beardking

As the title asks, are the brakes on the 350z typically noisy? I bought my wife a 2003 350z with 43,000 miles on it recently. When we bought it, the brakes were a little soft, so part of the deal was that the dealer had to fix the brakes. Now the brakes work fully, however when pulling up to a stop sign the (I believe) rear brakes tend to squeal. They sound as if the pads need to be replaced, but we had the dealer check the brakes again and they (of course) said that the brakes are fine. In fact, they said that it's typical of them to squeal during low speed braking.
I've never considered brakes squealing at any speed to be TYPICAL, so I'm quite skeptical about their response.
Anyone else out there have this issue. Is it actually that common?
Thanks in advance.

KornerCarver

iTrader: (2)

My brakes are quiet. No squeals.

Landon_G03z

Brand new pads will squeal on a smooth rotor. You can either buy some brake disk lube from advanced auto or just wait on them to break in.

zaimer

No, my brakes are silent. Higher end vehicles (Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin etc.) usually have carbon ceramic brakes, which are notorious for squeaking. Most Z's do not have these, so the brakes should not be making noise. As a previous poster had said, they probably just have to be broke in a little.

Waiz

iTrader: (57)

Change pads, some of the OEM's are known to squeal but no harm is done running them like that

JCITY

iTrader: (2)

CHANGE PADS.
Mine are quiet

Z-Crazy

I had oem brembo pads and they were a little squeaky.

dcains

iTrader: (15)

Could be the type of pads, that the pads aren't properly bedded-in (very likely even if they weren't noisy), or the pads may be lacking shims or noise-damping lube on their backing plates. You can apply some brake grease yourself pretty easily (basic hand tools, with an instructional thread on this site showing how to remove/change pads).

Permatex also makes a spray-on brake pad coating which works very well. My wife used to have a Volvo with noisy brakes, regardless of the pads used, and this was the only stuff that finally worked:


Bottom line, though, is that most dealer-installed pads are pretty crappy, dusty, and sometimes noisy, too.

beardking

Can anyone recommend good (quiet) pads for a daily driver that will never see anything more than some spirited highway driving?

Z-Crazy

Centric posi quiet ceramic. Quiet and low dust.

archangele

Hi,
When I bought my car, the previous owner had installed a new set of OEM Nissan brake pads. They are still good and are as thick as new at all four wheels, but the damned things squeal a lot, especially with light braking at lower speeds. I pulled the pads and put anti squeal stuff on the back of each pad, per the instructions for the product and they are still noisy. What other types / brands of pads would be better? I hear ceramic are less noisy and produce less dust. My rotors up front are new and the back ones are still in excellent shape so I don't want to have to replace those guys. The car stops excellent with no pulling or rotor thumping.. Neither of my Honda cars or my 5.0L mustang exhibit this noisy braking issue. What's up with Nissan?

stuartc323

Try to properly bed them in once more over, even if they have been in use already, if that doesnt stop it, try cleaning the brakes before you decide to change the pads. If you do have to change the pads, clean your brakes and buy ceramic pads like everyone else is saying, and you should be ok