rear brakes chirping sound

tlrmax · 12-16-2008, 09:14 PM

I replaced my rear brakes about 3-4months ago. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that I hear a chirping sound coming out of the rear brakes. I am pretty positive its coming from the rear left. I took the brakes apart on both sides to clean and regrease pins, everything. Everything was tight. The noise went away for a couple of days and now it came back. I notice the sound is getting worse. Other than the noise, the brakes work fine. I have done many brake changes without ever having this problem.
Any ideas peeps?

BTW its a 99 max w/o abs.

**Matt93SE** · 12-18-2008, 06:46 AM

when does it do this?
light braking? heavy braking? all the time?
what speeds?

gotta give us more info than "my brakes make noise"

tlrmax · 12-18-2008, 01:05 PM

it does it all the time as soon as I begin to roll away above 5mph. When I apply the brakes the sound goes away. I know its the rear brakes b/c when I am rolling and I hear the noise,I lift up the ebrake a little to make contact and the noise goes away.

**Matt93SE** · 12-18-2008, 03:28 PM

first guess... check the dust shields and make sure none are rubbing against the rotor anywhere. They're easy to bend while you're working back there.

tlrmax · 12-18-2008, 04:29 PM

Its not the dust shield. Plus that would make a noise all the time with or w/o the brakes depressed.

**Matt93SE** · 12-18-2008, 04:49 PM

have you actually checked?

tlrmax · 12-19-2008, 12:46 PM

yes i have

TomR · 10-02-2009, 11:09 AM

I'm having the same noise however i havent done any work on my brakes recently, I was just wondering if you had figured out what it was. I'm leanning towards new rotors or getting mine cut

**Matt93SE** · 10-05-2009, 11:24 AM

when was the last time you looked at the brake pads? all have plenty of material on them? check inner and outer pad- don't just look through the wheel at the outer one. If the slider pins on the calipers sieze (they're prone to, especially on the rears due to the slow wear rate of the pads), then it's normal for one pad on the caliper to look brand new and the other be demolished.

that's the start. also check for sand or rocks stuck in the brake pad material. I've seen grains of sand stuck on the leading edge of a pad that will make nasty noises too.

Last thing is to look at the rotors themselves. any grooves? what color are they? they should be a blu-ish color if everything is working properly. bright metal means grinding problems. rust means no pad contact. grooves could mean many things, but is usually debris on the pad or a worn out brake pad.