okay so i was driving down the freeway today and my tire has been kinda wobbling like it needs to be balanced for a little while now. my friend balanced them a month ago and i dont think he did a very good job. anyways my rotors seem like they are a little warped too since the car shakes when i brake. im going to get new rotors but today while i was driving i started smelling my brakes and my tire was wobbling REALLY bad!! i could see the brakes smoking when i got out of the car and they were really hot. creeped to my friends house and pulled the tire off to take a look since i didnt have much time to take it all apart. i thought my caliper seized at first but i can still spin the tire and it seems like the brakes are just touching the rotor. are they supposed to touch the rotor at all if the brake isnt on? my friend also said it could be my wheel bearing that heated up and smoked. i dont think thats the case since my tire doesnt wobble or make any noises. could it just be the rotors? could my caliper be stuck? let me know what you guys think! sorry this is so long i wanted to describe everything in full detail .
i got a problem... no time to look it up right now
- Thread starter bmx4life54321
- Start date
Wheel bearing shake typically goes away when you shake. But if your rotors are out of round enough it may mask the symptom.
Jack the car up and test the bearing by moving the wheel in and out from the 12 and 6 position. If it moves more than a 1/8" then you need to have the bearing replaced.
BTW most state inspection laws will let some wobble go due to larger wheels. For example: If you car has 14" wheels stock for every +1" in wheel diameter you are giving and extra 1/8" of play. So a 17" wheel can technically get away legally with 3/8" of play.
Now if you are getting excess play from the 9 and 3 positions then ensure its not just your tie rod. Inspect it closely for movement there as well.
Jack the car up and test the bearing by moving the wheel in and out from the 12 and 6 position. If it moves more than a 1/8" then you need to have the bearing replaced.
BTW most state inspection laws will let some wobble go due to larger wheels. For example: If you car has 14" wheels stock for every +1" in wheel diameter you are giving and extra 1/8" of play. So a 17" wheel can technically get away legally with 3/8" of play.
Now if you are getting excess play from the 9 and 3 positions then ensure its not just your tie rod. Inspect it closely for movement there as well.
will do thanks guys will be checkin it today!!
okay so the caliper is getting stickier its harder to turn my wheel by hand now idk why my tire was wobbling really bad it hasnt done it since maybe it was just the rotor but ive been staying off freeways for now. my question is can i just push it back in since maybe its sticking sideways or what? is it just going out and i need to get a new one? the boot around it is ripped.
If the boot in the caliper is ripped you can get a rebuild kit. However while you are at it price up the entire caliper to see how much one will be. If the difference inst that much just go for the caliper.
Your issue may be related to a defect int he tire.
alright so the caliper is pretty much shot. i took it off and pushed it all the way back in and its still doing it. its not as bad as before but its still sticking. however when i took the caliper off i found that the bottom slider bolt or whatever its called was stuck and not moving. so i thought that was the problem. i took it out sanded it down since there was rust on it, cleaned out the hole in the bracket and regreased everything and put it all back together. this helped a litttle bit but its till pretty suck. i found calipers from oreilly's autoparts for 35 bucks which is a lot cheaper than i thought it would be and they have a lifetime warrenty on their parts so if it doesnt work or breaks ill just bring it back. gonna get some new pads and rotors while im at it.
however now my motor is making strange noises. it sounds like a buzzing coming from the cam/ timing belt area. im thinking it could be my water pump bearing... my battery light came on once and then turned off so it could also be the alternator. its really hard to tell exactly were it came from but i dont know how long its been since the timing belt and pump have been replaced so im going to go ahead and replace it. i took my VC off to see if the noise might have been coming from the cams in case they weren't lubricated enough and grinding or something was up with the valves but everythings fine under there. anyone experience nosies or problems like this. whats a good sign to think the timing belt and water pump need to be replaced??
however now my motor is making strange noises. it sounds like a buzzing coming from the cam/ timing belt area. im thinking it could be my water pump bearing... my battery light came on once and then turned off so it could also be the alternator. its really hard to tell exactly were it came from but i dont know how long its been since the timing belt and pump have been replaced so im going to go ahead and replace it. i took my VC off to see if the noise might have been coming from the cams in case they weren't lubricated enough and grinding or something was up with the valves but everythings fine under there. anyone experience nosies or problems like this. whats a good sign to think the timing belt and water pump need to be replaced??
Yeah, rebuilding calipers is old school style. Most people just replace them now. Make sure during reassembly that you use synthetic brake lube on the caliper bracket bolts; a lot of people forget that step.
How many miles are on your Civic? And which year/trim is it? Are you sure it's not a belt squeal?
im not sure how many miles are on the motor but i got like 175k on the body the motor runs pretty good and was put in the car about 2 years ago before i bought it. the motor is a b18b1 ls motor it runs great never had a problem with it until now. its not like a squealing noise its more of a buzz thats why i thought my cams weren't getting oil but they are just fine. sounds more like the bearings in the water pump or like an alternator bearing its hard to tell but im leaning more towards that part of the engine. maybe its the belt tensioner idk i was just wondering if anyone has had similar noises. it doesnt do it when its idling really. its easear to tell once the engine revs a bit around 2-3k rpm
If you're unsure of the mileage on the motor, replace the timing belt, tensioner, and water pump anyway. If you can handle it yourself, consider it cheap insurance.
The real way to diagnose the issue would be to use a stethoscope to determine the exact origin of the noise. But, since the timing belt, etc. should be done anyway, you might as well do that first and see if the problem goes away.
yea i totally agree with what you just said. im pretty certain its coming from there and i plan on doin it myself. its only like 160 bucks for the parts so thats not bad at all concidering how important it is
Good luck with the install. Let us know how it goes and if the problem goes away or persists.