Rover 214 sounds like bus after brakes changed

It doesn't sound like a good thing! I assume its an old shape London Bus, too.

Do you notice any problems with the braking itself? Judder, pull to one side and so on? Could you describe the noise a bit better, perhaps - squeaking, scraping, grinding maybe?

There are some shims and springs in the Rovers calliper, OEM pads come with fresh ones but I bet the National boys put the rusty tired old ones back. Should also be a smear of brake grease between brake bad and piston to help dissipate heat and damp vibration, could well be a cause of squealing black-cab sounding brakes. Or could be pad contamination, if they didn't clean the protective grease off the new disks before fitting them.

Brakes appear to work fine, I've had to have a fair few emergency stops since I put them on, but the squeeking has steadily got worse.

I originally thought that the sound would go away after a few hundred miles (new brakes and all that) but now it's getting worse.

It's *very* loud squeaking, it is best described as the sound an old bus makes when the brakes are applied, really loud squeeking, metal on metal squeaking.

I'm going to call in today and ask them to check it out. I've always been under the impression that National were quite good, infact, my old driving instructor told me to go to them if I had any problems. But if they've bodged the brakes up in some way, and they wont fix it (Free of charge, and fixing any other problems that might have been caused) then it's just another name scraped off of my "placed to take the car" list.

--Nick.

"> Brakes appear to work fine, I've had to have a fair few emergency

You must drive like my brother in law. Emergency stops are his speciality. That's when he's not making his usual progress by flooring the gas pedal. There should be thin metal plates between the back of the brake pad and the piston, known as anti-rattle shims. Should have been cleaned and given a smear of grease before fitting. New pads and discs need gentle treatment until they're bedded in. Harsh braking in the first five hundred miles or so can reduce their useful life. DaveK.

Since I've had the new brakes in (now 2,000 miles old) they've always squeeked.

I've not been driving especially badly, but I've had to stop quickly several times (cars pulling out very late, children zooming out of schools at unexpected times as well as a result of people not knowing how to negotiate mini-roundabouts).

"Gradual acceleration and gentle braking"

--Nick.

"Always expect the unexpected, l'il glass'opper." Anyone remember Kung Foo? DaveK.