Out of the clear blue sky, I was moving my 2011 Subaru Forrester into the garage tonight and when I stepped on the brakes I heard the most awful noise. It seemed awfully loud, can’t quite describe it but it sounded like a loud rubbing noise. I am assuming it’s worn brake pads? It was just when I stepped on the brakes. Is it dangerous to drive? I can’t take it into the shop for a couple of days, but I don’t want to drive if it is dangerous or will further harm the car. Sorry for a dumb question but I have no one to ask, really.
The noise is probably just the wear indicator. That’s a little metal clip they put on the brake pads that make that goddawful noise when the pads are getting low. Driving around for a few days (or maybe weeks) will be fine, but you do want to get the pads changed before you completely run out of braking material and they chew up your rotors.
Thanks, I most certainly will take it in to the shop as soon as I can.
I have a 98 Outback, and the brakes make a loud rubbing noise when they’re wet, like from condensation, but after a few stops, it goes away. It’s been doing that for years, and I’ve never had a problem, but of course I’m not sure we’re talking about the same noise.
It’s hard to diagnose a car by a description of the sound alone but I’ll try to help.
I can think of three kinds of common brake noise. The first is a pretty loud screeching noise. That is generally the brake wear indicator rubbing against the rotor. It’s designed to be loud and scary to let you know that you need to change the brake pads soon. You don’t describe a screeching noise, so I don’t think that’s it. A little googling tells me that your car should come equipped with screeching brake wear indicators.
The next noise is what I’ll call a rubbing noise when you apply the brakes. It’s noticeable but not very obtrusive. If you were moving along at high speed or listening to a radio when you start braking, you might not notice it too much. It might only occur if you haven’t moved the car for a few days or after a rain shower. That’s the sound of rust being scraped off the rotor by the normal action of the brakes. Generally, you’ll only hear it the first time you stop after letting the car sit for a while.
The final noise is an even louder rubbing grinding noise, and you probably also feel a shudder in the brake pedal. This is the somewhat loud and highly disconcerting noise of your completely worn brake pad grinding into the rotor. This noise should only come after many miles of warning from the screeching brake wear indicator. If you ignore that long enough, or if the brake wear indicator on your car was not in place, you’ll get to the grinding rotors point. At this point, your car is effectively undriveable. The farthest I might take it is at slow speed to the garage a mile from my house.
My guess is the noise you heard was rust being harmlessly scraped off the rotor. You may have noticed it more because you were backing into the garage after it was parked in the driveway. Maybe you weren’t moving fast or you didn’t have the radio on this time, so it was more noticeable than all the other times that noise has occurred. It’s hard to say though. Four years is enough time for some people to wear through a set of brake pads. It wouldn’t hurt to get them looked at.
I took it for a drive yesterday and didn’t hear any noises at all, even turning and braking, so maybe it was rust being scraped off the rotor. The car was just inspected in March this year, the garage didn’t say anything was wrong with the brakes or pads. But I will keep an ear out for any more strange noises and take it in and have it checked soon.
May I remind the OP that there’s NO SUCH THING as a stupid question? That’s how we find things out. And thanks for asking; I drive a 2011 Subaru myself so if my brakes start making funny noise, I’ll at least have some idea of what’s going on.
People who ask questions LEARN things! 