Hey guys, I didnt know where to post this really so I guess it will go in here. My car is in pretty good condition for being 11 years old. Only have 63k miles on it. But when i brake slightly I hear a high pitch squeaking. Im assuming its brake dust. Does anyone know how to clean this or something I can do to prevent the dust from getting on there?

It belongs in the Suspension/Handling/Braking forum. >> Moved.

-Coomer+Mar 12, 2005 - 2:01 AM

hehe, sorry bout that, guess i skipped over the word "braking"

Well if the problem is as cut-and-dry as you make it, then all you need to do is pull the wheels, pull the drums off (assuming you have rear drums) and clean it with some solvent. If it persists I would switch to Ceramic pads. Less dust and better braking power.

If it is something other than dust you might be looking at a little more.. worst case senerio: Your pads are dead, and metal has been grinding metal. No big deal for rear brakes, but your front rotors could have gotten warped beyond the point of grinding them back. New rotors, pads and if you want to live a little, do a rear disc brake conversion (like before, assuming you have rear drums).

You would know if your rotors were warped.... i hope.... >>

Matt

ceramic pads are greaT!

Just change them all out. Really doesn't cost that much. Then you won't have to worry about it for a few years >>

Squeaky pads are caused by numerous things, the most comon is the brake pad not having a true/flat surface, the sqealing is the pad shifting between its surfaces at a high frequendy, this is then transmitted to the calipers, noise gets louder, so on and so on. There are a number of things you can do to help stop this. The most effective been anti shimmy pads, these are thin metal pads that fit betwwn the brake pad and the caliper and help to keep the pad in a fixed possition thus reducing the noise. Another is to get something called "Copperease" this is a copper compound paste that you put on between the brake pad and the caliper and is very effective at reducing/stopping the noise but as it is a paste, can get washed out over time. It is cheap and easy to do DIY job that will probably take an hour to do all 4 wheels. (WARNING dont get copperease on the face of the brake pad or you`ll quickly discover what its like to have no brakes). Another cause of the squeak is, after a while the brake pad starts to wear, a little lip will have formed on the leading edge of the pad, file this off and you should be good to go. Brake dust will be a very unlikely cause for your brake sqeal, it just looks bad, spray brake cleaner onto your calipers and rotor and your done, or use Muc-off, its great at cleaning car parts and its not as harsh as other cleaning products as its not solvent based.
If its a case of your pads been worn down alot, Green stuff make pads that dont produce much dust at all, personally I hate greenstuff pads but alot of people here seem to get on well with them and have no problems.
Sorry I`ve droned on for a while but I`m killing time waiting for the postman to deliver my new dump valve/blow off valve. >>

My rear rotors are making aweful noise... and I have changed all 4 rotors (brembo) + brake pads (pbr metallic) 2 years ago. Can you believe snow/salt/cold/water/mud from the winter can kill brakes that fast??

hmmm, how are is it to do a drum to disk converstion? Would a local shop be able to do it?

-bloodrain+Mar 12, 2005 - 12:40 PM

Yes a local shop should be able to do it. Id suggest get yourself some tools and do it your self. here is a how to, http://www.6gc.net/index.php?action=howto&itu=15

Use black Diamond Rotors with Predetor Pads, the best stock brakes money can buy. (20% better than OEM

i have rear wheel disc brakes... i thought everyone did.. :/

Heh.. But you have a GTS... >> ST's came with drum brakes in the back.. Have a nice day.

I have a 94 gt, st-204 with the 5sfe engine. Im assuming mine has disk brakes...? (mainly because it looks exactly like the disk brakes in the front, lol)