Hey guys,
I'm starting to regret my recent project - MPS front caliper conversion onto a 3 Diesel.
Parts i used: DBA 4000 slotted rotors (the original directional slotted, not the unidirectional T3 style), HEL stainless lines, TRW pads. Calipers were off a 07 MPS donor vehicle so i'd say the car did at least 100000km before it came to rest. They looked fairly old.
I'm getting a constant ticking noise from alternating sides, sometimes both sides if i am going straight. Depending on which way i turn the wheel as i'm driving, it sounds like the steering wheel is a crossfader. The ticking noise is best described as sticking a strip of cardboard into a fan or bike wheel while it's spinning. Definitely not an engine noise.
I fixed it *temporarily* with new brake lines (HEL). Turned out i must've f**ked factory brake lines when i was manouvering the caliper. I must've somehow left a permanent kink inside the hose but there seemed to be a lot of tension on the section from the shock to the caliper. The fluid seemed to be trapped and hence rotors were very hot even though i hadn't touched the brakes for 5mins. I replaced the hoses with HEL stainless lines. No more smelly hot rotors after a motorway run. I also used caliper lube on the pad 'ears' on both sides, compressed both pistons back to their home position.
A few hundred km later both sides started making noise again.
It seems i can hush the ticking by fiddling with the position of the hose and the centre 'pivot' on the strut. The hose seems to get stuck in the pivot but i am not convinced this is the sole problem. I'm thinking the pistons are sticky (odd but i guess old age?), brake lines are too short (odd.. they're meant to be made to spec), or it's just a characteristic of slotted rotors (deal with it and stop complaining, only real way to find out is to whack on a set of plain discs and check for uneven wear/temperatures)
HELP!