Clunk when braking

[Mtnman]

So my car has this "clunk" sound when i brake. thought it was a lot of things, but i have figured out that it is the inside brake pad. I have akebono euroceramic pads. Here is a pic of the problem.

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i398/booneflyfisher/2011-07-07_18-33-51_541.jpg

If you look at the pad on the left, (inner) you can see that it does not appear to fit correctly. Have any of you seen this before? Did i get a bad batch of pads, or the wrong pads? Did i forget to do something? Did I do something wrong? Pls Advise!
Edit: after staring at this all night, could I have somehow reversed the inner and outer pads?
Thanks

[danewilson77]

You could have reversed...maybe. Just do a quick disasseble, clean and inspect. That def is not proper though.

[kayger12]

Inner pad should have the metal clips that push into the caliper piston, correct?

If they are seated, there should be no lateral movement of the pad.

[static667]

You couldn't have reversed them because the inside one has clips to hold it into the piston where the outer is held on by a spring. That gap doesn't look right, though. I've never seen that much play in any of the brake jobs that I've done. It may not be the right pad. I'd go with what Dane said. Take it apart and inspect.

[kayger12]

You couldn't have reversed them because the inside one has clips to hold it into the piston where the outer is held on by a spring.

That's what I was trying to say-- thanks, Kyle.

[danewilson77]

Yeah...static is right.....totally forgot about the construction of a caliper...hehe.

There is a round hole (the piston) that the inner brake snaps into with three metal prongs. Did you at any time loosen the guide pin bushings?

[az3579]

It looks to me like the right-side pad in that pic is crooked. It should be 100% straight and matching the rotor, pretty much sitting on top of it. The problems I see here are the shape of the pad and the fact that there's a distance of a good 5mm between the pad and the rotor. That might be the cause...
Compare that side to the other side and see if they look the same. If not, there's the source of your problem.

[billschusteriv]

Also suggest checking caliper pistons for proper movement... compress with c-clamp when you reinstall the pads. Check for smooth compression. Could have a stuck or sticking piston? :dunno

Not too terribly difficult to rebuilt if you have some time and tools. Did it on the e30. May need to find a local metal shop with a parts cleaner/media blasting cabinet you can use to clean up the caliper.

[mimalmo]

If you didn't use anti-seize on the caliper pins, one of them is likely catching and not returning to the proper position so when you touch the brakes the next time, the pads contact the rotor unevenly and you get the noise.

[ZSP-Mafia]

Whens the last time you changed your CAB's?

[Mtnman]

Interesting. I will look into these issues. ZSP- put on Meyle hd's 2 weeks ago, and it didnt fix it! I probably cant do anything this weekend, but it sounds like im going to be pulling the calipers off again and checking them out thoroughly. Thanks for the ideas guys.

[Vas]

Ever figure this out ?

[Vas]

Decided to share my experience in this thread instead of starting a new one.

Bought the same pads and probably put 1500 miles on it. At first it was quite and now the noise on the drivers side appeared. Removed the caliper today and noticed the same thing. Inner pad is sitting just like the image in the first post.

Any suggestions? I know the caliper is not sticking but the two bolts that secure the caliper don't have any lubricant on them. Should they ?

The pad sits fine in the caliper until it is installed over the rotor.

[ryankokesh]

Had this issue in the CX-7... tech tried to bs me about it being to a "feature" to clear rust, etc. Ended up selling it... (not because of that, just never figured it out.)

[wsmeyer]

Are the pads on the other corners pulling off the discs like that?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 4

[wsmeyer]

^^ More

The reason I asked is if all the pads are retracting off the discs it means the piston inside the master cylinder is no longer retracting far enough to expose the inlet hole. As the pads where down, instead of more fluid being introduced into the line, the pistons in the calipers are retracting off the disc.

There's some diagrams here that will help visualize what is happening:

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/mastercylinderreplace/howworks.html

[Vas]

I am not sure since I did not look on the other side. But the noise is only from the drivers side.

[wsmeyer]

My apologies, I was looking at the picture wrong and had the inner and outer sides reversed. Our calipers only have a piston on the inner side, as the pads wear down and the outer one gets thinner, the whole caliper slides on the guiding bolts and moves inward. See #6 here:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BW53&mospid=47707&btnr=34_0757&hg=34&fg=05

Your caliper appears to be frozen and not adjusting itself inward. If you watch it while someone else presses the brake pedal I think you're going to see the brake disc itself bending outward until it contacts the outer pad.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/25621980/Caliper.jpg