I know that these cars are know for brake squeaks but the sound is horrendous! Sounds like fingernails on a chalk-board. The car stops well enough but the state inspection revealed that the rear wheels are grabbing harder than they should. I have performance brake pads on the front and it was suggested to me that these pads need to heat up a little before they'll do their job.

The car has about 133k miles on it and the rear brake pads were replaced about 20k miles ago. They should be good for another 80k miles.

Any other comments?

Jim

 

I know exactly what you're going through. My '92 with 126K miles squeaks like crazy right before coming to a complete stop. I had the rear brakes adjusted recently, but it didn't help much (brakes felt much better, though).

These drum brakes go out of adjustment in about a year or less, which I hate too.

 

I have had a similar problem on my '93. I pulled the drums off and sprayed everything real good with some brake assembly cleaner and the noise went away.

 

Brake assembly cleaner? Is that the same as carb cleaner? I think I'll give that a try, the sound is unbearable.

Jim

 

Jim.. it's similar, but different.. it'll be in the same general area as carb cleaner, but look for brake parts cleaner or brake cleaner..

as for making the sound go away, the only thing I could do was use OEM shoes. I tried about 5 different brands in under a year and they all squealed like pigs in under 1000 miles. switched to OEM pads and they were on there for about 5000 miles before I converted to discs in the back with no squeal at all. I also replaced the wheel cylinders at the same time, but I don't think that stopped the squealing..

 

I do have OEM shoes on the rear. Only the front has aftermarket/performance pads. Bendix I think...

Jim