Brakes grind sometimes after a long drive.

[zer0c123]

I installed new brake pads and rotors in December of last year, which were project mu and brembo blanks. I reused my old oem shims and applied anti-squeal grease to the back of the pads and then followed a bed-in procedure for project mus that were posted on a different forum. So far I put about 1000 miles since the install.

Somtimes my front driver side brake grinds when coming to a stop and this seems to ONLY happen after I have driven for awhile. This happened when applying moderate to heavy brake pressure. I really don't notice any difference in stopping distance. This has occurred 2 times on my new set up. The first time it happened, I inspected the brake pads and rotors for anything unusual like burn marks, or uneven wear and found nothing. I removed the the brake grease with brake cleaner and applied some other brand of brake grease. I also checked the slide pins and they were greased. The 2nd time it happened was last night after I had gotten off the freeway and entered a residential neighborhood looking for parking. After stopping on several stop signs, the grinding started. I found a parking space and came back to use the car again 45 minutes later. After that, there was no more grinding noise for the rest of the night.

Other than the grind noise, I do have brake squeal all the time on light braking after the brakes have warmed up. This was the same on my old setup and I just learned to deal with it.

The same grinding noise happened once on my old brakes and rotors 2 years ago after putting about 35k miles on them. I had just gotten off the freeway and then was stopping on many stop signs when the grinding occurred. Parked the car, drove car again hours later and never heard the grinding again until changing the brakes.

I'm at loss now and I'm guessing it has nothing to do with my brake pads or rotors. I'm probably going to jack up the car and inspect them again and also check the wheel bearing. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

UPDATE: Wheel bearings are fine. There was no play extra play or any weird spinning noise. I decided to remove the oe shims and just go with grease on the backing of the pads.

[airman86]

Grinding? Is it more like a scratching sound? Make sure your dustplates (if you have them) aren't touching the rotors or anything. Other than that, i'm not sure.

[tyrodtom]

How long has it been since you changed your brake fluid ?

Brake fluid takes on moisture over time, which turns to steam in the lines, when it gets hot. The lines run right behind the engine on the firewall. That steam will expand and keep your pads in contack with the rotor. When the brakes cool it turns back to liquid.

[zer0c123]

I checked the dust plates for damage and found nothing unusual. When I changed the pads, I bled the brakes until most of the old stuff was out of there.

After removing the old brake shims, the brake squeal is almost all gone. When it does squeal, it isn't as high pinch compared to before.