I just got new brakes put on a 2004 Santa Fe (60K) -- both front and rear. The rear required new rotors because of how badly they were corroded due to 4 winters in a salt state. The problem is that the rear passenger side brake is now making a loud clunking sound on every brake. I believe the clunk is happening every rotation of the wheel while braking. The dealer says to just let it go for a couple days and see if it goes away. They supposedly disassembled and checked everything but didn't see anything wrong. The car had no noise problem with the original pads/rotors.

Should I be optimistic that this will go away or is it more than likely I'll be returning the vehicle to them again? And what would a clunking sound be?

[edit]
Clunking is actually happening on both rear brakes -- just more noticeable on the passenger side for some reason.

This post has been edited by mlcarson: Oct 23 2009, 02:57 PM

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/00000732.gif) ml!

You should not be hearing a clunking! This may indicate that the upper caliper guide pin is loose or missing...probably missing. Get back to the dealer safely and have this checked out.

Byron

That's what I did after driving for about a half mile. The dealer kept it another day and said they saw nothing wrong but acknowledge that the clunking is there. I was told to give it a couple days and see if it goes away. Tomorrow is day 2 and it's showing no sign of disappearing. I believe they were blaming the noise on whatever the rotors fasten to since I'm sure it was very corroded too like the original rotors.\

The clunking is a LOUD clunking too. Embarassed to apply the brakes if there is anybody nearby.

It might be the rotor is wobbly. One of mine was like that and was causing my caliper to make a clunking sound.

Firmly tell them to fix it. It won't go away by itself. Tell them it wasn't making that noise before so it had to be something they did.

The dealer has the vehicle again. They're telling me that the noise is because of a corroded caliper assembly which cannot hold the rotor correctly. They recommend replacing all 4 (including the front which don't seem to by symptomatic); I authorized the rear 2. The cost is $99 x 2 + 2 hrs labor so probably $450-$500. So, this brake job has become really expensive. Supposedly this is all because the vehicle was in a northern climate state for 4 years -- they should put a warning label on these vehicles to only drive in warm climates or face expensive repairs. I've never experienced this on any of my previous vehicles.

So, does this sound right? I know nothing about brakes. I'm assuming because the dealer's doing it I'm getting charged about 50% more on parts but that they should know what they're doing. I'm bothered a bit by this because I've never heard of corrosion causing so much of an issue from normal driving at the 60K mark and am frustrated that the warranty didn't cover any of it.

Here's the update. Dealer replaced the rear brake calipers and the clunking is now gone.

Costs:
$392.68 Caliper assembly ($196.34 ea)
-142.86 Core Return
19.95 B/F SVC Kit (not sure what this is)
2.00 freight
-34.98 discount
===========================
$236.79 parts
$80.00 labor
========
$316.79
$17.49 MSS-1000H EPA/Supplies (not sure what this is)
=====
$334.28
24.86 tax
=======
$359.14 Grand Total for the caliper replacements on the rear wheels

Original brake job: $473.14 front and rear with rear rotor replacement

$832.28 for working brakes that will probably have to have the front calipers replaced soon.
So, is this the most expensive dealer brake job ever? The car came in with no symptomatic brake issues.

This post has been edited by mlcarson: Oct 27 2009, 08:06 PM

Hi glad to hear your clunking is gone, albeit an expensive repair
I also, have this clunking problem... 2002 Model app 70K Miles
Recently replaced the rear rotors and pads, car sometimes sits for an entire week, outdoors, and I find a significant amount of surface corrosion forms during that period...
I believe my clunking problem is as a result of this rust and maybe different rust formation directly under the pads...
As I usually ride the brakes and or apply the emergancy brakes the 1st couple hundred feet when I initially drive away and the clunking is gone....
Hope this may help anyone else experiencing this problem

whacker

I think you might have been taken for a ride from the dealer. The pads sit in the lower caliper and there is a stainless steel set of clips that hold the pads in. I just did mine on a 05 because one of the pads came apart from the metal backing as the OEM's are crap and only bonded to the plate by two points or so mine was.
What happens to the clips is that the caliper rusts in behind them pushing up on the clip which will seize the pad, there was another form that had a user that got his rotors and pads replaced by the dealer. Due to the tightness of the pads in the clips the dealer ground off some of the metal on the pad so they would work. The user reported that he now had a slight clunk when he applied the brakes and the dealer would not do anything more for him.
Also the clips on mine were full of baked on brake dust which I had to take a wire brush to clean them out so the new pads would seat. It appears the dealers recommend that you take their overpriced bake inspection to fix this problem on a yearly basis which in my neck of the woods is $250 Cdn. Pads and new rotors cost me $156 and about an hour of my time to replace so do the math.

I'm pretty sure I got taken. It could have been worse though. They supplied a loaner car the entire time. They replaced my 5 yr old original battery for free. They originally had an even higher labor charge -- it felt like "let's make a deal" every time I went up to the cashier since the manager would have to be sent down to make deductions. I guess I could have been having that $200 annual brake inspection you mentioned. I've also had to get brakes replaced much sooner on other vehicles (Pontiac Grand Am at around 30K).

Hard to tell whether the calipers really had to be replaced or not. They were claiming that they had never seen the amount of rust/corrosion that were on these -- probably true in this part of the country. I guess in the end it doesn't matter since I can't do anything about it and I do have working brakes with no noise issues now.