S2 BRAKE DISCS - ANNOYING CLACKING SOUNDS

S2 BRAKE DISCS - ANNOYING CLACKING SOUNDS

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ptc

Original Poster:

80 posts

278 months

Thursday 18th April 2002
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According to H R Owen the S1 111S discs are no longer available, something they told me on my 3rd visit to the garage to get the bloody annoying clacking sound from the front brakes sorted out, as they had fitted the drilled discs from the S2 instead, again only found out on the 3rd visit. Now apparently, and I am hoping someone will correct me if I am wrong/being b**l s****ed, but it is the chamfers catching on the pads that causes the clacking sound, which will go when the brakes are applied. Fine if you are slowing down but not the most practical way of getting rid of the noise a 100% of the time.

Have any other S2 owners had similar problems and if so has this gone as the brakes/pads have bedded down over time. The problem seems to be serious enough for Lotus to visit H R Owen to talk through customer complaints.

Anyone else’s view would be welcome as to solving the problem, e.g. after market front discs or further info on the problem.

edgley

24 posts

272 months

Friday 19th April 2002
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I read somewhere that once the pad dust has settled in the holes, the noise will drecrease, or even go away.

adrianr

822 posts

291 months

Friday 19th April 2002
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I have an S1 on the original MMCs, I only get very light clacking occasionally when coasting to a stop.

I was told there were some little sticky rubber pads you could put on the caliper where the bottom edge of the brake pad sits to reduce this, but I never bothered.

Plain disks will probably help too - the cross drillings are only cosmetic anyway and can even cause premature cracking of the disk.

AdrianR

mrdemon

21,146 posts

272 months

Friday 19th April 2002
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hi

its the drilled holes picking up the pads

either let the holes fill up with dust not good imo

or buy lotus pad buffers at ten quid

job sorted

david

ptc

Original Poster:

80 posts

278 months

Friday 19th April 2002
quotequote all
They have tried the pads, worked for a short time but then the noise came back even worse than before, especially when trundling around town in traffic after a long run.

Any S2 owners experiencing the same problem?

PC

mrdemon

21,146 posts

272 months

Friday 19th April 2002
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mine did do it i have 2 sets of pad buffers top and bottom and now no noise at all.
thats with pagid pads

David

Adrian G

6 posts

271 months

Friday 19th April 2002
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My S2 did it when new, and I don't have drilled discs. So holes make no difference!
On its first 1000 mile service I told HR Owen (Ealing) about it, and they stopped it. They didn't tell me how, but were aware of the fault, from other customers. The brakes made an audible grinding sound when applied after that visit. Could they have changed the pads - I just don't know?
They managed to start up a rattle though, I think from the under tray (but that is another story).
I've now done 5500 miles and a new squeaking sound has started on the front brakes when moving slowly, as if they are binding slightly.
These cars will never be silent!!!!!Adrian G.

Felix1

12 posts

276 months

Sunday 21st April 2002
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Ptc but in another guise, has anyone spoken to Lotus about this. Have yet to speak to H R Owen re Thursday just gone when they had their engineers down at the St Albans site, I assume to talk about this and any other inherent probs with the S2 Liz.

Went for a spin today with my next door neighbours Ducatti 748 following me to help 'bed his new bike down'. Now normally this clacking sound comes after the pads and discs have warmed up, in this case it started from the off. Still bloody annoying if not down right distracting, they tried the pads last time, I may try and change the pads themselves again for pagids, currently EBS green stuffs, but still p*ss poor service when you think that after 3 visits they admit a problem with these dics when the damn things weren't even designed for the 111S.

An alternative maybe afermarket discs of some sort, which leads as always to the customer having to sort the problem out as the servicing department in question could not give two hoots about customer care and service and would rather rely on customer apathy in the hope he/she will get sick to death of getting no where and give up.

My next e-mails will be going to the dealership in question to see if(?) the Lotus chaps did turn up and indeed if there is a solution to the problem. As I can realistically expect little postive comment back by way of resolving the issue (although I would dearly loved to be proved wrong if only to restore a little faith in the company in question) I'll try Lotus directly.

