New Brake Drum Grinding noise

[Dave S]

I just had the drum brakes replaced on my 2000 Saturn.



Since they have been installed I get a constant metallic grinding noise from the rear brakes everytime I stop. At first they were grinding even when driving without the brakes applied - now they onlly grind when applying the brakes. I don't have a lot of miles on the new brakes but I was wondering if this was normal. The new shoes are Bendix relined OEM's. (I'm assuming some kind of semi metallic)



I pulled the drums off and saw a lot of dust being worn off of the new shoes. I'm also smelling some shoe burning.



Is it normal for this grinding to be taking place with brand new drum shoes? If so - what is the best way to break them in so they seat properly and stop the grinding sound?



Everything appears to be working ok - the car stops fine but I never had the grinding sound with the original Saturn shoes.



The drums were not turned as they had no sign of pulsating with the original shoes.



I'm hoping this is just the new shoes breaking in to the drums. The original shoes had a glossy coating to them and the new pads are very course looking. I only have a few miles on the new shoes so I'm hoping they will eventually break in and stop the annoying scraping/grinding sound.



Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

If the drums were turned and trued then you should not be getting grinding per say. Not as you describe it. If they were not turned then it is more common to get grinding as the pads are nice and square and they need to mate to the drums that are not true...

 

[Dave S]

Thanks Coastiejoe:



That's what I thought also. The Drums were not turned so I suspect that there might be some "high spots" on the drums that need to work in with the pads. I also get more noise as I'm turning the corner and braking. I now have about 25 miles on them and they are not as noisy as they were yesterday. I guess I will put a thousand miles on them or so and see if they quiet down. The car stops fine - and the pads are semi metallic with titanium so that's why I'm probably hearing what sounds like metal on metal.



Will the brake dust that grinds out of them hurt to stay in the drums? Or should I remove the drums and blow it out? What's your opinion on this?



Thanks again for the reply.

 

[Richard L]

Take it back to who ever did the brake job. It sounds like you may have a broken brake shoe hold-down pin. They are small nail like pins that are inserted throught the backing plate and brake shoe and held in place with short springs and a washer style keeper.



The exact same thing happended to my wife's Saturn when it was only a couple of months old. It allows the shoe to become dislocated and causes the grinding noise. If you catch it fast enough you will not cause any damage, but since you had a new drum installed, they need to warranty their work. Appearantly this is a common problem with the Saturns rear brakes.



...Rich.

 

[Dave S]

Thanks for the advice. Actually a neighbor did the job as he has done them before. Everything looks pefect with the reinstall. The car has 113,000 miles so Saturn isn't going to do anything for me. The noise is getting better with some drive time. I think the problem is that the drums really should have been re-cut and are a bit out of round. I am thinking the noise will go away once the shoes wear into the drums. If not, I will take it to the brake shop an have them turn the drums and put a new set of shoes on again.



So much for the "do-it yourself mechanic" right? I never learn my lessons. It's hard to believe that car mfg's still even use drum brakes. They are the most retarted mechanical mess I have ever seen. They have been around since the Model T ford haven't they? I guess they are cheaper to mfg but it seems to me that the labor costs on the assembly line would make it cheaper to just put rotors all the way around.

 

[ReggieMRegalOne05 Legaspi]

That's one reason the I'll never let the wife get her a ding proof Vue, the non-disc brake rears.