Technical 53 Chevy - Beeping Noise when Stopping

He can't even find someone to help him bleed his brakes, I can hardly imagine him finding someone to sit in the engine compartment with a can of WD-40 while he drives around with no hood and starts and stops trying to find a vacuum leak. Lookin forward to the thread on it though if it happens.

 

No vacuum wipers any more (mine is chopped so all the wiper stuff is out).

 

I live in the city of San diego now close to a couple of friends that can definitely help me bleed brakes now. I couldn't bribe them to drive 45 min north those other times earlier in the year. I don't want to take the hood off though!

 

Engine vacuum is normally highest when decelerating and at idle, both conditions of which occur when you're slowing to a stop..

 

Thanks that is interesting. I don't have too many vacuum lines to check so I'm thinking it shouldn't be too hard. I have vacuum for the TH350 trans, the distributor advance and the PCV. Those are the only lines.

Would you have a rough guess which one it would be based on the symptom?

 

No idea which it might be. And it may be none of them, but something completely different, just telling you what I'd check.

 

Random short-term tinnitus?

Does the sound seem to be related to ambient or engine temperatures? Depending on how your gas tank is vented, sometimes you might here a faint beeping or whistling from the filler cap. Stopping the car sloshes the fuel around a bit which may aggravate the condition. Does a low fuel condition or full tank change the sound? Do you have an electric fuel pump?

 

I am with ebbspeed.

Ben

 

That is so interesting! I can't remember the times I've heard it and haven't heard it. I seem to hear it consistently now.

It has an electric fuel pump and a non-vented cap. It has a vent going to the upper rear wheel well. The tank is a custom built tank that was already in the car and I approximate it at 15-16 gallon tank. Hmmmm.

 

Are you stopping randomly? Could it be the people behind you?


I know I'm not helping, but at least your question got a bump....

 

Haha thanks. It is coming from my car and I've checked. A full stop at slow speed 5-7 mph I don't hear it but anything around 10mph and up I do.

 

Power Brakes?? Leaky booster?

 

Manual brakes with no booster.

 

I had the exact symptom/noise with my TH350..........turned out to be low on fluid. Added trans fluid and noise went away....I'm just saying

 

Thanks I thought it would probably be transmission related. I will recheck the fluid level again. I also changed the ATF fluid but can't remember if it made the noise before or after.

 

Make sure the vent hose isn't plugged or kinked someplace where it's hard to see. Since it seems that you can create the noise at will, try making a few stops with the gas cap loosened up enough to definitely vent the tank there. Do you get any sense of where the noise is coming from on the car?

 

Thanks for the suggestion. It's hard to tell where it's coming from, the beep is faint and I have a lopey cam with glass pack exhaust. I remember it being louder 4 months ago when I had last driven it (before Saturday).

 

maybe you could turn the radio up;

 

Haha I dont have a radio in it and if I did I won't hear it without it being at deafening levels due to the motor/exhaust being loud.

 

The old Slim Jims were known for the valve body buzz thing when fluid was low, that's why I brought up the possibility. Too much fluid could do it, if it is foaming up.

 

Thanks I will take a careful look at the level. Could one issue be perhaps a wrong dipstick tube? I'm not saying I have the wrong one but with so many other interesting mysteries with the car (decisions made by the previous owner) I can't rule anything out.

 

I drove some more today. I basically took the transmission filler tube out to fix a hole (it had a second hole I didn't know about, I had already fixed the first) and it lost a bit of fluid. I put the filler tube back in but it doesn't push all the way down because of the firewall, etc however it is only off by 1/8th max and still seals. Nonetheless after driving for a bit of time, I filled it back up with transmission fluid and I made sure the level was right in the middle of the range when HOT so as to not overfill (with the 1/8th inch offset).

I noticed the beeping noise doesn't happen unless I've been driving the car for maybe 10-15 minutes. I also heard it happen when the engine rpm changed just slightly right as the trans shifted down to 1st. It doesn't always happen when I reach the full stop but it happens at or close to that point.

Here is a youtube video (Ignore all the other rattling, chirping etc...). You can hear the beep I'm talking about at 8 seconds in.



What should I do next to diagnose this further? I'm seems like it's a transmission related thing.

Earlier in the year I made a bracket to hold the filler tube and filled the hole in the tube (it was shredded from the old valve cover because the previous owner never secured it), changed the fluid and filter, changed the pan (the old one was trashed) and gasket, replaced the filler tube seal, replaced the seal for the shifter lever, and I also changed the rooster comb as the old one was a little bent for some unknown reason. Could I have messed something up in that work?

I wonder if I should replace the vacuum line for the trans at a minimum? It felt a little old when I checked yesterday but I can't say it has a leak. The trans feels like it's shifting nicely.

 

Just replace all your vacuum lines, they don't cost much, the trans line is the only difficult one to get to.

That sounds like a brake noise to me.

