Hi, In the morning when I use the brakes the first 10 times or so, the squealing noise is loud enough to wake the entire street. The GM dealer says rust forms on the brakes over night and that causes the loud squealing noise. Everyone in town looks when I stop :) What really causes this and should I just replace the brakes. The dealer says the brakes are fine. Thanks in advance, Dave
terrible brake squeal on 2002 Century
Jun 15, 2004
7 Replies
Chances are everything your dealer told you is correct and that the pads rubbing on the rust sets up a vibration and the squeal. If it's coming from the front and it bothers you enough, you could remove the pads, apply anti-seize to the points where the pads contact the calipers and see if it goes away.
Does this car have disc or drum on the rear?
Go to your local parts store and buy some brake clean solvent and some disc brake lube or aerosol white grease if you don't have any already. Remove rear wheels and drums, clean with solvent, adjust shoes and put grease between the contact points between the shoes and backing plates. (This grease should be on the metal plate backing the shoe where it meets the backing plate. There should never be any grease on the friction material itself.)
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