I could not get the Search function to cooperate and apologize for posting yet another thread on this. I know I have seen this very topic discussed in the past.

My '02 S2000 has recently developed a click sound when I come to a stop. The more forceful the stop, the louder the click. It is a single click that seems to come from under and probably toward the rear of the car. I first noticed the click about 2-3 days ago and it seems to have become slightly more pronounced since then.

This is not the more commonly-heard click sound from the brake pads when driving the car after it has sat in the wet for a while. I've always had that one and understand that it's normal.

I should mention that my car has 82,000 miles and is on the original brake pads, which have about 4mm of material remaining. It's about time for them to be replaced -- would dying brake pads cause a click? I doubt it but figure I'd ask anyway. The click I have sounds like it's coming from the suspension somewhere.

I am a complete dumbo when it comes to cars so any advice is much appreciated. Thanks.

 

Should also add that the car is 100% stock and no work has been done on the suspension recently. Last thing I had done was an alignment job and that was about 15k miles ago.

 

I had aftermarket valve stems on my wheels, well the nut on the back of the valve stem came off and would make a clicking noise at the start and stop of the wheel rotation.

 

Just to be on the safe side, at your mileage, have you ever had the torque checked on the rear hub nuts?
A single click can be heard when taking off (with a loose hub nut). This is when the axle is driving the wheels. It's quite conceiveable that the opposite is true - like when the wheels drive the axles upon the application of the brakes.

 

This is interesting. I have never checked the rear hub nuts. In fact, I must admit that I don't even know which nuts I ought to be checking. I will have to ask someone who knows more than I do (which is just about everyone).

Also, when I say the click only occurs when stopping, that is the most audible click and the only one that I can be 100% certain about. But here's the thing...

This morning, I had my car parked on my driveway, which has a ~20 degree incline. I put the car in 1st gear and started driving it up the driveway. At the moment the car began moving, I think I heard a faint click or two. It was so faint and unexpected that I wasn't sure I really heard it and thus didn't mention it.

When I stopped moving up the driveway, I pushed in the clutch and the car rolled back a tiny bit. When it rolled back, I believe I also heard a very faint click. It was somewhere between a click and a creaking sound.

Does that sound consistent with what you're suspecting?

Summary: The most audible click is when I stop, but I think I've also heard it when moving forward and rolling back. The click has become more frequent over the last few days. Hub nuts have never been checked.

 

I checked my valve stems and they look okay (at least to my inexperienced eye). Thanks for suggesting that, though, at least I can check that off the list of potential culprits.

 

Sound is so hard to convey in words. The loose hub nut thing is usually not associated with a creaking noise. Also, Honda has a TSB for this loose hub nut thing. They've even increased the torque from 181 to 220. You will find these nuts if you pry off the center caps of the rear wheels. You'll see a giant 36mm nut in the center of the axle. The indentation on the nut has to be "undented", the nut removed, the threads greased and the nut put back on with the new torque and a new dent pounded back in to hold the nut in place.
Don't do this unless you can be sure that's what it is.
The noise you hear could also be the pads shifting inside the calipers.

 

Thanks xviper... I'll observe carefully over the next few days and see what happens. I'll post back here if I observe anything noteworthy. Otherwise, I'll try to find someone less ignorant to have a look at it. Thanks for taking the time to read and giving this a shot, it's much appreciated.

 

Ok, quick update...

Just had the local dealer look at the car. They replaced the hub nuts and made sure they were torqued to 220 ft-lbs.

They also found a loose motor mount (probably thanks to the crap shop that did my clutch job) and fixed that.

But they couldn't find the source of the click from the rear. It remains a quick 1-2 clicks as I'm coming to a stop. Interestingly, the click only seems to occur when I stop slowly and gently; it does not happen if I stop hard and abruptly.

Does anyone know if brake pads that are wearing thin, or perhaps bad shocks, can result in a click when stopping?

 

Did you try putting in new rear pads? With 4mm showing (inside/outside ???), the inside pads are probably more worn...