bit of a random one this had a rattling sound coming from the driver side front and decided to investigate it today

every time you hit a bump there is a strange tinkling sound and when i jacked it up i found that if i hit the shock with my hand it came from the brake calliper so i grabed an allenkey and tried to tighten the bolts but they where tight allready and after taking them off and putting them back on it seems to be the rubber around the collar/shim that the bolt holds on allowing the calliper to wiggle around and tap against the pads

is the rubber replaceable or will i need new callipers

i have never heard of anyone having a problem like this before on any car has it happend to anyone else or is it just lady luck deserting me recently

the callipers do wiggle a little bit something i have noticed but only ever so slightly and i certainly dont get knocking from it. unless its horrendous i'd check elsewhere on the car.

check the splash shield that covers the rear of the brake disc...tends to give all sorts of pinging noises if it's a bit too close

Yeh my splash guard makes noises when I reverse... I should fix it really!!

Edited 28 July, 200818 yr by T700BES

i got my ex a mk4 polo and that had a terrible chattering coming from the caliper when she hit little bumps, hers has the 'spring clips' which slide in when you fit the pads and hold a small amount of tension on the caliper which stops the rattle/chatter.

i took the brakes apart serviced them and bent the clips to give more tension and it sorted it out. canny remember if the mk3 has them pretty sure they do although they do sometimes fall out which also lets the caliper rattle about.

mines had a stupidly bad rattle a couple of times now

was the spring clip/anti rattle thingys

i thought the spring clips stoped squeal but i see steveo has called them anti rattle thingys so it's probably them i will try bending the spring clips a bit tighter then

the calliper is still moving a lot more than id like it to if you hit the shock tube with your hand you can see it bounce/wiggle and seems to hit the outer pad then go back against the carrier like i said earlier i have never seen them move that much {maybe i just never looked that hard at them before}

but i suppose if i tighten the clips and the noise goes away it's nothing to worry about

the back plate is not moving around at all and has a good 5mm clearance

cheers for all the replies will let you all know if i get it sorted

Its a flawed design,its annoying when the pads rattle. Like said above,the pads are floating parts and are held gently by shims. Like every other manufacturer in the world used springs that worked,we get shims that rarely fit.

You can file the pad if its too wide,for if you wedge the pad in tight,its held against the disc and causes overheating and warpage.

But too loose and it rattles.

got it sorted today was the rattle clips

only problem now is the other side is doing it too only not so loudly

the sound must have been drowned out by the drivers side before

thanks for the help :-D :-D