Just a very general car question...

My brakes make this annoying squealing noise when braking at a slow speed or coming to a stop. I just had my brakes checked and they said there's still plenty left on the pads. Is this something I could fix at the shop? Thanks for your help.

 

In my experiance it is just dust on the pads or road dirt

 

There are several reasons why disc brakes can squeal. The squealing noise you're hearing is a vibration - just like any noise is caused by a vibration that causes sound waves. Actually all disc brakes vibrate and make noise, just above the range of human hearing. This can be caused by your wear sensors chattering against the rotor (but you've already ruled that out, according to your shop). Or it can be caused by the pad chattering against the rotor. Causes are:

1. No antisqueal compound used on the back of the pads when installed. This can either be "blue goop" or shims that stick to the back of the pads. I have had much better luck with the shims.
2. Glazed rotors or pads. An improperly cut or overheated rotor can cause noise, but usually just degraded brake performance.
3. Rotor has too much lateral runout (pulsation). You need not feel a pulsation for there to be enough to cause noise.
4. The brand of brake pads used. Most semi-metallic to metallic brake pads are prone to squeal. Some brands more than others - I have found Bendix to be terrible. Perhaps you might want to try switching brands. Another option is organic pads, but they only last half as long if that.
4. Stuck caliper slide and or guide pins, anti-rattle
clips.
5. Dust or some foreign object between the pad and rotor.

I have an associate who used to own a Chevy dealership. They had numerous new cars come back with complaints of brake noise. So they would replace perfectly good brakes and cut the rotors. Sometimes you just get a bad pad rotor combination.

I bet if you replace the pads (with premium pads, that include shims and anti-rattle clips) and cut the rotors the noise will go away. But don't do that until you've checked and cleaned everything with brake-clean. It could be dust or a broken clip or something.

Good Luck

 

I have found that the squeal is caused by the pad "ears"(the part that slides back and forth in the caliper). These will tend to vibrate and cause a high pitched noise(ie.. squeal) Sometimes that goopy stuff works, sometimes not. What you have to do is carefully examine how the pads fit in the calipers. Make sure they don't fit too tight. And make sure that the "slide" area is clean and not dirty from brake dust/dirt/etc.... If you have to, slightly file the pad ears for a better fit.

I would never cut a rotor just becuase of brake squeal. If it's warped to the point where you can feel it, then yes, a cut job might be in order. But again think about it, if the rotor is ever so slightly warped, it might push the pad back and forth in the caliper, making it squeal. It would be better to fix the problem w/ the pad fitment, then to reduce your rotor heat sink capacity.

Good Luck w/ the brakes