Ran into another H3 with my problem yesterday ...

[Hmmm2]

I pulled into the drycleaner yesterday and up alongside parked another H3. We gave each other a 'thumbs up' on our choice of vehicles. I asked her how she liked hers .. she said she bought hers last Oct with 2500 miles on it and loved it, but had her first problem last Wednesday. Curious, I asked her what happened. She said when she'd come to a stop, or an abrupt stop, her rear tires/brakes would GRIND! OMG!!! She probably thought I was crazy when I kept saying, "WHAT?!?!" She goes, "Yeah, I took it to the dealer, described the problem and they fixed it in a day". I asked her if the dealer was ------, (the dealer service dept who had been trying to figure out MY problem for 6weeks and who never did figure it out) she said, "Why, yes!". ARGHHHHH!!! I told her what I went through and she thanked me for paving the way. I'm thinking that the 2nd dealer (service dept) who had fixed my problem in a DAY must have called the original (6.5 week dealer) and told them what my problem finally turned out to be .. a warped rotor. I'm venting here, I know. I won't mention the dealer by name because they learned something through my problem (I hope). But, it sort of infuriates me that all that time, I was being told that the grind was 'common to all H3's" and that was that.. nothing more could be done. GM/Hummer Corp took good care of me, so that's all that matters now. I had a great Customer Service Rep through GM.

[fourfourto]

Its Back
Getting the grinding noise again.
They turned down rotors replaced pads ay 12,000 miles all was fine till now at 19,000 miles its doing it again.
I will bring it to the dealer sometime this week and insist on NEW rotors and new pads .It has to be a problem with some rotors being defective. ?

Unless its the front this time (I looked at front pads they still look
meaty)


Hmmm3 did they replace or resurface your rotors ,I forgot ?.

[RubHer Yellow Ducky]

So thats the cause. I have 8000 mileson my Yellow one and will call tomorrow to make an appointment.

RYD

[Hmmm2]

Originally Posted by fourfourto

Its Back
Getting the grinding noise again.
They turned down rotors replaced pads ay 12,000 miles all was fine till now at 19,000 miles its doing it again.
I will bring it to the dealer sometime this week and insist on NEW rotors and new pads .It has to be a problem with some rotors being defective. ?

Unless its the front this time (I looked at front pads they still look
meaty)


Hmmm3 did they replace or resurface your rotors ,I forgot ?.

The first dealer resurfaced one rotor and put on new pads. Of course, I still had the sound. The 2nd dealer told me one rotor was clearily warped, so they turned it (again) and the other 3 as well. Replaced all brakes and pads. They said they also cut the pads slightly (?) into a wedge shape which they said will make them more operative for my driving purposes. (I live on a hill, so a lot of my driving goes up and down that hill). All I know is that SO FAR I haven't had that sound come back. It has been about 3 weeks and I've been to Las Vegas and back in it. keeping my fingers crossed. If the sound comes back anytime soon, I'll also insist on new rotors. I'm not going to have them re-surface them again. Good luck! Keep us updated!

[f5fstop]

Only thing I know is 90 percent of what people call warped rotors is really pad residue on the rotor. Turning does fix the problem. Pretty darn hard to warp a large rotor like the ones on the front, and the back brakes do so little on normal stopping that can't understand how they get overheated enough to warp.
Have not heard anything, and I have 17K and no brake problems or noises. In fact, the only noise I have is behind the new NAV system, and I would bet it is the adapter vibrating.
If we are having problems with rears heating up and warping, I would have the dealer make sure the park brake is adjusted correctly after the brakes are repaired. If out of adjustment, the brakes will be too tight, apply too much pressure to the rotor and overheat the rotor (and the pads).
I will add that I will not use factory pads when I change the brakes (if I keep it that long ). Factory pads SUCK, since they cannot use asbestos.
So, the pads are made with other organic materials that tend to cause them to wear too fast, and tend to leave residue on the rotors when heated up (mountain driving is good for this).
I'm hoping someone comes out with a low dust, kevlar pad for the H3 before I have to change; if I have to change.

[fourfourto]

F5 Doesnt the e brake have a seperate pad (scrub brake).
My brother and I noticed it on my prevous brake inspection.

The e brake seems good,I beleve it should be tighter it goes down far to grab.
Im going to bring it in on tuesday.

[f5fstop]

got me; I forgot, still thinking old days. I'll do some checking tomorrow on brakes.

[ChevyHighPerformance]

Originally Posted by fourfourto

F5 Doesnt the e brake have a seperate pad (scrub brake).
My brother and I noticed it on my prevous brake inspection.

