Grinding Sienna

johnlrose1979

Simple question, is it possible for there to be grinding sound from my brakes while vehicle is stopped? I am sure the sound is alternater or water pump but my wife insists that it is the brakes even thou it starts the second the car is started and is not affected by by pressing brake down. She swears this problem happened before and she had brakes replaced and it was fixed. Am I right here?

robertnaylor

No that would not be a brake issue. your brakes cant make a noise without you moving. so if you have a grinding noise and since your car is front wheel drive it could be anywhere between your trans axle differential too your flexplate. so it could be any number of things depending on where the sound is coming from. just not your brakes.

Mr_Shiftright

If you don't want to take it into a shop, you can buy a mechanic's stethoscope pretty cheaply at Autozone or NAPA and use to to isolate the noise. You have to be careful though, working around a running engine. Simply use the metal probe on the stethoscope and touch it to the alternator housing, or to an idler pulley for the drive belts. Reaching the water pump might be tricky. You have to be sure not to tangle up any clothing, or hair. You can also check if your engine uses a timing chain--if so that can make a lot of noise at idle. You could also have a loose exhaust system or dust shield.