It seems to me that my friend has very soft brakes. He recently changed the front pads and here are my two ideas why:
1. He let air into the brake lines which makes it feel a lot like how mine were when I did the samething (what a mess that was).
2. I looked at the master cylinder and I noticed that there was a little bit of residou around the connections between cylinder and drum or whatever, but not enough to drip. I'm not sure what color the power steering fluid should be, but his is dark brown/black......



I have very thick pads on the front, but one wheel squeeks very bad while I'm driving between 0-30mph. I'm pretty sure it's not the bearings because the squeeking stops when I hit the brakes. Maybe I should try cleaning the pads or something. I think there might be rust on the pads cuz the rotor is fine


Need some help here guys for both of these issues

 

Probably needs a new master cylinder. Make sure the whole break system gets fresh fluid bleed.

 

pad is vibrating = squeek. Need to clean/lightly lube the pad's "ear" sliding points. And use some stuff on the back of the pads that also reduce vibrations

 

- you hear your brakes making noise when your not using them?
..sounds like a warped rotor to me, take that one rotor off and get it resurfaced.. who ever does it will tell you if its warped or not. then buy a good brake grease(100% silicone) and put it all over the caliper, piston, all the little flanges and moving parts. (BUt not on the face of the pads or rotor.) wont hurt to sand the pads a bit too.. that should take care of the squeek

bleed your friends MX6.. its easy with 2 people.

 

Go to autozone and buy some speed bleeders, they are the nipple on the end of the brake caliper and they have a ball bearing in them and it will let air out but not fluid. The best way to do brakes yourself, no question about it.

 

Power steering fluid (ATF) should be red. NOT BROWN OR BLACK..Brake fluid (the stuff in the master cylinder) should be a transparent gold/yellow.
When you say that you hear your brakes when you are not using them, it could be that the metal dust shield is bent and making contact with somethine. Jack up the car, remove wheel, and turn the hub from the studs with a rod, or something (lug nut wrench works), if you hear the squealing, then there is some contact. Try to pinpoint where its coming from, and if its from the shield, simply push it back.

 

what stuff should i get

 

Personally, I use the orange stuff in a tube. "Disc Brake Quiet" iirc made by Permatex. Sold at Napa and such. We used it at different dealerships and everyone used to swear by it. I shortcut my last job and used a packet from Nissan. Now I have to do it over again with the good stuff to make the sporadic squeak disappear.

 

what is the process in applying this stuff??

 

go to the store and get yourself some anti-squeal lubes. there are so many manufacturers that makes them, permatex, etc.. becareful not getting any of those guys on your rotors or man, it's gonna burns and smell terrible!!!!

 

It has a slotted nozzle. I apply it anywhere there is contact with the pad backing and anypart of the caliper. Just make a note not to smear too much, you'll regret it when you drip it on the rotors or pad meat. I also like to put a little on both surfaces at location of contact... Just in case some rubs off the pad when installing. Think of the stuff as a friction cushion. Anywhere you may have friction, you may generate noise from that friction. Try to be meticulous and you will thank yourself down the road.

 

didn't work.

Any other ideas?

Thinking maybe it has something to do with the wheel bearings?

 

Take a wire brush and clean all the touching parts, then apply the grease. If you do it properly the squeeling/squeeking will disappear.

 

I need some help on a brake problem with my '89 Maxima GXE. Don't have enough posts to start my own thread, but this one seemed pretty close. I am having a problem with grinding-like noises when I apply my brakes. They seem to be coming from the front brakes and it happens only when I apply the brakes, usually audible at lower speeds.

At first the previous owner of the car had cheap-o pads installed (done by Les Schwab) and the rotors were warped (could feel pedal pulsations.) So I got those turned, kept the same pads on there though. The pedal pulsations went away, but a grinding noise became a new problem (I don't remember if it made the noise before when the rotors was warped.) I ran it for maybe a couple years until the cheap-o pads were more worn out. The warped rotors / pedal pulsations did not return. Then I replaced the pads myself with OEM Japanese quality pads (they were made by SEI), and since the rotors were above the minimum thickness and still looked pretty fresh since last time they were turned, I just scuffed them up with course sandpaper and reinstalled the pads. I did a good job I felt of cleaning all the places where the caliper moved and using synthetic high-temp lube there, and also using disc brake quiet on the backs of the pads. By now I've gone through a few tanks of gas and it seems that the pads should be bedded in. But I still am hearing my brakes often when I am hard into them especially at lower speeds. What could this grinding noise be? It's happened on two different sets of pads now... I am baffled, never had a grinding brakes problem before.

By the way, I replaced my front wheel bearings when I replaced the pads as well, no impact on the grinding noise. So it is not some heat-induced wheel bearing noise. Anyone else experience this problem? Suggestions?

PS - when I changed the pads, I also found some of the old pads were unevenly worn on the driver's front brakes. I found that the caliper guide pins were different comparing left to right. The right side had a rubber bushing on one of it's pins but solid bushing on the other. On the left side they were both solid pins. I suspect at one point "rebuilt" calipers were installed and whoever rebuilt them didn't pay attention to which guide pins to assemble them with. So I replaced the left side pins with a new caliper bushing kit that came with one rubber bushing and one solid. I greased them up good. Are they supposed to have one rubber bushing on the caliper guide pin and the other solid metal without the rubber bushing? Thanks.