Hey guys. New to the forum.

Got a 2009 Fit Sport with 36,000 miles. It belongs to my friends mom. Vehicle had been exhibiting a pulsation upon braking after the brakes got up to operating temp. Found inboard pads to be frozen in the brackets and the rotors to be warped. I replaced the pads and rotors with AZ products. (My friends mom didn't want to buy OEM.) I cleaned the brackets and lubed the slides. The noise/pulsation went away and everything was all good. That was 4-6 weeks ago.

She called me today saying that the noise was back and it was worse than before. I took it out for a test drive and she wasn't kidding. It sounds similar to a really bad tie rod end juddering and knocking. I took it all apart again and can't find a single problem. Wheel bearings are tight and don't move in any direction they shouldn't. Tie rods have no play. Sway bar links are good. Sway bar bushings are good. Ball joints have no play. Lower control arms and bushings are in good shape.

Now, the noise is rhythmic and speed dependent. The harder you press the pedal the louder it becomes. The noise is ONLY present when the pedal is depressed. I can't tell which wheel it's coming from. It almost sounds as if it is coming from the center of the vehicle. I had her son take a video of the noise while I was driving. You may have to turn your speakers up pretty high to hear it.

Honda Fit Brake Noise. Video by linchpin360 | Photobucket

Does anybody know this issue? Is it common or am I lucky technician #1 to deal with it? Hahaha. Any information or advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Steve.

 

The fact that the noise went away tells me it's brake related, seems like you checked everything I would have.

If the brakes are screwed up again I'd be looking at the calipers, maybe one of them has a sticky piston? Check rotor runout.


Brake issues are uncommon afaik on the Fit.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking. It's hard to believe that the rotor would warp again so soon considering she drives very conservatively and only drives about 3 miles a day round trip. I need to break out the runout gauge and see what the rotors look like. I don't think there's a sticky piston. They seem to be moving freely. I also tried to replicate the issue with the wheels off the ground. Spun the wheels up to 60MPH and it didn't really make a noise at all. (I was trying to isolate which side was being problematic.)

Kind of a frustrating issue. Lol.

Thanks for the input.