[DrMurano]

I would like to find out how many of us out there experiencing this problem:

>>> You back up from a stand still
>>> You put your car in Drive
>>> You start to drive forward
>>> After the application of the brake pedal (you are already driving forward) you hear a distinctive "click-click" coming from the front or rear ? (am I alone on this one?)

This wasn't happening when the car was new (now 25K mi on it); I also don't buy the Stealership explanation of "normal pad shifring". Why don't my other cars don't do "normal pad shifting song and dance".

 

[jaak]

It is normal. Mine did it from new. But you don't notice it with the windows up....

The pads float. So when you back up and brake, they shift. click. Then you go forward and the first time you brake, they shift back. click.

I have seen the dealer put a compound on the back of pads to make them stick a bit to the piston so it doesn't do this so easily. But it makes no difference to the performance.

click click. That's just when you're doing it gently and one catches before the other....

 

[njjoe]

jaak-

Thanx for the explanation. That sounds logical to me.

I had just come back in after checking my car to see if I could duplicate the symptoms (I couldn't).

-njjoe

 

[jaak]

One other note, comparing it to other cars with discs, there's two observations I'd make.

1- depends on how the pads are put in. Many cars have a spring on the back of the pad to keep it aligned one way or another.

2- have you noticed how big the disks are on the Murano? They wouldn't fit inside the wheels of many cars. I suspect the size may make a difference too.

Now the pads can be altered so there isn't so much of a gap, which will reduce this. However, if the gap is so small that junk gets stuck in there, the pads will bind, which isn't good either.

Unless the clicking really drives you crazy, I wouldn't worry about it. The loose rattling parking brake cable is worse...

 

[Eric L.]

Off the top of my head, I would think a clicking caliper due to the "stick" jaak describes would be because the caliper sliding pin is not lubed enough. Whenever doing my brakes, I always lube that pin. Its the "green stuff" in the following link:

http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4996

If you decide to tackle this, regardless whether you change the pads or not, do yourself a favor and apply some anti-squeal goo (the red stuff). 99% of brake squealing is due to vibration between the caliper torque member the back of the brake pad, and the goo cushions and dampens this. The other 1% is metal against metal when people don't monitor their brake pad wear!

 

[jaak]

Eric, the clicking is the pads floating. They're not sticking to anything.

I've had the wheels off and looked at this and you can see how there is enough slack from the tabs on the pads to the caliper for it to shift back and forth.

If someone really wants, they can bend the tabs in a bit so the pads don't float so much, but it doesn't improve braking performance in any way. If bent in too far, it would actually make them bind.

 

[mgthe3]

I agree Jim.

I also do not notice it when the brakes are warm. If I let the brakes cool down completely, it does it every time I change direction. Also, I do not notice it when the windows are up and I am outside--i.e. backing out of the driveway and stopping at the end of the street. If I have the windows down, I hear it. In the parking deck at work I don't hear it in the morning, even with the windows down. In the afternoon when I leave, yep, there it is when I stop for the gate arm to go up--every time. Clack!

Eric, you have done the brakes, do they have a tensioner spring on them? (my wife's sentra does, just a tiny wire)

I changed the brakes on a ford elite back in 75 and forgot to put the anti rattle clips in, man what a racket they made.

 

[Eric L.]

No, I believe Nissan stopped using the small tension springs a few years ago. My 97 Maxima had them on the stock pads, but when I replaced the brakes I was informed the front brake kit no longer included the spring since Nissan deemed it unnecessary.

 

[mgthe3]

hmmmm.....
I wonder if that is all it is.
If it did have the spring, when moving each direction it would slowly contact it's other limit of travel.
Without the tensioner it would not move until you put on the brakes which would move much faster before it encountered the limit.

Things that make you hmmmm.........

Of course, I could be completely wrong.

 

[SugarRushMurano]

I agree witj Jaak...

It is normal. Mine did it from new. But you don't notice it with the windows up....

The pads float. So when you back up and brake, they shift. click. Then you go forward and the first time you brake, they shift back. click.

I have seen the dealer put a compound on the back of pads to make them stick a bit to the piston so it doesn't do this so easily. But it makes no difference to the performance.

click click. That's just when you're doing it gently and one catches before the other....

I agree with Jaak.

Had this happen on my Miata.
I had a friend to actually back the car up and then go forward and then 'click', I trace where the sound was coming from. It is the break pads indeed.