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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Low speed whistle


Fulcrum2000

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Ok so I've owned my Supe for about 3 and a half years and for the entire time I've had it about 80% of the time when you set off it has a smallish whistle up to about 15mph then stoops, its not serious I know but I feel like its annoyed me for long enough now and I want to be rid of it. I have an auto so you have to put your foot on the brake to start the car and I suspect it is brake related, I installed Chris Wilson fast road Pads and thought it would go away at this point but it just stayed constant. Has anyone else had anything like this and if so how did you cure it?

 

Just to clarify, lets say you are at a junction with the brake on, you let it go and pull out and the whistle starts until about 15mph then goes, you brake for traffic and if it goes under 15 it comes back almost all of the time, there's the odd time it doesnt and it doesnt seem related to brakes warming up or anything. Also when it is doing it if you take it into neutral and let the car glide it just continues and it never starts before the brakes are used ie sitting on the drive at idle speed. Any ideas? The only other thing I can think to try is to find a large hill, stop the car and run it down with the engine off to see if it is absolutely brakes but there are obvious safety issues with that plan so I thought I would ask before I did any more 'testing'.

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If its brakes the sound should be more a metallic squeal than a high pitch whistle. The kind you'd get from a dry hinge. I'd take a punt at you having a partially seized caliper. You might be able to track that down to an individual caliper by is one wheel warmer than the opposite wheel after a good run out. Otherwise its a wheels off and check the calipers retract easily and smoothly. Failing that, I'd then look at the hand brake shoes and check their adjustment, you might find one side is too tight and binding slightly. That is easily checked by adjusting through the access hole in the disc until there is just no friction on the disc.

 

So I'm going for either a sticky caliper or incorrectly set handbrake shoes. You can probably rule in or out the handbrake shoes by applying the handbrake at 10mph and seeing if the noise goes.

Edited by rider (see edit history)
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Mine did this and it turned out to be the viscous fan clutch engaging disengaging but mine was a NA changed the fan unit and it went away

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Mine did this and it turned out to be the viscous fan clutch engaging disengaging but mine was a NA changed the fan unit and it went away

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  • 4 weeks later...

Ok so I have had EVERYTHING checked out and the only thing we could find is a front caliper slightly rubbing, had it all taken off fully freed and cleaned and the whistling is still there. Handbrake etc all fans belts all fine. The mechanic says he thinks its the non standard pads I have (CW), I have standard new genuine discs, new lines etc. I cant remember whether the whistling started when I put the CW pads in. Is anyone else running these and are you getting any whistle etc? I still have the old genuine pads so might swap them out but I was told CWs are better in a JSpec? Because of all the issues and the rebuild, underbody restore etc etc over the last three years the car has done maybe 7-800 miles in the whole time I've owned it so the pads cant be worn in any way and I do notice my discs are insanely shiny after even a tiny journey they are like mirrors. Are the CW pads just a bit too 'grabby'?

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"Whistle" and all sounds are hard to assess on a forum. I would never describe a brake noise as a whistle, normally it's a squeal/scrape noise?

 

Is it worse windows up/down.......can someone hear it from outside as you drive by or alongside you on a bike (or can you hear it more driving alongside a wall etc) Does it literally disappear at 20mph and come back at 15mph if you cycle up and down. Does it do the same it locked in '1' on the autobox or if in "D"/"2".

 

At idle put your head by the spare wheel (fuel pump noise)

 

Turn off the stereo completely does it stop.

 

You need to try and narrow down on the circumstances and location if at all possible and the above will help to a degree.............help us to help you.

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It is more of a squeal really, ok to isolate it yes it is louder with windows open, yes someone can hear it outside, yes it comes back at 15 from higher speeds and yes there is NO sound at idle or when the vehicle isnt moving. It does happen when the vehicle is moving either in gear or out at any speed under 15mph. No fans are making a sound, no belts, nothing under the bonnet makes any sound at all I can hear. The brakes can go from rusty to factory shiny within a mile so I am guessing they're rubbing?

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You could check the pads for the backing plates, stock pads have a clipped on shim think it might be two, one solid sheet and one with slots in? The CW pads might not have these fitted and so may drag a smidge.......check for the tiny wire 'wishbones' on the pad holes toothese help to hold the pads off......

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