I posted in the tire/brakes forum that I had a mild grinding noise which I thought may have been related to brakes/rotors and possibly some type of oxidation, but my dealership offered their point of view after spending a few days trying to troubleshoot the problem.

It seems the noise is being caused by the suspension and not from the brakes themselves. Outside the dealership there is an incline, and I was able to get the lead tech from my dealership to walk alongside my car while I rolled downhill slowly applying the brakes, with the grinding occuring not quite once a rotation. He stopped me halfway through a grind, and shook the rear of the car, resulting in the same noise... So it's not rotary grinding, as he could generate it by shaking the car/wheel side to side.

They've replaced the wheel bearing, and control arm bushings. I picked up the car and was told it was fixed, but 50 ft off the lot I heard the noise again... So I turned around and talked to my SA and tech. The SA said he didn't realize the noise was not completely gone yet, and the tech elaborated on a few points. One is that he's not 100% on what's causing it, but a good next step would be to replace my alta 22mm swaybar bushings, as the rubber bushings that were included are not adequate to match the performance aspect of the swaybar. He also mentioned there is 'too much' grease, and that the swaybar may be sliding too much, causing the car to come out of alignment. He then said the car was out of alignment in both the front and the rear, so they realigned it.

I nor they are quite sure what reduced the noise, but it is about 25% of what it was under the worst cases, but it is also still present. The noise only happens while braking, and is persistent but not present at every single stop.

So the tech mentioned Nylon (and another type I cant remember) bushings for the swaybar. And less grease... I'm not a mechanic, so I don't know how sound these recommendations are. Other considerations are that in October I slid into a curb, and damaged the wheels I suspension components on the passenger side of the car... But that was all replaced by the same dealership. Don't believe this noise is related to that, as the noise started after the car sat for a week and a half in a temperature controlled underground garage.

Suggestions, guidance, relevant passed experience?

 

Interesting Alta gives you rubber bushings, just like stock. I thought most aftermarket bars were automatically polyurethane. For example, read in here http://www.h-sport.com/cgi-bin/EDCst...talogno=22810R
or here http://store.webbmotorsports.com/ind...products_id=64
Rubber should squeak less as in OEM but will rot over time as all rubber. Poly will be here after we are all gone but prone to squeak.

 

Geeesh, I hate dealers like this. They just seem to pull things out'a thin air when they are clueless.
I think this would be a hrd one without really getting into the car and checking things out. There are really very few things in the rear of a Mini anyway, so finding the problem should not be that hard.
Sorry, not much help here.

 

A sway bar has absolutely nothing to do with wheel alignment, unless
it is getting into a bind somehow. Why not just disconnect the bar on
both ends and do the same test (make sure it's not going to bind on
anything). If the noise is gone, then perhaps the bushings are the
problem. I'm betting it's something else.

 

That sounds very strange. From what I have experienced with sways/bushings is that poly bushings are the noisy ones and need the grease the most, whereas rubber is used in part for its quietness, which is why the OEM bushings are rubber. When I put an aftermarket sway on a BMW the poly bushings and their squeaking/groaning bugged me to death, grease and teflon tape would always wear out, going to Dinan with the rubber ones got rid of the issue.

Also, I don't know much about sways on MINIs, however it seems odd that they would make sounds when braking normally? My sways would make noises over bumps, driveways, and the like, but not a grinding noise when braking,seems like symptoms of something else... wish I could be of more help..

 

 

I don't think I would describe any noise I have ever heard comming from a sway bar as grinding. I wonder if you don't have a couple of different things going on there. The slow roll down a grade with light brake preasure with a once a rotation grind, makes me wonder if you don't have a bent rotor {keeping in mind the curb hitting incident}. If a rotor is bent, with light brake pressure the side that is bent would apply stopping power to that side while the other side would roll free. This may cause your sway bar to be activated & make a noise. I would disconnect the sway bar, or go ahead & replace the bushings. But I would also check very closely to make sure there isn't something else going on as well.--good luck.

 

By the way, having been on both sides of this type of situation. I don't think I would be to quick to hate the dealer. #1 They seem to be working with the customer. #2 They are working on a car that has been wrecked. #3 They are working on a car that has modified from stock. --Yes some dealers could use some better quality technitions, but if they put out an effort to help there customer I think they deserve some bennefit of doubt. At least until the true reason for the problem is discovered.

 

???

And what's this about wrecked?

