caliper play - noisy over bumps

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Old Oct 14, 2017 | 11:40 AM
  #1  
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mcola
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From: Hamilton, Ontario
caliper play - noisy over bumps

Hi all, I've been chasing a loose sounding noise up front over bumps which I figured would be swaybar links/bushings, which I replaced and the noise remained. The other day I was starting banging on the outside of the front tires and could clearly hear a noise which seemed to be the calipers. I got under there this morning and sure enough I can grab the front calipers and wiggle/rock them back and forth (inboard/outboard) what feels like 1-2mm which results in a thud thud sound as I go back and forth. I figured the slider pins might be dry and hanging up, but they are not. I cleaned and regreased them and still have the play. It appears the play is in the slider pins and the bore the slide into in the caliper bracket. It looks as if there is a bushing in the caliper bracket that may be replaceable but I don't seem them listed anywhere.

So... on our cars is it only the pins that can be replaced and are the wear item and not the bushing if that is in fact a bushing and not just a machined feature in the caliper bracket.

Also, any chance somebody has a new slider pin around and can measure and tell me its diameter.

2012 G37x oem braking system, 58k miles.

Thanks
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Old Oct 15, 2017 | 11:10 AM
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llebcire
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Very interested in what you find and I followed from your other thread with sway bar links.

I have what might be a similar noise: metallic rattling from lower front suspension, on light bumps at lower speeds, disappears with light brake pressure. The fact that it disappears while braking lends credibility to your theory the calipers are loose. I've been trying to get a video of the noise but even at slow speeds, i.e. 10 mph, the wind noise overpowers the rattling using a smartphone out the window :-)

I have sway bar links on order and damaged one so waiting on replacement - I had the OEMs off and they didn't feel like they had enough play to cause the noise - I have no choice but to install the replacements (my fault) but I don't anticipate them correcting the issue.

2011 G37x, non-sport, 69k miles.

-Eric

You probably already have these:




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Old Oct 15, 2017 | 11:44 AM
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mcola
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I went and bought new slider pins and measured them and confirmed mine are fine, so I never changed them. I also bought and installed a new boot kit for the sliders and installed them, wondering if the new one that goes on one of the two pins is a little larger when new and will take up some of the play, and not really. After all this, one of the calipers is pretty snug, and the other is still pretty sloppy, and I continue to have some of the noise. I just can't see how the bore in the caliper bracket would wear, when always packed with grease, and if they are prone to wear, why there is no bushing or replacement brackets available. Still trying to figure this one out.
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Old Oct 15, 2017 | 05:44 PM
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llebcire
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Curious: does the noise disappear when lightly applying the brakes?

-Eric
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Old Oct 15, 2017 | 06:23 PM
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mcola
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I'll try and remember to try on my way to/from work tomorrow.
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Old Oct 15, 2017 | 08:33 PM
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It's normal operation for you to be able to grab the caliper and slide it back and forth slightly in a floating caliper braking system. If you grab the caliper and there is NO PLAY than you have issues (ie seized slider pin).

It's called a SLIDER PIN for a reason...
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Old Oct 15, 2017 | 10:09 PM
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llebcire
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Originally Posted by mcola
I'll try and remember to try on my way to/from work tomorrow.
Thanks.

Lightly applying the brakes eliminates the noise for me. Further research points to the possibility the compression rods are bad, certainly hoping this isn't the case, but they seemed to be an issue on the G35s not the 37s.


-Eric
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Old Oct 19, 2017 | 09:28 PM
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llebcire
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Any update?

-Eric
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Old May 27, 2018 | 11:48 PM
  #9  
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llebcire
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Here's my noise:

-Eric
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Old Jul 13, 2018 | 09:41 AM
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llebcire
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I got rid of my caliper rattle by replacing the pads, hardware and slide pin boot kit (boots and rubber bushing on lower slide pins).

Video below shows some highlights, noise replicated again at approximately 1:12 into video.

This was done 150 miles ago and I can confirm the noise is gone.

-Eric

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Old Jul 14, 2018 | 05:02 PM
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mcola
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Sorry, I don't login often, its probably been several months.
My caliper wouldn't rock nearly as much as yours, and didn't make nearly as much noise as yours. To be honest, I either stopped paying attention to it, or it cleared up the last time I replaced the brakes.
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Old Jul 14, 2018 | 05:37 PM
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llebcire
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Originally Posted by mcola
Sorry, I don't login often, its probably been several months.
My caliper wouldn't rock nearly as much as yours, and didn't make nearly as much noise as yours. To be honest, I either stopped paying attention to it, or it cleared up the last time I replaced the brakes.
Thanks for the update! If you replaced the hardware and did a decent job with the brakes that would have fixed it.

-Eric
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Old Sep 13, 2018 | 10:58 AM
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Spadds76
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I have this issue.

I have replaced rotors, pads, pins, bushes and rubbers. All greased with silicone grease and caliper is free moving for normal operation. It does have play in it and knocks when driving which really p*sses me off. I didn't change the hardware springs which I will do tonight - I can't envisage these will cure the issue but I will see. Car has done 250,000 kilometers. When i stripped the previous brakes off, they had like a red silicone mastic applied to the back of the pads and pistons. This had dried after application and was kind of filling in the voids and packing out the assembly and I guess keeping it rattle free. If the hardware kit doesn't fix the issue I'm going to look at new calipers which is a little extreme, but knocking on my car drives me nuts!
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Old Sep 13, 2018 | 10:12 PM
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llebcire
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From: Iowa
Hardware kit should fix it - good luck!

-Eric
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