Replaced my front brake pads + rotors. Everything ran perfectly for about 2 months or so. No noises of any kind. One day (maybe a week or so after a tire rotation -- someone else did it) noticed some noise coming from the passenger side wheel well area. It doesn't happen all the time, but when I press the brake.... then take my foot off the brake and hit the gas, I can hear some split-second grinding/gritty noise (krrk!) it's only doing it on the passenger side I lifted the car up, took the wheel off and looked around the pad + rotor a bit and couldn't find anything. I didn't take anything apart then. The pads + rotor are thick enough to where I doubt a rock or anything got stuck.

The brakes make no noise whatsoever when braking, just when I take my foot off the brake and hit the gas and it only does it occasionally, it sounds like something is sticking, then coming unstuck in a split second. Maybe the caliper or caliper piston is sticking? Any ideas? Car slows + stops just fine, too.

 

when you recompressed the piston, did you check the boot went back in and didn't stick on anything? also did you check and regrease the caliper pins?

 

Honestly I don't remember about the piston boot. There may be a possibility it kind of "creased" a bit when pushing the piston back in. Like the rubber on the boot kind of folded a bit due to being compressed back in. Honestly I'm not sure. And I regreased everything on the pads + shims. Pretty much everywhere the service manual says to regrease.

One more thing I forgot to mention is that the noise I hear 1) only comes on when I'm coming to a stop/driving maybe 1-2 MPH and 2) pretty much goes away almost completely when the car + brakes warm up.

I'll take a look at the caliper next chance I get but how this thing is behaving is really baffling to me I'm about ready to just take the whole fscking thing apart again...

 

Is everything tightened down when the car is cold? Could be something moving when parts contract when cold. Other things to look at could be ball joints/bushings as there might be some suspension play.

 

Did another driving test; it has nothing to do with the brakes at all, it seems. When I go from 0 to 1 MPH, or from 1 to 0 MPH, I hear a short bit of that stuttering, creaking noise (not sure if I even want to call it grinding anymore, even though that's what it could be doing..) but it seems to happen even if I don't use the brakes. I can usually replicate it if I left off the gas, let the car slow itself down, then punch the gas even slightly and I hear that noise again. So it must be something in the wheelhub or suspension, right? Like when the wheel begins turning again it will make that noise for a split second. Still makes me think something is "sticking" or... I dunno.

if anyone has any other ideas what this could possibly be, I'd love to hear it.

 

could be a suspension bushing that has excessive play making noises when you lift off the gas, or motor/trans mount

 

I took it to a shop, did a drive-around with a tech and what do you know, couldn't replicate it It sure did make a lot of noise on my way there, though! The guy told me it's low-risk so I should be able to drive around on it until the noise starts getting worse.

I do agree it's likely a bearing/bushing that maybe came unseated or something like that.

 

Does it happen if you turn the wheel in a specific direction? I read the previous entries and if it's not bake/suspension maybe something in a wheel bearing?

 

I always dab this behind the pad where it contacts the caliper
If it bugs you so much, I'd pull the pads off and reseat them with a dab of CRC

 

You sure the bolts holding the caliper were tightened properly?

Did you check the brake pad anti rattle clips? Those stainless steel pieces the brake pads slide into.

I would see if you can get it up on a lift and test the brakes.