The e brake seems good,I beleve it should be tighter it goes down far to grab.
Im going to bring it in on tuesday.

There is a separate brake shoe assembly that grabs for parking. The rear rotors are like a hat and the inside of the hat is a mini-drum brake. When you press down on the parking brake the shoes are cammed out and make contact with the drum.

I was wondering if the parking brake is releasing fully. That's why I suggested to pull on the parking brake cable to make sure the cable isn't sticking in its conduit. The foot petal may come back up fully but the cable may not be completely releasing. I know for fact that there have been H3's in to get the parking brake cable replaced and that the 2007's have a new design. You never mentioned that the brakes are grabbing or pulsing when stopping nor did you mention any smell or unusually high rear temperatures. My interpretation (which I could be wrong) is that the sound is a nuisance sound.

[Michael1]

Originally Posted by f5fstop

Only thing I know is 90 percent of what people call warped rotors is really pad residue on the rotor. Turning does fix the problem. Pretty darn hard to warp a large rotor like the ones on the front, and the back brakes do so little on normal stopping that can't understand how they get overheated enough to warp.

I don't know why you say that. Corvettes have had warped rotor problems for years, and that car has huge rotors, and 3/5 the mass of the H3 to stop. Mine warped in one good hard stop on the freeway at 100F. It's probably a GM design or material problem, rather than just the size.

Michael

[f5fstop]

Originally Posted by Michael1

I don't know why you say that. Corvettes have had warped rotor problems for years, and that car has huge rotors, and 3/5 the mass of the H3 to stop. Mine warped in one good hard stop on the freeway at 100F. It's probably a GM design or material problem, rather than just the size.

Michael

I'm sorry to say, but an actual warped rotor was not that common. As I said, the biggest problem with what people call warped rotors is actually pad material causing a high spot.
During our studies, the only rotors that had warping problems were the smaller thin, rotors used on small cars, and then the numbers were not that high.
Can you warp a rotor? Yes, take a factory rotor and autocross all day long, run it on a road course and turn them red, but normal driving makes it almost impossible to warp a large finned rotor.
Ride the H3 down a 13K foot incline and yes, it might warp. Drive it around town and no, unless there was a manufacturing defect. However, when a technician pulls rotor, puts it on a lathe, and checks it, if there are high spots, to him or her, it is warped.
The other big problem with what people say is a warped rotor is lateral runout. That is why GM has published quite a few bulletins in the past on checking lateral runout versus turning a rotor.

I might add, if a rotor is found to be warped, it is usually warped due to installation, not heat. Forget the cross pattern and cock the rotor upon install, and it will eventually wear into a warped condition.

Now, go back to the Toyota forum and bash GM there.

[PARAGON]

Originally Posted by Michael1

I don't know why you say that. Corvettes have had warped rotor problems for years, and that car has huge rotors, and 3/5 the mass of the H3 to stop. Mine warped in one good hard stop on the freeway at 100F. It's probably a GM design or material problem, rather than just the size.

Michael

so that 100 degree outside temp is what made all the difference, huh? You so dumb.

You absolutely cannot warp a brake rotor in one braking instance, even if you dragged the brake for 17 years continuously. Heat warping is caused by continuous and repetitive high heat ups and cool downs. Of course, this applies to the typical modern day rotor on most vehicles.

GM has had a problem with warped rotors in the past on trucks mostly on the fronts. With the wierd tire wear and cupping problem with the tires that occurred, over time, the front rotors warped causing a need for them to be turned.

[ChevyHighPerformance]

Originally Posted by fourfourto

Its Back
Getting the grinding noise again.
They turned down rotors replaced pads ay 12,000 miles all was fine till now at 19,000 miles its doing it again.
I will bring it to the dealer sometime this week and insist on NEW rotors and new pads .It has to be a problem with some rotors being defective. ?

Unless its the front this time (I looked at front pads they still look
meaty)


Hmmm3 did they replace or resurface your rotors ,I forgot ?.

Try this. Make sure your parking brake is fully released. Underneath the driver's door is the parking brake cable. There is one cable that starts at the front, goes to a metal piece that connects to two cables that go to the rear (these go to the individual rear parking brakes). Pull hard on the metal piece (toward you or down toward the ground) a few times and release. If your parking brake cable is binding/rubbing this will free up some slack in the cable and make sure the parking brakes are not rubbing. See if you still hear the squeal.

The 2006 parking brake cable is run over metal edge that gouges into the cable assembly. The 2007 parking brake cable is new and routed a little differently.

[RubHer Yellow Ducky]

F5, Do you know anything about this ?????

