Strange noise coming from rear wheels....

[Obvious]

Hi I'm starting to get a very strange loudish metal on metal type grinding/grating noise when my car (Mk3 Golf GTi) is pulling up very slowly as the wheels rotate. It doesn't do it any other time than when I slowly pull up to a stop sometimes, and it can heard when lightly applying the brakes when rolling very slowly also, if you pump the pedal on and off it makes the noise then stops then will do it again as you apply the brake again lightly.

Now and again it will happen also when just setting off (just as the rear wheels start to rotate with no brakes applied). Now this seems to be somewhat intermittent as it does not do it all the time but it's now beginning to annoy the hell out of me. Anyone got any ideas on what the problem could be here..? Anything to do with the rear pads as I do get a little brake screech, and the front pads were done not so long ago... or is it anything else?

[craggers]

Sound like the problem I am having with my Golf at the moment. Found some play on rear wheel which I think it is worn wheel bearing so I am going to replace it soon.

Good luck.

[Obvious]

Cheers for that Craggers... I'll have to jack the rear end up and check for free play myself and see if that is the problem.

[Bazzer]

could also be the obvious, Obvious... Brakes binding?

[Obvious]

Is there any definate way I can check for that Bazzer before I have to resort to sticking the car into a garage to get it looked at?

[Bazzer]

Chock the front wheels (really well....) and jack the back up so the wheel is off the ground. See if the wheel turns freely, there should be no dragginng of the pads on the disc. get someone to pull the handbrake up ever so slightly and see where it starts to hit the wheel...

[Obvious]

Ok cheers for that Bazzer, I'll give that a go later on as busy moving stuff at the moment(moving house). It's also been suggested to me that it could be something to do with the handbrake cable being badly adjusted or the self-adjusting mechanism, that or the disc's being pitted and badly worn. So I'll jack the rear up and give the wheels a good spin and get the other half to apply the handbrake as you suggested and see what conclusion I come too.. Thanks for the suggestions, really appreciate it

[Bazzer]

Ah, Danielson.... The key here is to be gentle - if you just give it a 'wheel of fortune' spin you'll never know!! Kinda hard to explain in words, but what you're looking for is a smooth transition between moving and stopped. If it stops suddenly, it's being grabbed by something. Which could be the pad, or the bearing really, you'll only know by the noise it's making. A low pitched grumbling noise will more than likely be the bearing. The scratchy noise is almost always the disc, and if it's similar to the mk2 (which I believe it is, only better designed to keep crud out) the adjuster takes up the slack of the handbrake cable.

Now, if it's this bit that's playing up, you can test it by unhooking the handbrake cable from the lever on the caliper, just use pliers (and be careful, they're a great place to catch spanner rash from) then operating the lever with your paw. If all is well, you've diagnosed the cable is too tight.....

TBH that's what I reckon it is... 

[Obvious]

"if you just give it a 'wheel of fortune' spin you'll never know!!"

LoL... You are right, and the slow approach was the one I was going to take anyway as I only seem to get the noise when the wheel is rotating very! slowly when pulling up or setting off.. Come to speak of it, this morning when I was reversing out of my drive very slowly.. the grinding noise was there and all the way there through the reversing maneuver so there is definitely something catching/rubbing somewhere I'm sure of it as I was not applying any brake pressure at all at the time..

And speaking of the handbrake cable, I remember sometimes when the handbrake was applied when getting into the car I would sometimes get a noise similar to the one I am experiencing and when i took at a look at the rear wheels when my other half was getting in you could see there was play in the rear wheels to suggest the brakes weren't locked up as much as they should be. This has pretty much gone away now since the main problem has come into light so as it a guess it could be related right? And your hunch on it being the handbrake could actually be the problem...

[Obvious]

Right have just jacked up the rear end and spun each of the rear wheels in turn.. This is the conclusion...

Nearside Rear, when set of into a very light spin will rotate about 3/4 of a turn then come to a stop. A whirring sound can be heard when it is being spun. Did the free play check for the bearings and there is a definite wobble in the nearside wheel when checking at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock position. Not so much free play from either side (3 + 9). I'd say there is quite a bit of free play..

Offside Rear... When set in a slow spin will rotate freely and will not come to a stop with no whirring sound to be heard, then only sound that can be heard on each rotation is an ever so slight scraping noise of metal on metal on each rotation. Sound last about a second or two then it's silent until that part of the wheel comes round again..

So from that I'm am having it a guess that my Nearside wheel earing is shot, and that the offside has a slight catch of which I have no idea what it could be. Both wheels will not rotate when handbrake is applied slightly or on full. So is it the wheel bearing making the noise or do I also have to look elsewhere once the bearings have been done? May as well do both sides while I'm at it..

Hope that helps diagnose this further... Thanks so far

**Been suggested that I may have warped discs and that replacing them along with bearings might be a good idea.. I had the car through it's MOT a month or so ago and nothing was noted or said about the brakes. On the paperwork I got the brakes seemed fine.. Axle 1 was 300.. Axle 2 150 and parking brake 160. Would have thought this might have been picked up.. *shrugs***