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E240 brake squeal

A month ago the brakes on my 1999 E240 have begun to squeal on gentle braking. The car has passed all the manufacturer's maintenance schedules (the last one, 8.000 Km -5,000 miles- ago). There are no brake wear lights on and the car brakes perfectly except for the occasional noise. I usually drive "planning ahead" and tend to brake very gently whenever I can. The rotors do not seem grooved but I can feel a small "lip" of about half a millimeter at the edge. The pads are OEM and now have 50.000 Km -31,000 miles-. I do not drive the car outside paved roads, and it is used mostly on the highway.

If the pads are worn, shouldn't there be a warning light on? I am a little weary of taking this to MB, as I fear that they are prone to taking the easy way out: changing rotors and pads, whether I need it or not.

Thanks for your advice WÇY

Reply to
WÇY
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This could just be vibration. Inspect the pads for wear.

If they look good. Don't worry about the squeak. If it really bother you, you can pull the pads off and reinstall them with some "anti-squeal" stuff from the autoparts store which basically is like a glue that cements the pads to the pistons, so they can't vibrate...

Reply to
Martin Joseph

Thank you very much, Martin. I will have a look at the pads. The squeal does bother me, but I do not think I am up to removing the calipers and pads myself. A slip of a hammer or a wrench could keep me out of business for weeks (I am a surgeon). I think I will just take the car to any fast mechanical shop. have them remove the wheels and look to see how much pad lining is left. It has rained a lot since I dared to remove the head of my dear Mini and polish the valve seats. I was under the impression that brake paste was more of a lubricant than a glue, though.

I had heard that some hard braking could get rid of brake squeal sometimes, and also that an excessively gentle use of the brakes could glaze the pads and promote squealing, but then these could just be myths.

WÇY

Reply to
WÇY

My understanding is that squeal comes from dust. I have had it to on a newish car; the Merc dealership applies some paste but they did say that it was not a permanent solution. I have learnt not to be bothered by a bit of squeal; pads are not necessarily worn.

DAS

Reply to
Dori A Schmetterling

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