Hey,
My Maxima has awfully squeaky brakes, and is not just when I first start up, I am pretty sure that this is a common problem, as my brothers Maxima does it too, and so does my moms. Is there any way to fix that and either make them go away, or like quiet them down some?
Thanks

 

I'm not EVEN going down the obvious road (need new brake pads), so I'll just relate MY recent personal experiences.

I just got all of my brakes done by my local mechanic because my brakes squeaked something awful! After having the new pad put in and the rotors changed, they STILL squeaked. So, I took the car back and the mechanic changed them again. Actually, they did this three different times before getting to a semblance of rightness. He told me that sometimes, there are bad batches of pads which might cause them to squeak like that. But I'm inclined NOT to believe that, at this point. Right now, they barely squeak and are hardly noticable, except when I brake hard.

That's just MY $0.02 worth!!

 

I guess it must be a Maxima thing cuz my brakes squeak also.. And that's after new pads and rotors turned. They usually squeak like a flock of mice in the mornings when condensation is heaviest..

 

The only time I've ever had squealing brah\kes on my Max is when I needed new pads. I have have a set of new pads squeal before, but they were simply cheap pads. Different harmonics are produced by different pad material. Depending on the braking system - rotors and caliped primarily, one pad may squeal and another one not. I would NOT reccomend putting on a new rotor to fix squealing. Unless it is badly warped or beyond its thickness limit. Two factory flat and smooth surfaces are more prone to squeal than an already worn in surface. If needed due to minor warping or grooving, turning the rotors is OK.
You also need to brake in may pads in order for them to achieve their best possible performance (including eliminating squealing). This does varry some from pad to pad, but usually involves slowly warming up the pads using light braking progressing to firmer braking. This process is known as "bedding the pads".

 

My original brakes were perfect (no squeaks AT ALL) for the last four years of operation....until RECENTLY when i took it to a carwash. Since after that, they have been squeaking CONSTANTLY (even when they are NOT depressed). So i tried using the hose (of course, when the brakes have cooled) and washing out any dust back there. It solved the problem for a few days, and then it slowly returned. I heard someone mention something about a de-squeak grease that doesnt affect the braking...i will have to look into this stuff...

 

One thing that I have found out with squeaky brakes is that it's caused by a tiny vibration. To absorb this vibration, I put on new shims and Anti-Squeal Compound. The shims help make a tighter fit while the compound stays flexible and absorbs a lot of the vibration. My rear brakes (disc), are not squeaky after I did the new brake pad job. I used Raybestos Prostop rear brake pads.

As for my front brakes, they are squeaking b/c I have not touch those brakes since I bought the car a month ago. I am thinking about taking them apart just to put on shims and the compound.

The shims cost about 7 bucks. And the Anti-Squeal compound costs about 2 or 3 dollars. I think it's a good idea to put both of these on the back side of your pads before you install them. Hope this helps.

 

I just did a brake job on my car. My old (unknown) pads where squeaking but they were NOT on the wear indicator yet. I replaced them with Bendix IQ Pads (IQ stands for "import quiet"). I was impressed with the package they came in because they include a nice NEW backing plate / shim, and some caliper "lube". I put the shim on and applied a coat of "disk brake quiet" (can be purchased at any auto parts store) to the back of all the pads. I also had my rotors turned at the same time because they were slightly warped. So far I've put about a 100 miles on the car since yesterday morning and I haven't heard a SOUND!!! Very quiet so far. Time will tell if they hold up and STAY quiet, but so far I'm very impressed.

 

I also had a problem with the annoying squeak. My big problem was I didn't have it fixed in time. I put it off for a while and payed the price of about 600 dollars at Just Brakes because I did damage to everything by putting it off. Bring it in to a place ASAP to make sure your simple brake pad purchase, doesn't turn in to a debt-causing purchase like me.

 

On my max, I have seen that if you put on aftermarket brakes that you will get them to squeak, I personally only put on nissan brakes, at least on the front because otherwise they will squeak like crazy...
thats just my thoughts...

 

My mechanic put cheap pads on and I lived with noisy brakes until recently when I told him to put factory pads on the front.
NO NOISE so far!!!

He also checked into ceramic pads for my car but could not find them.
Said they are about $100 a set but last 3 times as long, don't have the dust AND NO NOISE.

 

I must be lucky because I never had my front brakes squeak after 130K miles and numerous brake jobs (no I don't take it to the dealer, meineke always did my brakes). Now the rear brakes, that's a completely different story. Those drums squeak and squeak, especially when I am about to come to a complete stop. Anybody else suffering from squeaky rear drum brakes?

 

Depending on your driving habits, ceramic pads may or may not be a good choice. On a recent pad exchange, I too looked into them (not available for the Maxima in my area yet). The supplier told me they have better grip than semimetallics when they are cold, but do not hold as well when they are hot. Basically the friction to temperature curve is very linear as opposed to semi-metallics which should be warmed up before used for hard braking. At normal operating temperature. They do not fade (like some cheap pads) but their coefficient of friction at normal operation temperature is less than that of decent semi-metalics.
For a commuter car the ceramics are probably fine. They don't dust - a really nice selling point. But for a vehicle that is driven as a performance vehicle, the ceramics pads will fall short (or should that be stop-long ?

Mike