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Drum brake noises


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2001 nissan pathfinder 3.5 LE 4X4

 

I replaced my drum brakes last week. Adjusted the star wheel. Hooked everything back up according to the manual. Yet on my right side i hear this horrible clicking noise. Ive torn it apart twice and can't see any noticable rub marks or anything loose or hanging. I'd really hate to take this to the dealer. Drum brakes are a pain in the ass but they are not complicated. Any help is appreciated.

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A few questions:

 

When do you hear the clicking noise (while turning the drum manually; while driving; while applying the brakes; etc)?

Do you have the noise when just applying the parking brake?

When you took everything apart, did you do both sides at the same time, or just one side at a time? (The adjusters are side-specific, in case everything got mingled together.)

Are all the springs seated, and installed in the right direction? (One spring has a particular orientation)

Is the star adjuster lever thingy seated properly?

Did you grease any of the friction points on the brake backing plate?

Can you get a pic...or does it look like this?

 

IMG_4338.jpg

 

(The pic is actually of the LH side, image is mirrored...and ignore the floating wheel studs in back...it's magic!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I did both sides one at a time. You say that pic is the left side,my right side is exactly like that. If i gently press the brakes while moving there is no sound(it also doesnt stop the car lol) if im doing normal braking while driving it clicks rotationally(if that makes sense).I did notice a wave washer between the parking brake lever and the rear shoe that i didn't install. I tore it apart this morning installed the wave washer and it seems the sound has gotten louder. The parking brake doesn't make the sound. Inly when im using the brake pedal while driving

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The wave washer should have no impact. It's a non-factor when brake pressure is applied by the wheel cylinder, and is pretty much negligible when applying the parking brake anyway.

 

Sorry, I meant that the pic is of the LH side, but I digitally mirrored the image so that it would look like the RH side (note "Nissan" on the wheel cylinder is mirrored). I just happened to have that pic handy for reference.

 

When you put the drums on, and right before fully seating it on the wheel hub, do you have a lot of play between the drum and shoes? You mentioned adjusting the adjuster, but did you completely loosen the brake shoes, or are the shoes close to the drum surface?

 

By "clicks rotationally", you mean "click-click-click-click-click" when normal braking is applied? You didn't have to open the fluid lines for anything, right? Since you mentioned that gentle braking has no impact, does it feel like it takes longer to engage?

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Yep click-click-click. I adjusted the shoes out until the drum would not go on. Then i rotated the star wheel until i could get the drum on placing the shoes as close to the drum as possible. And no lines were harmed in the making of this task lol

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Yes, brake clicking is abnormal. Sounds like you got them adjusted properly, though.

 

Seeing as the amount of movement from any part during braking small (aside from drum rotation), hard to think of anything coming into new contact repetitively. Can you get a pic up? Maybe something else might stand out?

 

Have you tried swapping the drums, just to rule those out?

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We're they cheap shoes? They can cause clicking due to not being perfectly flat allowing the shoes to shift a little side to side. Also even though the drums are new too many come right out of the box out of round causing more issues with noise and pedal pulsation.

 

If you can stick a flat head I'm between the backing plate and shoes to stick some lube on all of the contact ppints that'd be a great idea.

 

When you adjust the brakes up, best to do it with the wheel on. One click at a time until you feel some resistance from the pads dragging. Not too tight or they'll overheat and prematurely crack.

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I hear ya. Though, neither have really given me too much grief.

 

No conversion kits, but an option involving WD21 Pathfinder brakes. Won't go into detail about it here, but will post something up about it soon.

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Switched the drums out for the old ones and the problem went away. Only difference between the two are the new ones have counterweights installed on them.

http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss22/Alex_Sniff/Mobile%20Uploads/20160825_141208_zpstpxjrcnw.jpg

 

http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss22/Alex_Sniff/Mobile%20Uploads/20160825_141259_zpsxect1lmq.jpg

Edited by Taboofluffy69
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