issues with squealing front brakes again

[dave feola]

hey folks, well i 've got that horrible squealing sound from brakes all the time. got 81,000 on 02 st, had this issue before took it back to dealer 3 times before theyectified it. had rotors and pads put on last week, took it back yo dealer yest. checked everyhting out, said it could be from salt from snow storm ?,never heard of that. this is really frustrating and i'm not paying the bill until it's fixed any info would be helful,it seems to happem more when coming to a slow stop,not much pressure on braked pedal, when i hit the brake pedal for a sudden stop, no noise ?

 

[bud vanhouten]

i ride a motorcycle, and "squeeky" brakes are a sort of common problem with many bikes. i've never had that problem with mine, but on a couple motorcycle forums, it was recommended to take the pads and bevel the edges just a little. all that did this mod said it worked.

good luck, i know that noise can be sort of embarrassing at times.

dutch

 

[Kirk Risseler]

All you need is that orange stuff on the back of the brake pads. Put a good amount on and let it dry good before you re-install them.

That will take care of it.

 

[Todd Z]

Did they also replace the squeal clips and apply the correct backing anti-squeal...



The OEM pads have shims on the back of the pad.... The dealer never uses the anti squeal...



Todd Z

 

[Richard L]

The previous replies have hit the nail on the head. The cause for disk brake squeal is vibration of the brake pads against various parts of the brake caliper. The vibration starts with slight imperfections in the surface of the rotor and get the pad shiaking at a high frequency. The squeal comes from metal to metal contack between the brake pads and the caliper in a "stick and slip" pattern repeated very rapidly. To stop it you must stop the sticking or the slipping between the two metal surfaces.



Better quality brake pads will come with stick on shims that are applied to the back of the pads. They are a softer, metal like aluminum which dampens the harmonic of contact between the pad and the caliper pistons or caliper body. That is what the orange or blue brake anti-squeal compounds do. They literally glue the pad to the piston to prevent excessive vibrations.



The other thing you should do is to insure that the little ears or tabs that stick out of the brake pads are lubed where they contact the slides on the caliper body or caliper mounting frame. Usually these tabs ride on a ledge on the caliper or mounting frame to keep the pads from falling out and keep them aligned in the caliper. The need to be able to slide back and forth as the brakes are applied and released but if the sliding surfaces are dry (not lubed) you will get metal to metal contact squeal.



Lastly, as previously stated, it is a good idea to slightly bevel the front and rear edges of the brake pad's friction material. This prevents the edge of the pad from vibrating in harmony with the imperfections in the rotor and setting up another source of vabration and possibly squealing. Getting your rotors turned and trued also helps prevent the vibrations that lead to squeal, but the newer rotors do not have as much meat on them and often cannot be turned more than once if even that..



I have never done a brake job that resulted in squealing brakes because I insure all the above steps are done at each brake job.



...Richard

 

[scott degroot]

Professionally speaking I agree and disagree with Richard L's post.



Lubing the ears of the pads where they ride in the caliper adaptor is a sure recipie for abnormal brake wear. It sounds like a good idea, put lube there so the pad will slide, while this may work for a while what eventually happens is brake dust and dirt attracts itself to this lubed area like flies on you know what. It builds up and eventually will start to cause the pad to begin to hang. Also if this was a critical area you would think that this would come lubed from the factory...it doesn't and I have never seen ANY new car that does. Most caliper adaptors today have thin metal shims that go between the pad and the adaptor to provide the pad a smooth slick surface to slide on, these should be replaced every brake job and are overlooked by almost all technicians unless they are damaged.



Now lubing the pad where it contacts the actual caliper itself is a good idea, but remember that more is not always better. There are alot of products out there but a good moly paste is about the best you are gonna find. The best route is usually the anti squeal shims that are on the pad. Almost all vehicles new from the dealer use this now and quality replacement pads will come with them.



ANother point often overlooked is to make sure that where the pads contact the caliper is clean, often there is left over whatever stuck on these areas and is never cleaned off, this can lead to excessive noise also.



Last but not least is rotor prep, a good surface is a must for proper and quiet brake operation. Just because the rotors were resurfaced doesn't mean all is good. A poor finish even though it may be true will lead to noise everytime.

 

[Dan Chatten]

My 02 had that problem - brakes squeal and dust coming off like crazy. I know that some my poo-poo this, but I had my last brake service at Sears. I'm 15K into the brake job and I have never had a squeal or do I ever see dust. I had my local mechanic check the brakes during my last service, full tune, and he said the brakes are like new. This is after 3 brake jobs in < 70K. I don't know what parts sears uses, but I would recommend them in a heartbeat.

 

[Richard L]

DanC,

The dust comes from softer brake pads. The softer pads will generally provide smoother stops but wear faster as evidenced by the vast amount of brake dust on the wheels. Harder pads will wear longer and give better braking when hot or during performance driving. They do tend to wear longer but under extreme braking, they will throw off a lot of dust as well. The harder brake material sometimes do not give maximum braking effort until they are heated up a and the pedal feel may be noticably harder.



A friend of mine had a Mazda that went through OEM brake pads every 15K-18K miles and squealed all the time. He eventually went to Pep Boys (Not my recommendation) and had them do the brakes. The brake job was cheaper, and lasted over 36K miles and he never hear a peep out of the brakes again.



I don't think Sears has a corner on good brake jobs. You probably got a good mechanic and he did a good job. I don't say that as an endorsement or a negative against Sears, but it's just the luck of the draw.



I firmly DO NOT recommend ever taking your vehicle to Just-Brakes, they have been shown to be crooks who want your to replace all your brake hardware and perhaps your master cylinder with every brake job. And they had the nerve to defend that position when interviewed on national TV a few years back. There whole purpose for being in business was to gouge customers for as much money as they could squeeze out of them, especially women, who they implied that they could not allow the car back on the road because the brakes were so bad, etc. Of course I heard a Firestone dealer do that too, and the guy just called a tow truck to tow his car to another shop to get the brakes fixed.



...Rich

 

[David Hiatt]

Dan C,



They probably used a ceramic pad, I put a set on my 02. They are nice cuz there is very lil to no dust and they are much quieter the a semi-metallic pad.

 

[scott degroot]

I didn't know Sears was still allowed to do anything other than tires and batteries. I remember in the mid 90's they got into alot of trouble for shady business tactics...or was that only in So CAL