Hi guys, here is an easy one for you i'm sure. My dads abarth 500 has developed a high pitch squeek on the front brakes at slow speeds, it didn't do this when it was bought last november and it was garaged during the all the snow and cold weather.

So, answer below

Thanks

pads not having enough copper grease on the back of them?

as said above - there's usually a smear of copper grease on the back of the pads. Also, some makes have a thin metal shim between the pad and piston, again with a smear of copper grease.

could also be a slight build up of corrosion on the edge of the discs, a drive will sort this, may have to reverse as well. It can also be caused by the disc pads "glazing"

Take out the pads and clean the metal edges of the backplate of the pad.
Clean the area on the caliper where the Pad fits in the caliper.
Put a smear (and ONLY a smear) of copper grease on the back of the pad where it touches other metal parts.
Its an age old problem for all cars especially when they stand for a while.
Its just annoying, and relatively simple to fix.

Rust on the rotors from condensation.

Rust on the rotors from condensation.

It can also be a sign of the pads being worn. My megane is doing it yet again- why are Meganes so hard on their rear brakes! Surely that huge arse doesn't put that much strain on the brakes?

thanks all for the replies

On motor bikes we stopped using copper grease because if the bike was put away after getting wet the mix of metals would cause the brake discs to pit so used silkolene pro rg2 ,its also heat resistant

quote:

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Originally posted by BenB
It can also be a sign of the pads being worn. My megane is doing it yet again- why are Meganes so hard on their rear brakes! Surely that huge arse doesn't put that much strain on the brakes?

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Motor factors will supply small packets of "specially" formulated grease for this annoying problem.
I have never read the label, but works well.
May be Copperslip though.
Last set of brakes on Dayly Driver was assembled with small dab of silicone grease that I had lying around for Clothes washer repairs.
HTH

ETA: Some pads have wear indicators that start to squeal to tell you their life is coming to an end (Locost for Brake pad transmitters on BMW`s.)

[Edited on 1/30/2010 by Angel Acevedo]

Lol, simple question, eh?

My old Tutor at Liverpool University conducted lots of research and development on this problem. Although you can "elasto-plast" the situation by adding greases and stuff, the real mechanics of what is going on to cause screeching is massively complex.

That said, grease and anti-squeal shims work well enough to make a car comfortable to drive.

Chris

Regarding my previous post, the pads, bolts and shims had a LOT of High Temperature silicone smeared all over.
They didnīt squeal ītill the end of its useful life when the new ones were installed as described.