I have been experiencing the brake vibration/pulsation recently. This past weekend I removed the rotors and inspected the rotor thickness. They were thicker than the minimum thickness of 20mm but the variation in thickness is way over the minimum 0.01mm suggested by Daniel B. Martin (I did my search). The variation was actually as high as over 0.1mm. So I had a local shop turned the rotors for me. I measured them again. They are now at a little over 21mm, with variation at less than 0.01mm. I put them back on and the pulsation is gone!

This morning on my way to work, the brake (only driver side I think) began to squeal. It appears that the brake squeals once the disk is warmed up, and stops even with the lightest pressure on the brake pedal. The squeal remains on as long as the car is over 20~30mph, without brake applied.

I did not replace the pads since they still have about half left on them. I did notice that the shim is not "glued" to the back of the pads like some pads are. Instead they are attached to the pads with three "bending tabs".

Any advises??

 

Make sure the shims are clean and fit snugly around the pad. Also check where the pad "slides" in the mount. This area should be nice and clean as well. Sometimes rust and dust can cause the pad to stick a bit and not release from the rotor.

 

Last night when I was driving home from work, the sqealing noise gradually went away. On my way to work this morning, the squealing only came on for a few minutes. I just came back from lunch, and no squeal at all.

Did my problem just go away by itself? Maybe the freshly turned rotors needed some "breaking-in"?? Does that make sense to anyone?