RYD

Originally Posted by Hmmm3

I pulled into the drycleaner yesterday and up alongside parked another H3. We gave each other a 'thumbs up' on our choice of vehicles. I asked her how she liked hers .. she said she bought hers last Oct with 2500 miles on it and loved it, but had her first problem last Wednesday. Curious, I asked her what happened. She said when she'd come to a stop, or an abrupt stop, her rear tires/brakes would GRIND! OMG!!! She probably thought I was crazy when I kept saying, "WHAT?!?!" She goes, "Yeah, I took it to the dealer, described the problem and they fixed it in a day". I asked her if the dealer was ------, (the dealer service dept who had been trying to figure out MY problem for 6weeks and who never did figure it out) she said, "Why, yes!". ARGHHHHH!!! I told her what I went through and she thanked me for paving the way. I'm thinking that the 2nd dealer (service dept) who had fixed my problem in a DAY must have called the original (6.5 week dealer) and told them what my problem finally turned out to be .. a warped rotor. I'm venting here, I know. I won't mention the dealer by name because they learned something through my problem (I hope). But, it sort of infuriates me that all that time, I was being told that the grind was 'common to all H3's" and that was that.. nothing more could be done. GM/Hummer Corp took good care of me, so that's all that matters now. I had a great Customer Service Rep through GM.

[jp's-h3]

I know that abs brakes make a grinding noise when coming to an abrupt halt. If that is the prob. nothing can be done about the grinding noise, It's an inherent prob w/ abs brakes.

[fourfourto]

Originally Posted by jp's-h3

I know that abs brakes make a grinding noise when coming to an abrupt halt. If that is the prob. nothing can be done about the grinding noise, It's an inherent prob w/ abs brakes.

Yeh my brother (ace mechanic) said does it feel like the abs.
I realy dont think thats it ,I already locked the brakes up testing abs on dry pavement,dirt,sand,rain ,snow ice ect.
At this point there not as bad as they were at 12,000 miles when they cut rotors and replaced pads.
I will put some miles on the H3 .
Im going upstate in a few week so thats good for 1000 miles only 300 up there but we cruze around quite a bit looking at cabins/houses and looking for snowmobile trails.

[Ed Coryell]

I had a similar problem with my H3 about 4 months ago. At about 8,500 - 9,000 miles, I started hearing a grinding noise when coming to a stop that I thought at first must be a problem with the brakes. I took it to the dealer (Hall Hummer in Virginia Beach) and after two days of looking at every possibility, and several phone calls to the factory reps, it was determined that the problem wasn't with the brakes, but rather with the transfer case. The rep suggested they cycle through 4H - 4H-locked - 4L to see if that fixed the problem, and it did. They said that they were going to start recommending as part of the 3K oil change maintenance that the transfer case also be cycled at least that often. It's been almost 4,000 miles since then and (knock on wood), the grinding noise has not returned.

BTW - I bought one of the first H3's off the lot here in June 05, and am very happy with the vehicle. Haven't done any serious off-roading yet, but did drive it through a snowstorm in NY last winter, and it handled great.

[Hmmm2]

Originally Posted by Ed Coryell

The rep suggested they cycle through 4H - 4H-locked - 4L to see if that fixed the problem, and it did.

Ed, do you normally drive in 4H all of the time .. never using the 4H-Locked or 4L? My particular grind was definitely in the rear right and I could feel it in the brake when I'd come to a stop. After all was said and done, they discovered a warped rotor. I don't off-road mine (though I have in a different H3 ), so I always drive in 4H.

[fourfourto]

This summer I was at the beach every other week used 4H lock and used
4 low a couple times fooling around the back dunes and some rocks.
so my tranfer case gets cycled every few weeks.
The sound is definatly from the brakes.


I don't off-road mine

Hmmm3 say its not so

get out there and tear it up

[Ed Coryell]

Originally Posted by Hmmm3

Ed, do you normally drive in 4H all of the time .. never using the 4H-Locked or 4L? My particular grind was definitely in the rear right and I could feel it in the brake when I'd come to a stop. After all was said and done, they discovered a warped rotor. I don't off-road mine (though I have in a different H3 ), so I always drive in 4H.

Yes - I drive in 4H all the time - mostly local traffic, with alot of stop-&-go. The noise I experienced came from the front, so it does seem to be different than the problem you're having. I hope they're able to figure it out and get it fixed for you. Was the warped rotor a factory defect, or did something happen to cause it to warp? I know that the Hummer dealership here in Virginia Beach is very in-tune with all us Hummer owners, and will do what it takes to fix any problems we have. Good luck!

[ROADNOTCA]

Just a shot in the dark but I hope these warps aren't the result of a car wash right after getting off the highway/freeway.