Grinding Sound From Front Brakes

[fiish]

My 2008 TR served me well over the festive period, never failing to start despite the cold and being parked at Heathrow for 2 weeks. However something has now caught my attention, the grinding noise when braking that used to go away after one or two junctions/traffic lights now persists through my journeys. The initial grind I thought was just a bit of rust being rubbed off the brake discs, due to my not driving every day. However, now that it is not going away I feel a bit concerned that there might be an issue with the brakes, should I be? Or are the brakes simply worn?

Have phoned my dealer and if I want to get a detailed diagnostic on the brakes they charge me £49. I have booked the (free) VSR for now, would this be sufficient to find the cause of the issue? If I wanted to look at the brakes myself, what should I look for?

[alfiejts]

Firstly you want to check that there's still friction material on the backing plate and you don't have a pad worn down to the metal backing so that the metal part of the pad is rubbing on the disk - if that's the case, simply fit a new set of pads...

If its not that, it could be some grit stuck in the caliper . Try looking around all the gaps to see if you can see any grit or gravel...

If you still can't see anything, try levering the pads back into the caliper slightly to move them back off the disk - which will mean that the disc should rotate freely and you can hear whether its still grinding (which means something stuck behind the disc somewhere) or that its stopped - which means it was the pads causing it somehow...

[RAV4Len]

I doubt that the pads are that worn to cause you problems but you could have a peep and check the state of them.

If they look good then a high speed run and a heavy brake application will be required, and release the brakes before

you stop.

This should clear up any issues you have :)

[fiish]

How long is the usual lifetime for a set of pads for the Yaris?

My TR has 35700 on the clock (bought it with 34400 in September last year).

[alfiejts]

Our 1.0 never wore them out in the 8 years and 64,000 miles we had it.....

But it depends how much heavy braking from high speeds that each individual car does.....

Must do because some people on here have needed to replace them....

[fiish]

I assume that all is also well with your current SR cars' brakes alfiejts :)

Not sure how the previous owner drove the car, I tend to brake lightly and early (and use engine braking a lot), plus my 1000 or so miles can't have contributed that much wear.

[Madasafish]

There are other causes apart from worn pads - which I assume you will check.

There could be a piece of grit/pebble stuck between disk and hub : this will make the noise described.

Your disks are rusting due to little use and gentle use.. (if so a few hard applications should solve that).

Your pads may have a groove in them which is full of dust and grit.

The caliper is partially seized and the pad is catching occasionally.

All solved by a strip down..

[Chris81]

The discs may be lipped with a line of rust around the top of the discs. Either that or the inner faces of the disc (assuming the outer face looks ok) will have rust rings/pitting in them. I'm pretty certain that's what Toyota would say and they'd recommend a skim of the discs to sort it.

To check for yourself, when the discs are cold just poke your finger underneath the front of the disc towards the inner face of the disc and have a feel. There's a disc guard but there should be a gap in it to allow you to check. Alternatively, get the car in the air, safely supported and take a look.

[cruiser007]

I have had the same brake grinding noise from my 2007 1.3 Yaris Zinc since I bought it used about 6 months ago, the loud grinding noise is heard when pulling up at junctions doing 1-10 mph....not at high speed braking. As the pads were nearly new (10mm of friction material) I assumed there must be a fault so I booked my Yaris into a Toyota dealer for a diagnostic - costing £49 for half-hour. The engineer said the grinding noise was NORMAL for a Yaris which was shocking and I certainly don't believe him as nobody would ever buy a new Yaris which sounded like that when braking!!!

This may sound strange but I have also found the braking force changes occasionally on the Yaris, sometimes the car stops quite sharply and sometimes you really have to stamp on the pedals to get it to stop...which may be an EBD or EBA fault.

If you ever find the true cause to the brake grinding noise I would be pleased to hear it....as the engineer at my Toyota dealer seems as thick as 2 short planks!!!

Cheers.

My 2008 TR served me well over the festive period, never failing to start despite the cold and being parked at Heathrow for 2 weeks. However something has now caught my attention, the grinding noise when braking that used to go away after one or two junctions/traffic lights now persists through my journeys. The initial grind I thought was just a bit of rust being rubbed off the brake discs, due to my not driving every day. However, now that it is not going away I feel a bit concerned that there might be an issue with the brakes, should I be? Or are the brakes simply worn?

Have phoned my dealer and if I want to get a detailed diagnostic on the brakes they charge me £49. I have booked the (free) VSR for now, would this be sufficient to find the cause of the issue? If I wanted to look at the brakes myself, what should I look for?

