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brake pads scream when low


Pathy
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Could be a stuck caliper. You'll know when your brakes are gone...trust me. First of all, you won't be able to stop for crap, secondly, it'll make the most awful screeching nails on a chalkboard sound you've ever heard. I would take the wheels off and periodically check them...every few thousand miles just to make sure everything is OK. If you have drums in the rear it's good to do it so the cover things don't rust so you won't have a hard time removing them.

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I can stop, like they are brand new brakes, but the second part is true, it does sound like nails on metal or whatever. Whats a stuck caliper, and would a stuck caliper only make noise when warmed up?

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I have had brake pads slip out of the clips on the caliper and lay against the rotor when driving. Nasty sound that goes away when I applied the brakes. Once I discovered what it was, I replaced the clips and all was good.

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Nissan factory pads (mine are stamped "Sumatro"), and most aftemarket brake pads have a little spring tab that starts to drag on the rotor when the pad wears down to 2mm (~10% remaining). It's harmless to the rotor, but makes a horrible screaching sound.

When you rotate your tires (everyone rotates their tires twice a year, right?:-), it's a good idea to check the thickness of the pads and the condition of the rotors...

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If you have metalic pads, your brakes might squeal more than cheaper non metalic pads. They have a lub that you can put on the back side of your pads (between metal baking of the pads and the caliper cylinder) this will eliminate some squealing. Also some times if you replace your shims it might work. hope this helps.

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Its really starting to piss me off, because the screech only happens after about 15 min of driving and its sooo loud that it turns heads, like nails on a chalk board but with different pitches. Ive tried so many things to diganos the problem. heres my data. Only happens at speeds of 10-35 mph, reving the engine has no change on the sound, i turned off the engine going down hill and the screech still was going. ANYHELP plz, it makes my Pathfinder sound like a crappy car.

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If it's making screeches that loud I'd take the tire off and look at them to see if something like your brake rotor is getting eaten alive. Otherwise you may need to rebuild your brakes or have someone do it for you. Personally, I don't fool around with brakes and steering, if something is being weird with either of those I either check it out or have someone check it out. Those are important parts for safety. I also had trouble with genuine Nissan pads breaking apart. I was told they rust and fall apart at times. They had quite a bit of life left but broke apart...so there was metal on rotors...not good. Anyway, if it's just a little screech and not the grinding screech it could just be a stuck caliper...the thing that clamps the disc brakes down doesn't release fully when they get older and so forth and the brake hangs up slightly...just enough to be annoying. But if it's a nasty grinding noise I would for sure take a look at them.

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It's your front brakes, and you need to look into taking them apart to get them to stop squealing. Like I said, mine needs new rotors and it's doing exactly what yours is. Intermittent squeal at lower cruising speeds, which goes away at freeway speeds.

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It's the slight deformation of the rubber "o" rings (really more square than round) sealing the caliper piston that cause the pads to retract after applying the brakes. We're talking thousandths of an inch here.

If previous owners owners haven't been diligent about flushing brake fluid every couple years, it is possible that enough corrosion is present to cause the caliper to "stick" and not retract fully.

Heat causes metal to expand, which is why there may be no noise when everything is cold, but as things warm up, contact (squealing) may occur.

 

Sometimes a full power stop from 60mph is enough to break it free. Sometimes rebuilding the caliper (replacing seals and flushing fluid) will fix it. Sometimes maintenance gets neglected, and you're looking at replacing the caliper. Only way to know for sure is to get in there and look...

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glazed, worn and surface cracked rotors will cause that ... mine are ... and they do that exact same thing ... i'm ignoring it for the time being untill I can afford to replace it along with the rears which seem to be really worn out ...

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Guest edward

Just out of curiosity - I had a Nissan pickup & always had a squealing sound when braking. Someone told me it was due to the silicon goop you put between the

back of the brake pad & the shim (not on the caliper/cylinder side) wearing out. So next go round on the brakes I used plain silicon rubber caulk rather than the stuff that came with the new pads. This eliminated the squealing. Does this sound like a wacko thing to do ? I was always worried about temperature/flammability issues, but I drove in the mtns in New Mexico for several years without any problems. Anyway, I don't want to suggest this is what going on with the original issue for this thread.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Get the rotors checked and the pads replaced at the least. I had the exact issue same speeds after about 15 minutes of driving the whole nine yards. It drove me crazy too. I had new rotors installed (the old ones were to worn down to be turned and they were starting to warp. The warping was the reson, according to my mech that the pads were not wearing evenly and causing the screech after they warmed up.) and new pads. Pay the extra for the ceramic it pays off huge on when it's bath time.

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Just a thought, but on my old 85 Nissan 4x4, the rear brakes always squeeked, and locked up easy when you first started driving (in rain, etc.). It had always done this, even after new brakes, full inspections, etc. etc. I just got into the habit of dragging the brakes out the driveway and it would go away. Point being, sometimes they just seem to do something strange and there's not much you can do about it. Get them checked out of course, though.

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I HATE BRAKES, WISH THEY WOULD STOP SQUEALING. CHANGED THE REARS AND HAD THE ROTORS CUT, THAT NOISE WENT AWAY, NOW IT'S THE FRONTS, NEW PADS 2 MONTHS AGO, READY TO TEAR APART AGAIN TO GET ROTORS CUT, EVEN THOUGH THEY LOOK FINE! AGGGAAHHH!!!! HOPEFULLY WILL HAVE IT ALL STRAIT SOON!!!!

 

JUST NEEDED TO VENT, THANKS FOR LISTENING.....ANY ADVICE WOULD BE APPRECIATED...

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