My brother's XJ8 has what I would call minor brake squeal. I replaced pads about 2 years ago, probably ceramic Akebono and rear rotors with some Zimmerman's. About 90% of the time they are quiet but sometimes they do squeal a little. Is there a full proof cure for this noise?

 

Not fool proof, but you can try some copper grease or brake quiet between the back of the pad, and the piston. OEM pads often come with anti-squeal plates, but aftermarket ones often don't, making the gloop more important.

 

What part of the brake is making the noise?

Is the noise constant, or only when the brake is depressed?

It's possible you need new pads if they are 2+ years old. This could be the squeal you hear. This could be the feeler bars making contact with the rotor telling you need to change them.

If your getting the chatter, then the pads are loose. That could be a caliper or lubrication problem.

Unless your running high performance brakes, they should be quiet.

 

The pads have decent meat on them. Yes they only make noise when they are applied. I'll try some OEM pads from the dealer to see if that helps.

 

Mine dont ever squeel! But i dont brake like a girl...
dont laugh theres a story there

 

LOL, I like stories.

 

Dealer pads, $235, quiet so far.

 

Thats funny. I bought a new Honda and the brakes started groaning after 400 miles. Took it in for warranty. They couldn't find anything, but took the pads off, ran piece of sandpaper over them, slapped it back together and said it was fixed. 400 miles later they did it again and I turned right back around as I was leaving and told the dealer, its not fixed. Finally the service rep wanted to ride around the block with me and hear the sound I was complaining about for himself. He said "Do you always brake like that?" "Brake like what?" "Ease into a stop real smooth." "Well yeah, I got a bad back and it hurts if I drive it like a race car." "Well, you gotta brake more aggressively, otherwise you glaze over the rotors and pads." I gave up on them, took it apart myself when I got home and found one of the anti-rattle clips installed incorrectly.

But I figure that the particular sound that a brake makes and under what conditions it makes it has absolutely got to be an indication of exactly what is wrong. I've been looking for years for a brake repair textbook that would describe how to diagnose brakes by the sounds they make and have yet to find such a book. Oh there's general descriptions of sounds, followed by a whole series of even more general repair procedures, but nothing actually useful. Some 70+ year old retired mechanic somewhere has all that experience in his head and must've sworn an oath to keep it a secret, like a magician's code or something.

 

LOL.

So far so good, about 400 miles and still quiet.

 

My rear pads from the dealer cost me around $100 ?? Are you speaking with labor?

I use OE pads and rotors -- never an issue. The rotors last 50k .. front pads about 25k. The rear pads went out to about 65k and the rotors still in specification.

Clean and properly lube -- fresh fluid. I never have any problems.

I think I had to get a rebuilt caliper for my 82 -- 25 years ago ... that was my last Jaguar brake problem.