I have a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport. Before the car is fully warmed up when I depress the brake at a low speed something underneath the car goes click. After the car is warmed up the click becomes a loud clack! The click and clack only happen with gentle braking at lower speeds - say 10-30mph. If I go faster, say over 30mph and brake quickly I don’t get the click or the clack. All parts of the brakes front & back were checked out. Mechanic can’t find problem and the clack is getting louder now. Sounds like metal on metal. I’ve got 100,000 mi. on the Jeep but have taken good care of it - anybody have a clue?
Hi Jeeperz. The noise you describe sounds like something is loose underneath. It could be a brake pad shifting, and one of the first places that I would check. But you say that a mechanic already checked out the brake system. Or it could be something in the suspension system or even the exhaust pipe shifting. This may be a tough one to track down. You say that the noise occurs below 30 mph. It may be occuring above that speed, but due to road and engine noise, you may not hear it. Also, does it occur in reverse?
When you went to the mechanic, did you specifically tell him to check the brakes? If so, he may not have considered other possible sources of the noise.
Has anyone checked the motor mounts?
Thanks so much for answering. Didn’t think I had much room to type 1st time - so I need to finish the story. Bought new front brake pads because were worn. Here’s the “uh-oh.” My son is in auto-tech in high school and the auto-tech teacher supervised him changing the break pads. Teacher checked the work and home came the Jeep. I came home from work and found my son had jacked up the front end of the Jeep and was giving it a lube job. The jacks were properly placed per his teacher to do this. But after these things were done the click and clack started. I’ve not heard the sound in reverse. Yes, I asked the mechanic to check the brakes first. He said all was fine. He checked everything under the car and front and back brakes. I know that I need a new muffler - but that couldn’t be it. I know the front tires have come on and off with the brake work - but the mechanic did it the 2nd time. I bet my son did something when he jacked up the car - maybe he didn’t jack it up correctly. Guess I’m learning the hard way - probably shouldn’t have let the car go to auto-tech class…
Not yet - I’ll have someone take a look