Intermittent squealing while braking - not the pads.

K3Ntegra

Member
1 out of 10 times when I come to a slow stop I'll notice a squeal, from the front left (driver side) wheel well. This usually occurs from slowing down from less than 15 mph.

I braked once, from 35-40. No squeal.

I replaced the front brake pads, and front left rotor that was warped.

Before this squeal, I took the car to my trusted mechanic, to replace a a dead original alternator at 190,000 miles old. The alternator belt had also snapped off, most like the day before, since I heard a sparking noise while driving, and the battery dash light came on.

He replaced the alternator belt, A/C belt, P/S belt, and lower left engine mount.

As I drove away from the shop, I heard a rattle lasting from the left side of the engine bay, for about 2 seconds. The alternator belt came loose due to a bad harmonic balancer on the crank shaft pulley.

Since me or the mechanic couldn't find a harmonic balancer that could be delivered within the next business day, we decided to go ahead and buy a new crank shaft pulley for over $250.

Now today the car is making a noticeable squealing noise.

I've also found out I need to replace the front struts, with Koni STR.T (orange) ones, due a clicking/clunking when it's pushed down. I'd like to do it by myself.

I intend to replace the rear struts next year, even if it's still in good working condition at that time. I may have to wait a week to have the front suspension balanced after replacing the struts. Are both of these okay to do; waiting a year and a week respectively?

Also before taking the car to a mechanic, the front left tire (or maybe the front right), seems to squeal while taking a sharp left turn. The Hankook ventus tires are 15,000 miles and 1 year 2 months old, made on August 2013.

I'd rather not inspect the brakes for now, as it may 'void' a warranty,
 
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Muckman

Not a M0derator
Your threads are like an SAT question. 90% nonsense that doesn't apply to the question. Why are you talking about a harmonic damper in a brake question? Get to the point!

They make brake shims specifically for this reason. Nicer pads come with shims, cheap ones do not. Or you can try brake lubricate on all the contacts points (minus the obvious surface).
 

K3Ntegra

Member
Muckman said:
Your threads are like an SAT question. 90% nonsense that doesn't apply to the question. Why are you talking about a harmonic damper in a brake question? Get to the point!

They make brake shims specifically for this reason. Nicer pads come with shims, cheap ones do not. Or you can try brake lubricate on all the contacts points (minus the obvious surface).
Click to expand...
I apologize for going into too much irrelevant detail. Yeah I got rid of the shims on Hawk HPS pads, because they were coming loose, when I went back to inspect the installation I did myself :(.

It's been over 2 weeks since I removed all the shims in the front. It's the first time I was hearing such noise, since then. They started after I picked up the car from the mechanic today.

5 weeks prior to this, I was driving 80 mph on the highway and I noticed a squeal, even while my radio was on a high volume, with the windows down. The front left pad had it's outer shim discarded; 1 or 2 shims in the rear are gone.

I didn't want to start a another thread on the strut installation.

Thank you for the response.

If anyone can link to a video demonstrating the noise created without shims, it would be appreciated.

Edit:

Picture of the brake pads, with paint peeling off. I forgot to bring my c-clamp. I'll consider using standard loctite super glue.

Inner

Outer
 
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enjoytheridedc2

New Member
K3Ntegra said:
I apologize for going into too much irrelevant detail. Yeah I got rid of the shims on Hawk HPS pads, because they were coming loose, when I went back to inspect the installation I did myself :(.

It's been over 2 weeks since I removed all the shims in the front. It's the first time I was hearing such noise, since then. They started after I picked up the car from the mechanic today.

5 weeks prior to this, I was driving 80 mph on the highway and I noticed a squeal, even while my radio was on a high volume, with the windows down. The front left pad had it's outer shim discarded; 1 or 2 shims in the rear are gone.

I didn't want to start a another thread on the strut installation.

Thank you for the response.

If anyone can link to a video demonstrating the noise created without shims, it would be appreciated.

Edit:

Picture of the brake pads, with paint peeling off. I forgot to bring my c-clamp. I'll consider using standard loctite super glue.

Inner

Outer
Click to expand...
You're kidding me right?
 


Samurai_Blue

Yolo Whippin'
Muckman said:
Your threads are like an SAT question. 90% nonsense that doesn't apply to the question. Why are you talking about a harmonic damper in a brake question? Get to the point!

They make brake shims specifically for this reason. Nicer pads come with shims, cheap ones do not. Or you can try brake lubricate on all the contacts points (minus the obvious surface).
Click to expand...
depends on the pad. Project Mu does not come with them and i dont recall my HP+ coming with them
 

Nick_C78

New Member
What the fuck did I just read? You removed the shims because they came loose? You do know they are just held there by clamping force. Other than that they just float there...they are made to come off. I swap mine around from pads to pads...

Its your brakes. Squeel is very inconsistent and hard to replicate. Pedal pressure, speed, temperature, slop of road..everything can effect it.
 


K3Ntegra

Member
Nick_C78 said:
What the f*** did I just read? You removed the shims because they came loose? You do know they are just held there by clamping force. Other than that they just float there...they are made to come off. I swap mine around from pads to pads...

Its your brakes. Squeel is very inconsistent and hard to replicate. Pedal pressure, speed, temperature, slop of road..everything can effect it.
Click to expand...
I had to repeatedly remove the caliper to inspect noise, that I later found out was caused by an improper brake hardware kit/cliip.

I noticed one of the shims that came loose, was coming in contact with the rotor. EricTheCarGuy has a video on poor quality brake shims.

I've temporarily put Pentamex brake caliper grease on the pad, and I didn't notice any noise. Hopefully, these ones I got from eBay, will be more functional.
 

K3Ntegra

Member
K3Ntegra said:
I had to repeatedly remove the caliper to inspect noise, that I later found out was caused by an improper brake hardware kit/cliip.

I noticed one of the shims that came loose, was coming in contact with the rotor. EricTheCarGuy has a video on poor quality brake shims.

I've temporarily put Pentamex brake caliper grease on the pad, and I didn't notice any noise. Hopefully, these ones I got from eBay, will be more functional.
Click to expand...
Those $9 eBay ones (BBP 611 21 006) are garbage. After 6 months, the squeals have come back and are more frequent. Not as loud, but very annoying.

I'll try the CRC disc brake quiet fluid, in the coming months.
 
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