I'm not mad at the dealer, I just think they're a bit off on their judgement with regards to what could be causing the problem noise. Consistent breaking load during a low rate of speed generates the noise, which is not constant, but more rotary, happening about, but not quite once per rotation. It went from a grinding noise, to a light tapping, and now (after driving about 200 miles today) it seems to be a succession of taps.

If it was something like a swaybar, I'd expect a more consistent noise, and not only when braking. Looks like I'll have to get someone else to roll my car around while braking to see if it's a 1 noise for 1 rotation. IMHO, that would elimninate the swaybar.


Also, a couple people have said go ahead and replace the bushings, but that sounds like a generic response... Is there really a need to? Any insight from Alta 22mm swaybar owners with suspension knowledge? I don't see why the bushings that came with the unit, and have only been on the car for ~ 1000 miles, would need to be changed.

 

I 'think' Kenchan was at the dealers thoughts.
Were the rear pads checked? Just was wondering if one of the rear pads had come uncliped or if the clip had broken.

 

Other considerations are that in October I slid into a curb, and damaged the wheels I suspension components on the passenger side of the car... But that was all replaced by the same dealership. Don't believe this noise is related to that, as the noise started after the car sat for a week and a half in a temperature controlled underground garage.

Suggestions, guidance, relevant passed experience?[/quote]

I just thought that earlier damage to the suspension should not be forgotten. It may be that the dealer didn't catch all the damage.

Sorry my comment about hating the dealer was directed more towards onasled comment.

 

What can I say? I'm just very impatient with incompetence . I mean if you don't know, then just admit you don't know and let the customer look for someone who does.
Whether this is warrantee work or not, the people looking for the problem need to either do it or say they won't or can't. They are getting paid either way, no?

 

Well, the incident was in october, and the swaybar & milltek (not that I think the milltek has anything to do with it) went on mid december. I was on a 7 day trip over new years, and didn't hear the noise until I first got back from the trip.

So I don't know that it is related to the sway or incident, because the noise wasn't present then... Excluding the wheel bearing noise, but that was taken care of early december.

 

Wondering if they have really re-examined the car, brakes, wheel bearings, etc again since the sound began or they are simply assuming it is something else? Just because the work was done before does not nec mean its all stayed hunky dory or that its due to something else that has changed about the car. Perhaps a part they put in was defective or failed, or something associated with that work and part installation is not working correctly after some use ..

Seems like it is time for them to call in the MINI Field rep and set an appointment for him to evaluate it and possible approve further work. Aside from that, is there another dealer you can take it to to see what they come up with?

 

Well...wish I had an answere for you.
The mention of the wheel bearing earlier is what prompted me to think about the possibility of a bent rotor, as the force that damaged the bearing passed through the rotor first{should be checked with a dial indicator}. onasled was correct in thinking of brake shoes as that can be rotational & stationary.
Good luck my friend.
It would be interesting to know what you find.

 

Totally and completely off-topic for a moment...

Wagnbat, congratulations on your 1,101st post, and therefore "6th Gear". The post above that I just quoted was that exact post, I just noticed it and had to comment...

Now, back to your regularly scheduled thread...

 

Wow I read through all these posts and found it very interesting. Next week I have an appoinment to bring my 02JCWS to my dealer (Sytner in Beaconsfield) for what I described to them as a squeeky, grinding noise in the left rear corner when I drive over bumps or dips in the road. This noise only started happening a few months after I installed Alta's 22mm rear sway bar. Perhpas that is what's causing the noise. I sure hope the problem can be fixed and I can keep my 22mm sway bar because the improvement in handling with it is really quite excellent, but that noise has got to go What other rear 22mm sway bars have people used that don't make that noise?

 

Some sway bars are known to get shifted to one side a bit and rub the rear spring on one side. Do check this.

 

Altas bar is bent to prevent side to side movement. if you've got a straight sway with metal brackets to prevent side to side movement, you can have to bar contacting the springs if the brackets aren't doing their job.

 

Woohoo! No more hot orange & green pumpkin colored MCC loaner!!! Just got an email from my SA:
Yay!!!! Thanks all for you input!

EDIT:
Fixed dealer typo.

 

I've never heard of an anti-squeal pad on a wheel bearing. There is one
on the backs of the brake pads and I suspect that was the real problem.

 

He meant brake pad. He said wheel bearing, because we replaced that about 3000 miles ago.

 

Kewl, glad it fixed. I may not be a mechanic but the sway bar bushing thing seemed off

 

Glad to hear your car is finaly fixed.
And thanks for letting us know what the final solution was. It could help someone else, because if it happend once it could happen again.