I am trying to fix a brake clunk on a 97 cutlass supreme. The brakes clunk while going forward but not in reverse. And it is a constant clunk whenever the brakes are applied, the speed does not matter. The harder the brakes are applied the louder the clunk is. I have changed the pads and rotor twice and the caliper once. It was making the clunk noise before I started changing any of the brake parks. Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

Brian

 

Are you sure it is the brakes making the noise and not some other front end or suspension part moving/shifting when the brakes are applied?

 

I would go back and look at the brake mountings and suspension to see if any of it was worn that was allowing for the noise. Are you sure that the noise is from the front or the back?

 

Bad CV joint or worn splines in hub? Although if that was the case I would have thought you would get the clunk when starting off forward again.

 

It DOES sound like a CV joint...

What you want to do is jack up that corner and move things around to find whatever is loose.

To check the axle, it has to be in neutral so make sure you've got jackstands under the car.

It also helps sometimes to leave the car in park and the wheel on it to check the CV's because the wheel and tire give you a lot of leverage to turn it. I usually go straight for the axle, and see if I can feel any play (it doesn't take much)

Be alert to any growling, or roughness as the axle is rotated - a partly gone CV is like any other bearing, just bigger.

I'd also advise getting under it far enough to inspect the engine and transmission or transaxle mounts (which might require jacking the engine and trans themselves slightly) to see if any of them have seperated

BALL JOINTS can do this, and so can front suspension mounts with bad welds to the frame, especially on an A-Frame front suspension.

If it isn't a CV, something serious is shifting under load.

You can also have someone drive it slowly while trying the brakes in a level parking lot while you walk alongside listening to it and observing. That's a good way to pinpoint which side it's on and roughly where.

Unusual for an Oldsmobile - they're built like sherman tanks from my experience