banker69

Ok - I made a few postings awhile back about a brake issue I've had. Got my 06 GT Roadster in August, have 12,000 miles on it. About a month or two in, i started having a really loud obnoxious squeal coming from my brakes when I'm applying light pressure on the brakes between 20-0 mph. I've taken it to the dealership 5, yes, 5 TIMES.
First time - they told me they couldn't hear the sound
Second time - they "adjusted the brake pads"
Third time - they replaced the brake pads
Fourth time - they reset the rotors
Fifth time - this is the kicker - I left it with them for FIVE DAYS while I was out of town, thinking that would be enough time to fix this problem. Not only did they not fix it, the incompetent ****** told me they couldn't hear any sound. I am honestly too mad for words. Each time I take it in it's at least 2 hours of my time wasted, only to be told it's fixed and there won't be a further issue. The last time, the head of the department told me it might be the Armor All tire shine I put on the tires. I think this is bull****, b/c #1, I haven't put any on since they replaced the brake pads, and #2, it's applied with a sponge only to the outside of the tires.

If ANYONE has had an issue like this, PLEASE HELP ME. i absolutely LOVE my car to death, but this squeal is embarrassing and it draws attention, and not the kind I like!

Mike Wazowski

iTrader: (113)

take it to another dealership

infamous350

yeh i got the same problem i here its just the oem brake pads throw some nice aftermarkets on there no sqeal and less brake dust pretty sure it would do the trick

banker69

Mine are the brembo brakes, so i don't know if that'd make a difference. Would autozone or some place like that have them? Anyone know what they'd run? It really pisses me off b/c the brake pads they put on have maybe 200 miles on them? This just seems SO WRONG to me.

Oh, and in response to USN HM 350z, this is the second dealership i've taken it to. Seriously, it's so disheartening to leave the dealership every single time, only to have the problem start up again a day later.

Q45tech

Are you properly bedding in the pads to create the smooth tranfer film to the rotors?

banker69

Man, i don't even know what that means.

ZCARBANDIT

iTrader: (73)

brembos almost always make noise at low speed.and a high speed they are relatively quite. and i dont think that autozone has those pads.sometimes a light coat of graphite can fix squealing.either way they are easier to install than the non-brembo pads to me. I agree with q45tech, ask them how they seated in your pads while you were not there.

banker69

is the noise supposed to be an extremely loud high pitched squeal? I would've thought there would be some mention of this before I bought the damn car, if that's the case.

The HACK

To resolve your issues, we must first understand why brakes "squeal."

First, the noise you hear is a vibrational noise resulting from a couple of things: Pad vibrating against caliper piston, pad vibrating against rotor, or other parts of the brake system vibrating against other parts of the system. Since it sounds like the problem you mentioned did not exist when you first got the car, and only under braking, I can only surmise the most common cause of the problem:

Glazed pad.

What's happening here, is that the pad surface has become smooth from repeated use, and the brake dust has filled in all the little crevices of the pad material, causing the pad to skit across the surface of the rotor as you apply light brake pressure. That vibration/skittish action is what causes the brakes to squeal. Since you have the Brembo system, the problem is exacerbated by the multiple pistons that the pad is banging against as well.

Here's what you can do to alleviate the problem. Take the car out to a big empty parking lot. Speed up to ~45mph, brake HARD down to ~5-10 mph without activating the ABS, do this repeatedly for 5-6 times, then drive around in the parking lot without stopping for 15 minutes for the brakes to cool off. Then repeat the braking from 60mph to 5-10 mph. Do not activate the ABS, any time the ABS is activated you must repeat procedure from the start. Drive around for another 10-15 minutes to let the brakes cool down. The brakes should not squeal after that until you've driven it long enough for the pads to be glazed again.

One way you can PREVENT this from happening, is to get SLOTTED rotors. The slots on the rotor would constantly swipe the pads and prevent the dust build-up that leads to glazed pads. However, you will see shorter pad life and increased dusting.

banker69

how do you keep the ABS from activating? Thanks for the info - i'll definitely give this a shot.

Michael@Forged

The brembo brakes are known to make noise no matter how soft the pads or rotors are. Thats why you see a really night lip at the edge of your rotors when your pads are worn down a good bit. But nissan knows about the brembo brake noise that is why the Infiniti G35 coupe lost its brembo brake package because Infiniti owners where complaining to much so they deleleted them from the 6M/T and upgraded the brakes on 05 Z and G's to the larger rotors and 2 piston calipers.

banker69

the "nissan specialist" from corporate just called me and said he talked w/ the service supervisor, who I've been dealing with, and he says they may need to bring in a service specialist. If this brembo noise issue is a known problem, they sure as hell don't pass that knowledge along to their service teams. This whole situation blows b/c I really couldn't care less about the brembo brakes - they just came w/ my the GT package.

The HACK

It's called "threshold braking." Give the brake pedal a firm but smooth motion, when ABS kicks in, back off a smidge. Then try again until the ABS doesn't engage but the car slows down like an anchor has been dropped.

ABS engagement is dependent on how quickly the friction changes from static to kinetic friction between the tire and the road. The smoother your pedal input (not softer, smoother) the less likely ABS will engage.

It's hard to explain.