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When I put on the brakes even lightly, there's a slight scratching sound that lingers after I let up on the brake.  Like the brake caliper is still slightly scratching on the brake disc but just barely.  Can hear it a lot better when driving next to curbs or sidewalks where the sound is bounced off them and back so it's louder.  I've taken the wheels off once before and inspected the situation, nothing looks unusual or like the bad is touching the disc.  Any idea what's causing this?

Without me having to go to a shop to have my wallet looked at?

I've had this before on my 1987 Acura Legend.  For me it was because my rotors were far too worn down and warped.  What many ppl don't know is that your pads actually ever so slightly touch your pads even when not braking.  So what happens is that the uneven heights on your rotor due to it being warped causes certain parts of your rotor to scrape against the pad more forcefully in rotation.  You should notice that the scraping sound is cyclical in sync to the rotation speed of your rotors.  Visually it is often very hard to tell if rotors are warped.  I would suggest taking your rotors to your local Kragen, they will turn the rotors for you for a small fee.  Then see if the scraping goes away. 

Oh yeah I also forgot to mention that my pads were so worn, the backing screw or whatever was scraping against the rotor so the noise was extra loud.  You should inspect your pads. How many miles you have on those pads and rotors?  

I had the same problem in my 98 Maxima.  I took it in and got new pads and rotors, it was about that time anyways.  Problem fixed.  

Cool Thanks for the info.

Does anybody know what the avg cost is to get the pads and rotors replaced is? I tried to remember the last time I did it but I keep forgetting. 

I think Sears charges slightly over $100 per axle.
 

Hey there,
How did you go with your problem? I have the same one by the sounds of it. Like you i don't want to empty the old wallet getting it fixed. How much did it set you back? was it the rotors & pads?
Cheers.  

hi, new here...I have the same noise coming from my 2003 Silverado. it's really irritating, but this is what I found out:

I went and had the rotors replaced(rear, 350 bucks)..the front ones had to be cut down a bit(150)..it only temporarily fixed the problem. I went back and they looked at all of the components again, reassuring me that NOTHING was wrong with the hydraulics, Calipers, etc...what they did notice was that the driver's side brake pad/shoe had a little extra play in it(we're talking milimeters..not even noticeable). he said that this was a simple flaw in manufacturing, but not a safety issue since the brake pad is firmly connected to everything and is brand new. I noticed later that, once I started driving around a bit, the noise simply went away, due to the metal expansion...so, my advice to you is to get it checked out..most places will do free diagnostics. it could be as simple as the brakes. but it doesn't hurt. I know that I'll have to deal with this until I get my brakes replaced, but it drives perfectly fine...

Yea, depending on how long you have gone with this noise, you will have to replace either the brake pads or break pads and rotors.  

It is good to be concerned about our vehicles brake system. Our lives depend on them working correctly.  

Whenever in doubt, I think it's a very good idea to have them checked out by a professional.

Even if we have to spend some money. How much is life worth?

Also, whenever two hard surfaces rub together, there will be a noise.
Even two soft surfaces: rubbing your hands together for instance, will make a some noise.

Brake drums and brake rotors are metal.

Brake shoes and brake pads are very hard, not soft at all.

We CAN hear them even better by driving slowly along a curb and lightly touching the brakes.

Often, vehicles have brake warning sensors.
The most common one is an audible sensor, which is used on brake pads (brake drums don't have any kind of warning sensor, being an older technology and only on the rear of some cars.)
This audible sensor on (some) brake pads will make a high pitched single tone/squeal, and will only sound when NOT using the brakes, and often works better when backing up.
We can't count completely on warning sensors however, since brake pads often wear unevenly, and not all brake pads use warning sensors.

If your rotors are out of true, they will slightly effect the braking ability.
and, it's easy to check for out of round brake rotors by:
1. rolling down a hill at under 25mph, lightly using the brakes and feeling for a pulse, feeling like you are pumping the brakes just a little, when you are not doing so. This is a rotor out of true.
or 2. when braking at over 55 mph, the steering wheel or vehicle shakes a bit. This is also rotors out of true.

and if the rotors ARE out of true, BOTH of these tests will show up positive.

Machining or replacing rotors are the only cure.  

in my experience it starts off as just the pads, followed by the rotors. but if you keep ignoring it even then (ill-advised i might add), it can start to get real expensive to fix.  
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