Brakes Squeak when Going Slow, Lightly Pressing Them

[HopJokey]

Hi,

I currently drive a 2000 Mazda Protege and for about 1.5-2 years I've had this problem when I press down on my brakes. When I am going slow (about <15mph) and I lightly press on the brakes to slow down there is this squeaky, grinding, "metal on metal" noise. When I press the brakes hard this problem does not occur.

I have tried to fix this problems numerous times to no avail. I've had a mechanic try to fix this problem and he has changed out all the components of my brakes over the years and still the problem exists. I talked to my buddy and he said his dad had a similar problem and that a mechanic told him "you must live with it, there is nothing that can be done".

Does anyone have any advice on how I could fix this problem? Do I need more information to diagnose the problem? Or am I just SOL?

Thanks.

Edit: Corrected spelling of "brakes".

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

BRAKES

 

[BW86]

I'm guessing you already tried applying anti-squeak grease to the pads?

 

[beat mania]

Also try a different pad compound.

 

[alkemyst]

how did you manage to spell brakes correctly in the title?

 

[alpineranger]

anti squeal and shims, if you didn't apply one or both before

 

[HopJokey]

Thanks for the help guys. I don't know if any anti-squeak gel/anti squeal and shims was applied to the brake pads as a mechanic took care of all the work. I will ask him.

Also thanks for catching all my misspelling of "brakes"

 

[radioouman]

Wheel bearing grease on the rotors might fix it.

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: radioouman
Wheel bearing grease on the rotors might fix it.

:evil:

 

[SithSolo1]

I've been having this problem too lately. Had my pads replaced for the 1st time back in Feb and since the beginning of May they have started to squeal under light pressure(Hawk HPS pads). Lemme know if you get it fixed.

 

[Mxylplyx]

I've have found that non OEM brakes just tend to be noisier. I just deal with it.

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: SithSolo1
I've been having this problem too lately. Had my pads replaced for the 1st time back in Feb and since the beginning of May they have started to squeal under light pressure(Hawk HPS pads). Lemme know if you get it fixed.

Have the same pads - and the same problem - on my BMW. They make some noise when braking from all speeds. The OEM pads didn't make the noise, and did seem to work better - but they put black, sooty dust all over everything very quickly compared to the Hawks. I was cleaning the crap off of my wheels every week! The OEMs also seemed to wear down a lot faster. It's a trade off, I guess.

 

[zerocool84]

Hawks will tend to squeal more so than other pads.

 

[thecritic]

Correct rotor finish alleviates most noise complaints. Were the rotors resurfaced with a non-directional finish or replaced whenever new pads were installed?

Did you clean the caliper slides and the pad abutment points and lube them with a synthetic or ceramic-based caliper lubricant? Same goes for the clips, were they cleaned or replaced and lubricated?

The shims should also be lubricated with a synthetic caliper grease. Were the pads bedded-in correctly? Different pads have different burnishing methods.

 

[gorobei]

it's either the rotors like thecritic says or possibly you may have some bad antisqueal springs.