mwpayne

Any cure for this? My GSL has new pads all around (mazda), squeaks like a *****, embarassing to say the least. Ideas anyone? Thanks!

MikeLMR

has it got all the anti squeel springs fitted ? did you put copper grease on the BACK of the pads ? are all the slides functioning correctly ? just done the front brakes on my 323 this morning, spent a long time cleaning all the mating surface to make sure the pads / sliders move smoothly to make sure they don't squeel or stick

Aico

What brake pedals you got? Did you do a break-in precedure?

mwpayne

Well, a rotary shop did the brakes, and I uh, was unaware of a break in procedure
Anything I can do now?

LongDuck

Many different ways to break in brakes, but I think most will agree that they should be 'bedded' using a gradual heating and cooling process. This ensures that the pad material is uniformly distributed across the surface of the rotor, which ensures good pad life, and better braking ability.

My routine is as follows:

Find a straight, deserted road out in the middle of nowhere with little traffic, where you can consistently accelerate to 60mph and brake swiftly without causing problems.

First pass - accelerate normally to 50mph, cruise at 50 for a few seconds, then apply brakes evenly, but briskly until the car is decelerated to about 5-10mph - DO NOT COME TO A COMPLETE STOP. Keep rolling, accelerate to 60mph, do this again.

Second pass - drive at 60mph for a few seconds, apply brakes evenly, but briskly to decelerate to about 5-10mph again - DO NOT COME TO A COMPLETE STOP. Keep rolling, and accelerate... (see a pattern here?)

Do this about 2-3 times, building up in speed in 10mph increments until you hit the speed limit.

This process seems to allow adequate cooling between stops, and still retain enough brake heat to brush the pads evenly and apply even brake pad material around the rotors. You do not need to 4-wheel-skid to make this work, in fact, that will ruin the effects. The point is to decelerate smoothly and evenly to allow the pads to burn in over time and add pad material evenly.

This process will need to be followed anytime that you change brake pads, or when moving to a new compound - though you'll likely get better brake performance if you have the rotors resurfaced if you move to a new brake compound. HTH,

inittab

Sometimes, not always, when coming to a stop my rear disc brakes send vibrations through the frame. Sometimes it's the right rear brake sometimes it's my left. Any idea why? And how can I fix it?

LongDuck

You might try removing your rear wheels and pulling on the calipers. If you hear a heavy 'clunk' sound as you pull the caliper outward, it could be that the pivot shaft that aligns the caliper is rusty/dirty/coroded and needs to be cleaned. This shaft and the bolt that you remove to change pads are how the caliper moves when you apply hydraulic pressure with the pedal - it expands the piston, pushes the inner pad against the rotor, then pulls the outter pad against the rotor. If they won't slide smoothly, clean them up, grease them up, and see if that fixes the noise.

This would also be evident in brake pads that wear more on either the inside pad or outside pad - this is a sign that the caliper isn't freely moving on it's mounts. HTH,

inittab

LongDuck, thanks for the suggestion and I would agree however I don't think that's the problem. I rebuilt my rear brakes like 5 months ago and made sure all that was in tip-top shape. Those slides are defintely nice and greased up. I've learned from my past mistakes. Any other suggestions? I wonder if chamfering my pads with a file will help?

Oh another thing..... it seems to happen when I come to a slow "turning" stop. Like when I pull into a parking space. Hmmmm.... I wonder if it has anything to do with my wheel bearings.