Break squeal - Cayman S
Discussion
Evening chaps,
Been a while since I last came on here. Quick question to those of you who have experienced break squeal......
For some reason (only seems to happen during longer journeys (+1hr) my breaks are making an aweful squeal. The car is a 2008 and had its 1st minor service about 18 months ago (and break discs were replaced according to paperwork)
Is this simply a break disc replacement issue or something more sinister?
Thanks
Luke
Where brakes are concerned one must always be proactive and take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the brakes are otherwise ok.
Last thing touched is always suspect. Have you considered taking the car back to where you had the brakes done and asking the source of the noise be investigated?
Rare but new brake hardware can fail and the noise arises from that.
If the brakes are found to be in good shape the noise might arise from a bit of glazing the brakes have developed. A brake (re)bedding in might be called for. Take the car up to speed and apply the brakes hard -- short of any ABS or tire skidding though -- slowing the car down to under 30mph. Do not bring the car to a complete stop! Accelerate up to speed again and repeat. You should feel the brakes bite a bit harder, better. You can repeat this step again. 3 times is plenty. If this bedding in procedure is going to help at all it will not require more than 3 of these hard slow downs.
Be sure you drive the car long enough to let the brakes cool completely.
If you still hear the noise the only other thing I can think of is the brakes are dirty. Mainly the piston boots. These get dusty from brake dust and this interferes with the tendency of the brake seals to retract the brake pistons slightly from the rotors. The pads drag slightly then and make noise at various times.
No need to go crazy. What I do is at a DIY car wash I use the wash wand set to 'soap' to wash the brakes down. Do not jam the wand tip right up against the pads. After a through soaping go around again and do a thorough rinse. Remove all the soap. I then use the spotless rinse setting and rinse the brakes again. My experience is the water pressure is reduced and you can get the tip closer but still do not jam it right up against the piston boots.
Be sure if the brakes have holes in the rotors all the holes are washed/rinsed free of any dust build up.
After the wash/rinse drive the car and use the brakes enough to dry them completely or they'll rust when you park the car.
Sincerely,
Rockster.
Last thing touched is always suspect. Have you considered taking the car back to where you had the brakes done and asking the source of the noise be investigated?
Rare but new brake hardware can fail and the noise arises from that.
If the brakes are found to be in good shape the noise might arise from a bit of glazing the brakes have developed. A brake (re)bedding in might be called for. Take the car up to speed and apply the brakes hard -- short of any ABS or tire skidding though -- slowing the car down to under 30mph. Do not bring the car to a complete stop! Accelerate up to speed again and repeat. You should feel the brakes bite a bit harder, better. You can repeat this step again. 3 times is plenty. If this bedding in procedure is going to help at all it will not require more than 3 of these hard slow downs.
Be sure you drive the car long enough to let the brakes cool completely.
If you still hear the noise the only other thing I can think of is the brakes are dirty. Mainly the piston boots. These get dusty from brake dust and this interferes with the tendency of the brake seals to retract the brake pistons slightly from the rotors. The pads drag slightly then and make noise at various times.
No need to go crazy. What I do is at a DIY car wash I use the wash wand set to 'soap' to wash the brakes down. Do not jam the wand tip right up against the pads. After a through soaping go around again and do a thorough rinse. Remove all the soap. I then use the spotless rinse setting and rinse the brakes again. My experience is the water pressure is reduced and you can get the tip closer but still do not jam it right up against the piston boots.
Be sure if the brakes have holes in the rotors all the holes are washed/rinsed free of any dust build up.
After the wash/rinse drive the car and use the brakes enough to dry them completely or they'll rust when you park the car.
Sincerely,
Rockster.
CrazyTurboBeast said:
Put some copper grease on the back of the pads.
If you have PCCB then its prob just because they are cold. Mine sometimes do that when pootling around town. Could be a long drive cools them so much that they then squeak when used.
No. Do not put any grease on the back of the pads. Unless Porsche requires the anti-squeal pads be used (which it dropped as a requirement from the list of hardware when doing the Boxster brakes) the pads should go on clean and dry. Not even any greasy fingerprints should be present.If you have PCCB then its prob just because they are cold. Mine sometimes do that when pootling around town. Could be a long drive cools them so much that they then squeak when used.
(Before doing the brakes I like to wash them as I touched upon above but far enough before the job so the brakes are dry and cool and then at each brake with the wheel removed I like to wash the brake hardware down using a can of aerosol brake cleaner to remove even more of the brake dust/dirt that accumulates on the brake hardware.)
The (steel/iron) brakes should not squeak if they are properly installed and the hardware is ok.
Sincerely,
Rockster.
CrazyTurboBeast said:
Really?! Why's that?
I just noticed my brake pads have no grease on the backs, when I was washing the car at the weekend.
Why not to put grease (of any flavor) on the back of the pads?I just noticed my brake pads have no grease on the backs, when I was washing the car at the weekend.
Where to start...
The risk is the grease will liquify and contaminate the braking surfaces. The air blast around the brakes is fierce and even if the grease doesn't become liguid but just gets a bit soft some of the grease can get carried to where it should not.
The grease is almost certainly incompatible with the piston dust boots and will if it gets on them cause them to rot and fail prematurely.
And the grease is not needed.
In the case of my Boxster while it came with vibration dampener pads afixed to the back of the pads the factory dropped these from the parts list, at least for subsequent brake jobs. I've not used any for several brake jobs (just pads or pads and new rotors) and the brakes have not developed any noises.
If for your car the factory requires the vibration dampener pads then you should use them and leave the grease in the can, where it belongs.
Sincerely,
Rockster.
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