The lLast thing they could do with is a lot of unhappy Americans coming back to them with the same problem should they launch a US spec S2.

Will keep you posted as they say!

PC

PC

PC

Arno

349 posts

285 months

Monday 22nd April 2002
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quote:
as they had fitted the drilled discs from the S2 instead, again only found out on the 3rd visit.


That would be a good trick!

S2 discs don't fit on an S1! (unless the S1 is modified seriously)

They are the same diameter, but the S2 uses a 4x100 bolt pattern (S1 uses 4x96.5 AFAIK) and the S2 hub offsets are different.

The pads are identical though and any new pads bought for an S1 (obviously not for the MMC's) get the S2 pads.

Bye, Arno.

ptc

Original Poster:

80 posts

278 months

Monday 22nd April 2002
quotequote all
H R Owen told me they were S2 discs!? as they had stoped making the 111S discs!

Not been a mechanic of any sort the fit does not mean much to me, does that mean tha they would or would not fit properly?

Arno

349 posts

285 months

Tuesday 23rd April 2002
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quote:
Not been a mechanic of any sort the fit does not mean much to me, does that mean tha they would or would not fit properly?


Real S2 discs won't fit an S1. Simply not going to fit

Not sure what they are getting at..

It's easy to spot the difference if you look at an S2 and an S1's brakes next to each other. Especially take note of the difference in the amount that the center of the brake disc/hub extends outward between both cars.

Bye, Arno.

ptc

Original Poster:

80 posts

278 months

Tuesday 23rd April 2002
quotequote all
quote:

My next e-mails will be going to the dealership in question to see if(?) the Lotus chaps did turn up and indeed if there is a solution to the problem. As I can realistically expect little postive comment back by way of resolving the issue (although I would dearly loved to be proved wrong if only to restore a little faith in the company in question) I'll try Lotus directly.




Arno thanks for the reply Techical Services at Lotus said the same thing with regard to S2 discs fitting on the S1. It appears the company in question is leading me a merry dance as 111S discs are readily available:
"The 111S was fitted with the cross drilled dics, part number A111J0141F, which are readily available. These offer a marginal weight and cooling benefit but will generally be noisier than the solid discs. A
'clacking' sound which disappears with light brake pedal pressure may be due to the pads moving in the calipers (buffers are worn), loss of anti-rattle
spring plate tension, or the pins moving in the caliper holes. Some noise is normal, and HR Owen will be able to judge if yours is particularly noisey. Lockwiring the pad retaining pins together may help."

The above came from Lotus directly, none of which was relayed to me at any of the 3 visits made.

I now await the dealerships response as Lotus will speak to them directly.

PC

ptc

Original Poster:

80 posts

278 months

Wednesday 24th April 2002
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With Lotus's intervention H R Owen are picking the car up next week and taking it back to their North Acton Service Depo.

Hopefully this will rectify the problem once and for all.

It does prove however that with a bit of perseverance and help from Lotus a dealership will sit up and take notice!

PC

Felix1

12 posts

276 months

Tuesday 7th May 2002
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Well after much debate with H R Owen on Friday I have finally managed to get my car back. The fact that it had to go to their main service area in North Acton to have rectified what is a simple problem of seating pads properly with buffers says a lot about the ability and service provided by the staff at St Alban's. This lack of professionalism was compounded after having inspected the car throughly on Monday to find a M5 bolt missing from the rear under tray i.e. on of the nuts that holds it on and the one of the main allen key bolts half undone, a throw back to the service done on the car by the later at the outside of this somewhat protracted saga.

The moral of the tale, get the job done properly first time and everyone is happy.

PC

Finchey

21 posts

271 months

Wednesday 8th May 2002
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Took delivery of S2 with only 3 cross drilled discs!! At 1000 mile service, NSR fitted to match. Had complained of squeal. HR Owen, supplying dealer, took 2 days to complete as they had forgotten to order missing disc. Car returned with clacking as well as original squeal. Lotus engineer suggested poor running in off brakes responsible. Not impressed by HR Owen or engineers comment, took car to Wilsons. They stripped brakes, filed away caliper paint and refitted pads with copper slip. Now covered over 3500 miles and brakes are silent and very efficient. Yippee !!