Car question
Willow
Posts: 11,055
Our 2004 Matrix is fast approaching 2 yrs in Jan 06. We only have 21900Kms. Our breaks squeek all the time when it is damp outside. When I swaped out the summer tires for our winter tires and rims I took time to clean the rotors and pads. (without taking them apart) But they still squeek. What gives. The car is practically brand new and so are all the parts.
Post edited by RyanC_Masimo on
Comments
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This is something that is starting to be an industry wide issue. When the government made asbestos illegal, the manufacturers had to switch to metallic pads. I suggest replacing the pads with ceramics. Not only are they much quieter, they dissipate heat better and create no brake dust that gets your wheels are effed up. They're also less likely to warp your rotors due to their greater heat dissipation qualities. They cost a little more, but are well worth it and have a lifetime warranty."SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE" -
The leading edge of the brake shoe should contact the rotor before the back edge. The shoes may be worn so that they aren't doing that. That will cause the brakes to squeek. You night be able to toe them in if they have a curved washer that allows for that adjustment. Many newer cars have that. Take a look at them and see if they are thinner at the leading edge. You may need to replace them if they're worn too badly.
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Thanks for the info. I will be majorly pissed if I must replace them. 21800Kms is nothing the car is barely broken in. To replace shoes, ****!! That is rediculous. I am finding that the parts used on cars are getting cheaper and cheaper (quality wise) our summer tires, have one summer left. WTF is that ? out of our 21Kms the winter tires are on for about 5 mths.
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If the car has less than 12k miles on it, the manufacturer still warranties the wear items, but after 12k wear items are no longer covered. If your car is under 12k miles, take it back to the dealer and make them fix it."SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE" -
Steamer is 100% correct and I have seen that issue cause the squeaking problem too. Alot of Japanese cars have chatter clips on them. The chatter clips can sometimes break or come lose and since they are not holding the pad straight, the pad can end up squealing. The reason is because brake discs get wear patterns in them and if the pad is out of placement, the wear pattern on the pad is not going to match the wear pattern on the rotor. This can cause a high frequency vibration that sounds like squealing.
Another problem I have seen is that alot of the newer cars are coming with wear tabs on the pads. What these tabs do is they stick out perpendicular to the rotor and are supposed to be set so that they contact the rotor and squeal when you push the brakes to let you know that the pads are worn to a point where they should be replaced. This is a great idea but the problem is that sometimes they get whacked or bent and are no longer set properly. They can cause you to think that you need new pads when you have much more than the 20% of total life left in the pads.
Then again, the pads could very well be worn to the point of replacement. The only way to tell is to check. Noel is right about the dust and that can cause problems like squealing, brake fade and even pad dragging. Usually a cleaning will reduce if not fix the problem but if it does nothing then the dust is probably not the problem. The pads may have shims with them and if one of those comes loose, the pads will squeal too. The shims will usually come loose if there is an excessive amount of brake dust and road grime in the brake assembly. All that crap builds up heat and can melt the adhesive holding the shim to the pad and then it comes loose.
However, you mentioned shoes. I thought the Matrix had discs all around but if you have drums out back and they are squealing then there are a few things that will cause noise problems. Dirt/dust is usually the biggest culprit and can be accompanied by a scraping sound or groaning noise. A good cleaning inside the drum will fix the problem. However, excessive dirt can cause scoring on the drum's braking surface and that will cause squealing even if the drum is clean as a whistle. Other problems are worn shoes of course. The shoe or the braking material on the shoe may be cracked or broken. That would cause bear metal to rub and cause scoring and squealing and probably some groaning noises too. A shoe may also be dragging which will cause everything mentioned above and also build up excessive heat. Dragging shoes are caused by broken/bent spring parts, failed parking brake mechanisims and failed wheel cylinders. All of which should be covered under the new car warranty.
That's all I can think of right now. It's hard to diagnose problems over the Internet where the only evidence of a problem is an audible noise. However, given the age of the vehicle and number of miles, you should be at the dealer asking them to fix it. You are correct, you shouldn't be having these problems so soon in the life of the vehicle.Expert Moron Extraordinaire
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you! -
I think I forgot to mention it only seems to squeek whent hey are damp. Once I drive a bit they are fine, I just don't like that is sounds like some unkept pizza delivery car. We have disks in front, drums in back. The squeek is from the front.
Thanks guys. -
Ah, rotors can actually rust overnight. Especially if it is humid out. The thin coating of rust will cause squeaking until the pads wear the thin coating of rust away. It shouldn't really happen that way but it can and does. It's more common than people think. Some companies have issued recalls to replace rotors to eliminate this problem but usually that only happens if the issue is causing a safety concern. I'd still take it to the dealer and see what they say. Otherwise, there may be little you can do about it. Especially since you live in a climate that tends to see harsh weather conditions at times.
You'll also find that larger concentrations of rust occur on the rotor directly under the pad and the heavier the rust, the longer it takes go away. The problem is when that rust starts caking on the pad and reducing it's effectivness. That is reason enough to run it past the dealer and see what they say.Expert Moron Extraordinaire
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you!