I have a couple questions about brakes?

Question

I have a 1997 Volvo 850 & my breaks squeak 96% of the time when I drive. I had a mechanic tell me that I could haul *** in reverse and slam on the brakes a couple times to smooth out my brakes, but I want to know what your take on it was.

Also if there's any ideas or remedies you have I would definetly appreciate it because my car and school buses are the only cars I hear that squeak this bad.

Ps The brakes arent bad, they are just squeaky.

Answer 1

some types of pads just squeak nothing you can do about it but change the pads

Answer 2

The new lining materials squeak sometimes! They aren't dangerous, just noisy.

Assuming you have plenty of pad left:

Ever since they eliminated asbestos form most brake pads, brake squeal has been an ongoing problem. Pad makers are constantly coming up with new "brews" for their pad material.

First, get brake pads from a well known source, like Raybestos, Ferodo, etc.

Second, make sure the rotors are resurfaced. When I resurface rotors I rub piece of sandpaper back and forth across the rotor surface while it is still turning on the lathe: this makes a crosshatch pattern which lessens the possibility of noise.

Third: make sure all the original anti-rattle clips and hardware are intact and in place: these are often left off or discarded during a brake job.
Go by the dealer parts dept. and look art one of the parts manuals to see what if any anti-rattle clips were originally on the car.

Fourth: Many people use a layer of silicone, or even a piece of duct tape on the back of the pad. This secures and cushions the pad to the caliper and keeps it from shifting.

Fifth: Like I say, they haven't really found anything quite as good as asbestos, and brake manufacturers now say a "little noise" is "normal".

For more info check out my website: http://econofix.com/brakes.html

Answer 3

The noise is a squeal and squall, and you know them to be good, the noise is caused by debris between the pads and the rotors.
Driving HARD in reverse and abusing the braked won't help the noise.
There are some lining materials more prone to squeal than others, and you ultimately have to live with it.
The only hope to help you is probably to wash out (flood) the pad and rotor surfaces with BRAKLEEN, and this won't eliminate the squeal altogether, only reduce it a little bit.
To eliminate the noise altogether will require replacing the pads with quality lining, resurface the rotors (if there is enough material) and re-assemble the brakes after thorough cleaning of all surfaces and PROPERLY lubricating all metal-to-metal surfaces.
Even after all of this, there will be a slight proclivity for noise due to the inherent design of disk brakes.

Good Luck

Answer 4

That's what you get for buying brakes from auto zone or other cheap parts stores. If you want quality pads that won't squeak buy a good ceramic or Volvo brake pads, new rotors. and do the job properly. Also I would suggest a new mechanic.

Answer 5

It's just high carbon content in the pads, sometimes the hauling *** in reverse works, but most of the time it is just for a a short while, get used to, it or buy cheaper pads, they'll wear out faster, but will not make as much noise

Answer 6

econofix sound like honest mechanic. Hard to find these days.
Nice Web site.
Iron hand got it near end of report.
I owned my own shop, now retired, and found that a thorough cleaning and lube with a high temp grease does wonders.
All metal to metal surfaces need to be LIGHTLY lubed, we don't want grease or oil in our brakes.
I don't know if your brakes been worked on but check, as econofix suggested , that all anti rattle devices are in place.

Answer 7

GO TO THE FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD PARTS STORE AND BUY A CAN OF CRC BRAND DE-SQUEEK PART NUMBER 05080
FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE LABEL
SIMPLE AS THAT
WHEN YOU ARE DONE WITH THE PRODUCT SMACK THE MECHANIC IN THE HEAD THAT SAID TO BACK UP FAST AND SLAM ON THE BRAKES WITH THE EMPTY CAN

Answer 8

as quickly as you get the brakes disassembled, you will might desire to press the pistons lower back into the calipers - immediately, you will know if the pistons are caught or there is any leakage. customarily, it extremely is the calipers that are rusted and corroded against the surfaces the place they might desire to slide honestly to artwork exact. be valuable to scrub those touch surfaces thoroughly. i prefer to advise changing the two rotors alongside with the recent pads.

Answer 9

when you had brakes fitted they probably did not put anti chatter/screech plate/shim in