EastCoastES

My brakes squeek when I press on them lightly. The pads are only about 5 months old, so I know its not that. What is causing the squeeking and is there a DIY fix.

zexen

the brake pads may not be touching all the way, causing bad friction, and squeaks. the brake lines may contribute, but i doubt it. check the rotors. there may be some dust, etc. on it.

meZoom!

there are so many things that cause brake squeal, its unbelievable what people come up with. i was looking for this one particular thread/discussion we had several months ago that was really good but couldnt find it. try doing a search for "brake squeal" and that should yield you many threads relevant to this.

themasta3

i'm having the same problem w/ my 92' ES, but it has seemed to have gotten worse over the course of 6 months. i had my car checked and the mechanic said i still had 50%-60% left on my pads, so i know it's not them. he said that my ROTORS were actually glazed over, and that was what was causing the squeaking. he said he could clean them for $50 a pair, but i declined, cuz im gonna get some new Brembo cross-drilled rotos once winter is over and spring comes along. i've got 18's on my car, so the small stock rotors look bad with such big rims.

i'm also thinking about spray painting my calipers either black or red. anybody got any suggestions on how to do this manually? i really don't wanna have to pay someone to do this seemingly simple painting mod.


lates

Curtis

steviej

iTrader: (1)

since the elimination of asbestos in brake pad manufacturing, there have been many substitutes. One popular type used widely today is "metalic". These can give off a squeal when the pedal is lightly depressed and is gone when full pressure is applied to the brakes. This could be also be due to slightly loose pads. Brake pads are only held on by spring clip tension.

When new pads are put on, there is a goop (I have always seen blue) that is applied to the pad guides to help reduce vibration. It may be that this is dried up or gone. Again, a little disassembly is needed to re-goop the parts.

Rotor glazing will contribute to some noise.
Brake cleaning costs, cause the wheels gotta come off, the calipers have to be removed and the surface of the rotors are usually mechanically sanded to re-produce a unidirectional surface.

The Brembos should elimenate the noise. post some feedback in the spring.