Squeaking under braking

smr

smr

smr

Soldato
Joined
6 Mar 2008
Posts
8,801
Location
Leicestershire
Got my car in August and all has been fine but in the past couple of weeks under braking (usually when braking medium-hard) the front drivers side squeaks. There's no squeaking unless I brake and there's no grinding or grating noise.

What would this be? Worn pad? Is it just a case of replacing the pads or will the disc need replacing as well (and if so presumably both fronts would need replacing)?
 
I'm also getting the exact same problem. My pads were replaced last year and my local engineer diagnosed the problem as worn brake shoes. All were replaced and I'm still getting the same problem!
 
Its usually worn out pads, most have a wear indicator which is basically just a bit of metal which rubs on the disk to make a very annoying noise to tell you to change your pads.

Get them checked out, unless the disc has quite a lip on it pads alone should be fine, what car is it? For example front pads on my Toyota Yaris were about £12 and the discs were about another £14 each so hardly breaking the bank but it really depends on what car you have.
 
sovietspybob said:
Its usually worn out pads, most have a wear indicator which is basically just a bit of metal which rubs on the disk to make a very annoying noise to tell you to change your pads.

Get them checked out, unless the disc has quite a lip on it pads alone should be fine, what car is it? For example front pads on my Toyota Yaris were about £12 and the discs were about another £14 each so hardly breaking the bank but it really depends on what car you have.
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2008 mondeo mk4. What sort of labour costs involved ? Even though I'm 90 percent sure it's just the driver's front the pads on the other side would need changing as well wouldn't they?
 
Yeah you always change them on the whole axle, its less than an hours work to do both sides including the discs, pads will be very cheap £30ish perhaps so i'd say £80ish fitted at an independent garage for a complete guess?
 
Ok thanks, I think I'll pop the car in my garage and jack it up to check the discs out hopefully to find they're ok and it's just the pads that need replacing.

Is there any visual sign that the pads are wearing low or is that squeak the only indicator you get?
 
Usually the pads need greased up, my brakes do it because I forgot when changing them (doh!)

On the bright side it's rather rally spec :P
 
smr said:
Is there any visual sign that the pads are wearing low or is that squeak the only indicator you get?
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Have a look to see what pad thickness is left. If you have alloys you should be able to see without having to jack up and take the wheels off, just look at the front of the caliper and peer through the little gap to see the pads either side of the disc (sometimes a small mirror helps). They should both be evenly worn and have at least a few mm friction material left on each pad.

If you have steel wheels you'll have to get the wheels off to check.
 
Could just be the type of pad. (if it's not worn down to the audible indicator)

Some are worse than others for noise.
 
Nickyyy said:
Usually the pads need greased up, my brakes do it because I forgot when changing them (doh!)

On the bright side it's rather rally spec :P
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When he says greased up he means the back of the pads NOT the front that comes into contact with the disc.

It might well be obvious but I thought I'd better mention it.
 
You can look at the pads on the outside to see if there's much left, but on most cars they can wear away the inside pad quicker than the outside so even if there looks a good bit left on the one you can see, that doesn't mean to say the inside one isn't almost back to the metal.
 
Not sure if its bespoke to Honda but incidentally I had my rear pads and discs changed yesterday. There is a metal indicator that rubs on the disc to tell you when the pads need changing. This is audible without applying any brake pressure so secondary to any brake squeal which can also be caused by warped discs.
 
Make sure to differentiate between high pitch squealing and general squeaky noise.
The squeaky noise could just be to do with the cold and wet weather.
 
sovietspybob said:
Its usually worn out pads, most have a wear indicator which is basically just a bit of metal which rubs on the disk to make a very annoying noise to tell you to change your pads.
Click to expand...

Never yet seen this on any make of car, there is a thin metal sliver of metal but that is an anti squeal shim and fits between the piston and the back of the brake pad and needs copper slip on it.
 
Most modern cars have wear indicators, infact every pad i've changed (bar the ones on my scooby as they're classed as racing pads) have had wear indicators something like this:

padwear_ind.jpg
 
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