 

That isn't a beep. Horns beep. Check your U-joints. Don't just look at them, pull the shaft out and rotate each joint and see if one isn't binding.

 

That sounds like a brake drum or shoe that has a bit of glaze on it. Not really a beep, but more a high pitched squeal. Might take the drums off and lightly sand them and the shoes a bit and see if it goes away.

 

Thanks. I will replace the vacuum lines. The PCV one is pretty new and was replaced in June. I'll replace the carb to dist. advance line and the trans one just to rule that out.

The funny thing is sometimes that noise will come in right as I've already reached the complete full stop, other times right close to reaching the stop itself. One time I heard it almost the same time there was a slight RPM change in the engine as the trans shifted to 1st. It takes 10-15 min of driving to hear it.

The rear shoes were replaced in June and I greased the tabs on the backing plate. The only thing I do remember is that the grooves were worn from the rear end being so old (it's an original 55' rear end). I didn't change the drums and I didn't sand them.

I'll start with the vacuum lines, then pull the shaft out to check the u-joints. Getting the rear wheels off (and those fender skirts) is such a pain due to the width of the 55' rear end in a 53' and the fact it's on lowering blocks, bags, etc. I'll pull the wheels off after I have a chance to check the other two things.

 

Sure sounds like brakes

 

Beeping noise when stopping. Hmmmmmnnnnnn I had that problem on my bike in Oakland once, cost me a nigh in jail, but that dumbass behind me had it coming.

 

I think you've got a warped rotor or at least a high spot in the rotor, could also be pad chatter, or worn ungreased brake hardware not letting the pad back off the rotor, betting on the outboard side.

I suggest taking both wheels off, check the disc brake squealers first, metal clips on the side of the pads to be sure they are not contacting the rotor.
The caliper has 2 bolts holding it to the abutment (bracket), remove 1 bolt and loosen the other, this will let the caliper rotate but not be removed. Pull out your brake pads and give them a light swipe with sand paper (hold the paper on smooth concrete and go back and forth a couple times) buy a brake hardware kit, the clips shown in the article (pic4) replace the clips and use proper grease for disc brakes, deburr the pads (pic 5).

If the pads are the same inside and outside, you can swap them - the inner pads wear faster on GM calipers. Rotate the caliper back down and tighten up the bolts.

Now you can remove the caliper, hang it from a coat hanger to prevent stretching the hose. Once the caliper is removed pull your rotors off and look for dark burnt spots or high shiny spots. If you find the you have warped rotors, or high spots. Your choice to replace them or proceed, use some sandpaper and score the rotors from center out, your making light scratches perpendicular to the pad travel surface, tap the rotors lightly on a piece of cardboard on concrete to get the rust out of the rotor vanes. Clean both rotors with brake clean, reinstall rotos, reinstall calipers. Take the car out and do a couple panic stops from 30 mph. This will bed the brakes pads back in, not really a big deal on stock replacement stuff though.

You can go thru all this, or just go do a half dozen hard stops from 50mph and see if the warp, high spot in the rotor, pad chatter figures itself out.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/a3092/4317748/

 

Thanks for your help. The front brakes are a big brake disk kit for the Mustang II. They have less than 75 miles between yesterday's drive and the drive two weeks ago. Brand new stuff. The pads came from NAPA and the calipers came from Napa. When I installed the kit, I greased everything super well, spun the rotors and made sure no wobbles or anything funny going on. I had to modify the caliper brackets to get rid of a funny gap but everything sits nice and parallel after that. The metal squeal tabs are nowhere near touching the rotors.

I think I remember hearing that noise when I had the pinto brakes on the front with the smaller rotors and calipers, etc. but so much has gone on in the past few months I can't be 100 percent sure of that.

In June, I changed the rear wheel cylinders, pads, and springs and made sure to lube everything. I did not change the drums and did not sand them. The backing plate tabs are grooved from being so old, not sure that is causing the noise.

The funny thing is the noise is always the same in duration. It's not as random, it's always when slowing down and the car is moving at or below 15mph. I never hear the beep at higher speeds. I need some speed prior to stopping to make the noise appear, and it took 10-15 min of driving for it to show up yesterday. I know brake performance will change as things heat up but it's not a random squeal that happens any time I press the brake pedal. It only happens when slowing down and getting near a stopping point and almost when I notice the transmission shift from 2nd to 1st. The transmission shifts very smooth so it's hard to tell when it changed gears, but I can hear a slight rpm change in the engine and in one instance yesterday that's when I recall hearing the noise. Other times I reach a full stop and it makes the squeal once I'm fully stopped.

I'm wondering if I can diagnose this further by driving some more and doing a couple of things such as switching from Drive to Neutral at 25mph and hitting the brakes and seeing if the noise is still there. Also maybe putting it in 2nd or 3rd gear and slowing down and seeing if the noise is still there.. Also maybe putting it in Drive and then Neutral and finding a really quiet street and slowing down from 20mph without touching the brakes.