini is almost 3 years old, with ~12,400 miles. They said the rear discs were 50% corroded, and although the corrosion wouldn't fail next months MOT, efficiency would be affected which would. They did mention that in future I should put handbrake on gently while moving every now and again to get rid of corrosion etc (which is in the handbook, but I didn't memorise it), and to exercise my brakes a bit more forcibly every so often. I'm too gentle a driver I guess.
I think it's the front tyres they turned as they both now have chalk marks on them. Now of course I'm getting a slight judder through the steering wheel at 60mph+. Guess I'll be asking them to recheck the balancing!

[minidriver#1]

yeah thats not right. I've heard mixed recommendations on wheel rotation which is what this sounds like they may have done, in some cases it can increase tire wear, rather than combat against it.

i argued my case at JC's when they replaced all my pads and discs at a cost of £320 without asking me if it was ok, i got £120 off plus my next mechanical job at cost price. You should argue your case because most of the time they are out to make money, no one can deny that.

If you car doesnt feel right in anyway always get it checked and be firm with them. My airbag light has gone off 7 times in the 2 years i've had the car. i told em last time it went in that if it wasnt fixed, they'd be taking the car back from me and i wouldnt take no for an answer. Its a faulty product. I dont care what stipulations there are, i'll fight my cause. You should too. innit.

[Steph]

They did phone to tell me that it was the brakes due to the amount of corrosion present, so I got the price up front etc. And certainly the noise sounded the same as when first using brakes after a rainy night, so their theory seemed reasonable (until the next morning when the noise was still present). When I phoned again they got a mechanic to come to my work so I could demonstrate the problem. He then handed me the keys to a silver mini '04 he brought with him (a ploy to get me to buy a new car I'm sure).
I've always had good service from my dealer - sorting things that need sorted (not much apart from recalls), giving me lifts, delivering my car, always washed and hoovered etc. The brakes are the first time I've ever given them money since I bought the car!
My previous car also had a lot of brake disc corrosion (a citroen saxo vts), so it didn't seem unreasonable to me that after three years of my ownership they needed done. Ah well, they're on now, and should last me at least another 3 years....

[minidriver#1]

can i have a shot of your car?

[Big Gordy]

I'm reliably informed that the wheel balancing is only effective up to about 30mph :approve: If it's still there after that no amount of balancing will get rid of it I'm afraid :blackeye: But as usual I could be wrong :p:D:approve:

[Steph]

KJ - is that so you can help me bed in my new brakes, or was there some other reason?
Depending on how they turned the tyres maybe the slight judder will wear off when the tread wears a bit more?
I'll phone my dealer on Monday, see what they say.
Anyone got an opinion on buying the extended warranty? From reading a few other topics, some issues don't appear till after ~12K, so I'm thinking about buying it. Sods law says something will go after original warranty expires!