mclarenno9

I know there has been a lot of discussion in the past with this topic, but mostly it seems people have brake squeal when actually braking. My problem is the opposite. When driving or just starting out, my brakes squeal (mostly right side I think) when i'm not using them and the sound diminishes once I apply any pedal pressure. Once I go over about 50 mph or so the sound either stops or becomes unoticeable, I can't tell. The only exception to this is if I am backing up slowly and brake lightly, at which time they squeal a little. My main concern is the brakes squeaking when not using them? Anyone have any ideas as to what my problem may be? I believe the PO changed pads and rotors about 5000 miles before I bought the car.... could it be a warped rotor perhaps? Any help would be very appreciated.

jerome951

A warped rotor likely wouldn't cause squeeling but you may feel a vibration under braking from it.

Sounds like you might have a brake pad dragging from the caliper pistons not retracting fully. Look for uneven pad wear between the inner and outer pad. If the pads are difficult to compress (retract the pistons into the caliper) it might be time to rebuild your calipers.

Also, are you using anti-squeel shims?

mclarenno9

I don't believe there are shims but I do know there is goo behind the pads. How difficult/expensive is it to rebuild a caliper if that is the problem?

Evan70

I just had the same issue, and your calipers may not need a rebuild. If you aren't using shims, are you possibly using some kind of antisqueel backing sheet? I got some of these from Pelican, and after a couple of track days they disintgrated and were causing the pads to stick against the rotor slightly. Pulled the pads out last night, cleaned all the remnants of the backing pad out, and the squeel disappeard. This time I used regular antisqueel goo instead. We'll see how it holds up.

Oops, I just saw where you think it has goo behind the pads. If so, how old is the goo? If it's been in there for a while or if you've had some DEs, you might be getting the same issue. Pull the pads and check for crud lodged in there. Then clean the back of the pads and reapply some new goo.

rhesus

adjust ebrake?

mclarenno9

The goo looks fairly old, but I can't imagine the PO changing the pads without cleaning off the old goo and putting new stuff on. I don't know it's consistancy or anything but I would imagine it would be hard to "reuse" that stuff and just slap a new pad on, no? I will also check the e-brake but I think the sound is coming from the fronts, maybe RF mostly.