Brake grinding sound.

[GVicky]

I bought my 2021 MME P in Sep. and I’ve been hearing some grinding noise at slow speeds and when going to a stop when starting a trip. It eventually goes away but when starting another trip the next day, it’s there again. I took it in to the dealership and you guessed it, they couldn’t hear it or see any problems with the brakes at all. I think it’s coming from the front brakes. Anyone heard about this before and can shed some light?

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[generaltso]

I bought my 2021 MME P in Sep. and I’ve been hearing some grinding noise at slow speeds and when going to a stop when starting a trip. It eventually goes away but when starting another trip the next day, it’s there again. I took it in to the dealership and you guessed it, they couldn’t hear it or see any problems with the brakes at all. I think it’s coming from the front brakes. Anyone heard about this before and can shed some light?

Mine's made that noise for 2.5 years. I even had all the rotors and pads replaced under the sticking pad TSB, and it still sounds the same.

 

[GVicky]

That’s not comforting but I appreciate the feed back.

 

[Teleks]

It's just a thin layer of rust on the brakes that goes away after a longer of drive. As far as I know nothing to be concerned about. Totally normal for a little rust to form on a humid day or after raining. You should be able to see the rust by eye.

This can also easily happen with ICE vehicles and also is not a problem then. EVs are more prone to form rust on their brakes, just because the car uses the brakes much less (and does regenerative motor braking instead), which means the rust is being scraped off less.

From your description I'm 99% sure it's just rust.
That would explain why you only hear it at the beginning of a trip - because the end of a trip the rust has been cleaned off by braking
And it also explains why it's only at slow speeds and when coming to a stop - that's kind of the only times the Mach-E uses its actual brakes during normal driving. For braking at higher speeds it uses the motors (unless you brake very hard).
The reason you hear it mostly from the front is probably just because cars in general use their front brakes more than their rear brakes.

Do you live in a humid climate or has there been a lot of rain lately?

 

[GVicky]

Thanks for your reply but I highly doubt it’s rust as it would be visible and it happens everyday. Rust doesn’t form that quickly.
I also do not live in a humid location.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

Thanks for your reply but I highly doubt it’s rust as it would be visible and it happens everyday. Rust doesn’t form that quickly.
I also do not live in a humid location.

It would be useful if you can record video (or audio) of the sound...

 

[MellowJohnny]

I have a late '22 Premium and have the same sounds at slow speed - also comes and goes. Don't forget a BEV is significantly quieter than an ICE, so what you hear sounds a lot louder that had you been driving an ICE.

 

[GVicky]

 

[generaltso]

I have a late '22 Premium and have the same sounds at slow speed - also comes and goes. Don't forget a BEV is significantly quieter than an ICE, so what you hear sounds a lot louder that had you been driving an ICE.

I think it's just a characteristic of the pad/rotor combination used in the MME. Like the IPC buzz, some people hear it and some don't. I use the noise to tell when braking switches from regen to friction.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Also, rust can happen overnight. I drove 100+ KMs yesterday including stop & go traffic which would have cleaned the rotors - here's what they look like this morning after the rain we got last night:

 

[GVicky]

Again, there is no visible rust on my brakes.
it is NOT a rust problem.

 

[bellyer]

This has been occurring with my Mach-E First Edition for about the last 2 years of the 2.5 years I have been driving it. I have just done my best to get used to it. It seems to be worse in the winter. I have had the brakes looked at once back when I first started noticing it and the dealer told me there was nothing wrong.

 

[GVicky]

This is what the service tech told me as well. I just don’t want it to turn out to be an issue after the warranty expires.

 

[generaltso]

This is what the service tech told me as well. I just don’t want it to turn out to be an issue after the warranty expires.

It’s fine. Just drive the car and enjoy.

 

[GVicky]

So, I am in the dealership right now again for the same grinding sound that they claim they didn’t hear and I did a road test with a technician and confirmed the sound. They are now doing a light skim of all the rotors. Funny thing is as I’m waiting in the lounge area I hear another owner complain about the exact same thing and he’s driving a 23 with 16k

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