[fiish]

Just did the VSR with Toyota today over lunch. There was an advisory over the brakes as they found slight lipping of the discs. The pads are only 45% worn through. In short, there does not seem to be anything to worry about for now.

I'm thankful for the VSR because they discovered another issue, apparently one of my car's drive shafts is leaking and needs replacement, under warranty of course :)

However, in the first 3 months of ownership, this car has had to go back to the dealer more times than I expected when I decided on the Yaris. Have to confess to being a little disappointed in my choice in light of the latest problem.

[Raeman]

I have a feeling the grit they used on the roads is rotting our brake pads!!

For example, the mother in law had to have new pads on her Civic last month, the sister in law needed new front pads on her 2yr old fiesta and last week i had to change the front pads on my Honda!

The pads in my Yaris have loads left but then again it's hardly been used this winter.

Seems strange how they can just wear away at this time of year. Or it's just a total coincidence!

[Chris81]

So I was right about the discs being lipped. I'm surprised they didn't offer a skim or to sell you new discs. Cruiser007 - yours will almost certainly be the same thing. The grinding noise isn't necessarily a cause for concern as long as braking is unaffected, it's just the noise that gets on your nerves. A disc skim or new discs would sort it. And then in a few months the noise would come back as a new lip/rust forms.

[fiish]

I suspect that offer will come when I do my service and first MOT in April. Toyota rep did mention that I might want to consider it at the end of the year.

Just hope the drive shaft issue is the last problem I'll have with my car for a while....

[Chris81]

Why, what's up with your driveshafts?

[fiish]

VSR that I sent the car in for to check out the brakes discovered a leaky oil seal on one of the driveshafts. It has just been replaced under warranty.

It might be going back in again. I suspect something else was amiss with the repair because gearchanges are more difficult than before the repair, 1st-2nd being particularly difficult again (previously the issue detailed in the thread titled 'Gearbox Crunch'). Since the selector shaft has already been changed, maybe it's just something to do with the gearbox oil, as they would presumably need to top up the oil that had leaked out.

A bit disappointed with Toyota for this one.

[Mastermariner]

I had a similar problem and replaced the brake pads and discs as the mechanic said they were warped. The grinding noise still continued so the mechanic said we needed a new wishbone, then it was the brake cylinders and faulty discs which he said were warped/sticking and they were replaced. After reading this forum we checked and bent back the small metal heat shield plate behind the brakes. Finally in exasperation I jacked up the front of the car, put it on axle stands, removed the wheels, started the engine, put it in gear and checked each hub was turning freely and discovered the front left hub was vibrating as it was 'running out of true'. I fitted a s/hand front wheel hub, put everything back together and took it for a test drive,  perfect ! 

If your problem is persistent learn from my experience, mechanics lighten your pocket and not always the best way to solve problems.

[Barnabas]

I  had this problem too it ended up being a seized brake cylinder.

[mrpj]

My front pads and discs are now well over five years old with about half of the friction material remaining (outer pads, can't see the inner pads through wheel).

I do intend, before the autumn, to clean, carry out a proper visual check and at the same time re-lubricate the slide pins. Their original "grease" must be a bit tired, hard or non existent by now.

A bit of preventative maintenance usually pays dividends eventually.

[jonlaw]

Check out the brake pads or calipers

[Thom Sanga]

Am facing the same brake grinding noise from my toyota yaris 2010, I have change brakes 5 times, but still noise comes back within 2 day's, i really don't knw what to do now! 

[rjones]

when i first start off in my new toyoya yaris cross a grinding noise is heard .Is normal

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, rjones said:

when i first start off in my new toyoya yaris cross a grinding noise is heard .Is normal

Hi and welcome. 
The noise you can hear is likely to be from the avas - acoustic vehicle alert system. It’s a speaker generated noise to alert pedestrians around and people with sight impairment. More information here https://conti-engineering.com/components/acoustic-vehicle-alerting-system-avas/

About the brakes on Toyota hybrids, they do easily get rusty and start to produce grinding noises but those will be heard at the very end of your braking just before the car comes to a complete stop.
To prevent getting a rusty brakes a good practice is from time to time to do a few more progressive slow downs from high speeds so you let the brake system engage and clean the discs surfaces. Most of the times the car uses it’s regenerative braking to slow down and use the actual brakes at the last moment therefore  the brakes are always cold and need a lot more time and driving to get clean themselves. If you are a more spirited driver you would not have any corrosion issues.