Why is my front left brake creaking/groaning when stopping?

I have a 2012 Rav4 and I have been hearing a creaking/groaning sound coming from the front left brake when I apply it lightly. It gets worse as it heats up. It sounds exactly like the brake in this youtube video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfmlgYaI84k

I have taken it to the Toyota dealership and have gone on a road test with the shop foreman. He said that it was either a warped rotor or a bad caliper.

I took it into the shop and they only checked the rotor and serviced the brakes. They didn't inspect the caliper. The rotor was true. Then they road tested it again and still heard the noise. They are telling me that it is a bad caliper and that I need to replace it (expensive if they do it). I don't want to pay a lot of money to replace the caliper if I don't need to and if it won't definitely fix the problem.

Is there anything I can do myself to try to fix it? The youtube comments are saying that it might be the wheel hub or u-joint or caliper slide pins.

That noise does not sound like anything that would be caused by a bad brake caliper, a bad u-joint (since your Rav4 doesn't have u joints in the front), or a bad hub. I'd be more inclined to think the issue is a loose brake pad or a pad with a loose shim on it. I'd suggest carefully inspecting the anti-rattle clips to make sure they are correctly installed and not worn out. You could get a brake hardware kit with new anti-rattle clips and slide pins with boots and be done with it.

Since you don't mention a pulsation in the brake pedal or steering wheel I doubt the issue is with the rotor either, but if there was a piece of rust or dirt stuck between the rotor and the hub it could maybe cause a noise like that under light braking, but under heavy braking you'd have a nasty pulsation/vibration in the brake pedal and/or steering wheel.

-Rod

Thanks for the reply. I will look into getting a hardware kit.

That noise does not sound like anything that would be caused by a bad brake caliper, a bad u-joint (since your Rav4 doesn't have u joints in the front), or a bad hub. I'd be more inclined to think the issue is a loose brake pad or a pad with a loose shim on it. I'd suggest carefully inspecting the anti-rattle clips to make sure they are correctly installed and not worn out. You could get a brake hardware kit with new anti-rattle clips and slide pins with boots and be done with it.

Since you don't mention a pulsation in the brake pedal or steering wheel I doubt the issue is with the rotor either, but if there was a piece of rust or dirt stuck between the rotor and the hub it could maybe cause a noise like that under light braking, but under heavy braking you'd have a nasty pulsation/vibration in the brake pedal and/or steering wheel.

-Rod

Thanks for the thoughts. You were right.

I got it fixed.

I took it to a different mechanic instead of the Toyota dealership. He said that everything seemed fine (slide pins, anti-rattle clips on pads, etc...) but he made sure that the back plate wasn't rattling and re-lubed everything for me. He said that one of the brake pads had a shiny spot on the end where it sits against the caliper. So it might have been rubbing where it shouldn't have been. After he lubed it up properly the noise disappeared.

The Toyota dealership just wanted to replace the caliper and rip me off out of ~$500 when it just needed a simple fix. I guess I'll never go back there.

I'm glad to hear you got the issue resolved. If the noise comes back in the near future you might consider having the mechanic completely clean the brake pad backing surface and then apply CRC Disc Brake Quiet to the pad. This material sets up to almost like a silicone caulking consistency and will dampen the noise better and remain where it's applied longer than using brake grease.

-Rod

I'm glad to hear you got the issue resolved. If the noise comes back in the near future you might consider having the mechanic completely clean the brake pad backing surface and then apply CRC Disc Brake Quiet to the pad. This material sets up to almost like a silicone caulking consistency and will dampen the noise better and remain where it's applied longer than using brake grease.

-Rod

That sounds like some very handy stuff. Thanks for the info.