For about a week, I've noticed my front right wheel is making a faint squealing sound as I pull away and reach speeds up 50 mph. Can hear it with the window down, but not much when up. It goes off and on and changes from high to low pitches. Seems to be getting more constant each day. Also noticed when I turn to the left, it fades a little. And when I hit the brakes harder, it changes tone or fades a little. Otherwise it's always making the noise as I cruise or accelerate. Doing some general searching, some possibilities could be a worn brake pad, brake dust deflector is bent, or a bad bearing. I honestly have no idea. I've never had a wheel make noise when I was not on the brakes. So I'm thinking it's likely not the pad. And at 37k easy miles with nearly all manual downshifting to a stop, I can't think the pad would be worn on one side already. But I suppose it's still in the cards. Before I take it in, any insight on what may be causing the noise? It almost has an electric sound to it, but does sound like a metal squeal.
Thank you.

 

Hey Fizz,
I once had a car that I let the pads get real bad and there is a pin that squeals exactly how you mentioned, i.e.. turns, running straight, ect. I'm thinking its that pin and it's indicating that its time to change your pads. You probably should get it inspected and I'm pretty sure that's what it is. Wishing you the best.

 

Thanks for the info! If it is the pads, isn't that a bit soon? I guess it's different for all cars. Trouble here now is the lease is up in three weeks! lol

 

Probably the brake pad wear sensor doing its job, letting you know it’s time to replace the pads, but…
I had been getting a metal scraping noise, more pronounced when turning (I forget which direction) and it seemed to be coming from the left front wheel. Finally got around to putting the car up on my QuickJacks a couple weeks ago, and found (after a bit of careful checking) that the lower rear corner of the brake dust shield was just barely touching the rotor at one point of the rotation. Checked the other wheel and saw there was a 1/4” gap between the shield and rotor at that point. So grabbed a pliers and bent the shield back a bit. No more scraping!

 

Thank you for adding your story. The brake dust shield was one thing that came up on my search. But I have a bad feeling it is the pad being worn. Either way, I will check out both possibilities! Thanks again for sharing.

 

If your maintenance was performed at a Lexus dealer, you may find the brake pad thickness documented on your previous maintenance invoice or multi-point inspection report.

I have performed many IS350 brake replacements @ 20,000 miles, few owners make it to 37K.