I have developed a squeak when I apply the breaks. The noise appears to be coming from the rear brake on the drivers side. I used brake cleaner and did manage to dislodge some sand-like particles. However the next day squeak is back--just not as much. Should I try more brake cleaner? Try something else? Got new tires in Feb and was told at that time the brakes were in good condition and about 75-80% wear left. I am sure I have disk brakes on front and back (says so in owner's manual).
I'm in the same boat. While I replaced my wheel bearing, I also checked all my brake pads and rotators because I was getting a lot of squeaking and a quiet screech while coasting to a stop. All the pads were fine ... I'll need rotators (quite rusty) with in a year or so, but I could find nothing wrong that should be causing a squeak. Weird.
If you find out anything, please post a reply cause I could use some help as well.
I recently had a issue with the rear drums being glazed. The dealer resurfaced the drums and this fixed the squeal issue. Not sure if its the same, but worth looking into at least.
Do you mind if I ask you how many miles you have on your car? Also how much did it cost to resurface? My car has about 60,XXX miles on it. Should it need resurfacing already?
Well I have a 2007 X which now has about 33k on it and I had been having the issue since like 7k, so I don't think it has as much to do with age as it does with driving style. At the very least you can have someone look at it and they would be able to tell you if that is a issue. Since my Forester is still under warranty I was not charged. It did take them about 1.5 hours to do the work though, not sure how much of that time they actually worked on the car.
Actually my car has disc brakes all around. Not sure if that makes a difference or not. I will be sure to ask about reglazing. Being a woman, I always suspect the dealership is trying to direct me toward the most expensive solution ;-)
I have to say, I'm very disappointed in this car. It seems I can only go a couple of months without something needing to be tweaked on it.
Not sure where you applied the brake cleaner but you may have dissolved the anti-squeal grease from the brake pads. Otherwise a few hard stops from 50-20 usually will suffice.
I would bet on the shims squealing. There is anti-squeal grease that is applied between the shims and it is necessary to keep them form making noise. Cheap and easy fix. You will just need to buy a small tube of anti-squeal and pop out the pads like you are doing a brake job. Then lube between the shims and you should be good to go.
That's the first thing I thought of. But, my brother worked in a repair shop (mostly tire & brakes for high-end autos) for 7 years and he totally snuffed the idea. It's not like he put up a big protest or made a big deal ... more like he just shrugged it off as if it wouldn't really do much.
I don't know what the story is on it. I might give him a ring today and report back.
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