Brake Squeal - But Only at 20-30mph? (2010, idle, brakes)
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I have a strange squealing issue that I can't seem to find information on after some research on the Internet. Any advice that you can provide would be most appreciated!
1. The squeal only happens at around 20-30mph upon braking. The squeal disappears once I am in the 0-20mph zone.
2. The squeal happens often, but not all the time. I'd say it will squeal about 50% to 75% of the time.
3. The squeal only happens if I am normally braking (e.g. coming to a stop at a traffic light). The squeal does NOT happen with hard braking (e.g. going from 55mph to 0mph).
4. At last check a few months ago, I still have about 50% brake pad life.
5. I have tried to listen and find out which tire this squeal is coming from, but I can't seem to pinpoint it while having the windows down. If I had to guess, I'd say Driver Side Front Wheel.
FWIW, I bought my car used last year at around 43k miles from CarMax. Perhaps CarMax replaced the pads but they used cheap metallic brakes?
Also, I am not that handy with cars. However, I wonder if the brake calipers need basic lubricating, though I'd assume that it would always squeal if it needed lubricating?
Calipers themselves don't make noise. In fact, even the rotor and pad surfaces are usually not what cause noise, it's the pad backing against the caliper that does.
I'd say replace your brake shims if you have any, or put some anti squeal on the backs of the pads, starting with the wheel you think is the most likely culprit.
I'll take your word pads are at 50%.
If you have glazed rotors, they will squeal. It's build up on rotors and pads that is catching and making high pitched noise. I had this on my Camry and fixed it by de-glazing rotors.
Softer pads will not produce this effect, but will get your rotors dirty in 2 weeks.
If the rotors are glazed and they squeak. It could be the drivers fault.
Some Brake rotors are manufactured too thin and get too hot and things happen to them, Other times the pads are garbage.
If youre a driver who rides the brakes on the highway and on hill this could cause glazing. constant light usage and dragging the pads on the rotors makes a ton of heat.
If the rotors are glazed and they squeak. It could be the drivers fault.
Some Brake rotors are manufactured too thin and get too hot and things happen to them, Other times the pads are garbage.
If youre a driver who rides the brakes on the highway and on hill this could cause glazing. constant light usage and dragging the pads on the rotors makes a ton of heat.
Use the brakes, or dont use the brakes.
As you know from living in Connecticut, brake usage is heavier here due to frequent congested volume (e.g. constant stop-and-go in rush hour). However, shouldn't the rotor glazing happen on ALL wheels (and thus, a squeal would emit from all four wheels)?
The squealing has been going on for over a year, and again, life is still at 50% as of a few months ago. In any case, I will still bring this into an indy shop for evaluation. The squealing is very annoying and is a comfort-issue more than anything.
The front two rotors do most of the work. Theres science behind it but Im going to keep it simple.
If youve ever noticed how on some cars, the front wheels are all dusty and dirty and the back wheels are cleaner? More dust, more heat and so on...
Youll probably need new front rotors. It seems like having rotors re ground to be flush are a thing of the past.
When you get new rotors and pads, you need to seat the pads to the rotors in order to get the most out of everything. This is usually done by rapidly accelerating to say 30 mph and applying the brakes pretty hard. However that method may be phased out by now...?
If that doesn't work, THEN you start messing with the pads themselves. All this talk about glazing and what not is ridiculous.
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