My pads are good but my brakes squeak when I apply the the brakes..why is this happening? I was told by one 355 owner that its brake dust accumulated on the rotor and to rinse the rotors/brake are with water and it will stop? ANY HELP WITH THIS WOULD BE REALLY APPRECIATED?
Have you tried anti-squeal compound? You can buy it at any parts store... it's toothpaste kind of goo. Pull out the brake pads (surprisingly easy in this car), smear a little bit on the metal backing plates of the brake pads where they contact the caliper and piston, then slide 'em back in. Usually that works. Don't know how long you've owned the car. If you just got it, first make sure the pads aren't worn out. Second: be forewarned that some brake pads squeal no matter what. If you shop for brake pads, manufacturers usually have a variety of pad compounds and you have to figure out what you're looking for in a pad. I get the impression (could be wrong) that if you demand no squeal and minimal brake dust deposits on your wheels, your stopping distance will not be as good as if you go for the squealy, dusty pads. The previous owner may have wanted ultimate stopping power and was willing to live with the noise. In that case you'll need new pads to stop the howling.
Actually, you want to smear that stuff on anything that contacts a moving part in the brake system. There are caliper pins that the pads might rub against. If you still get squeal then it may be pad composition. Some pads make a lot of dust and some are formulated to make very little dust. The compounds range widely. Slotted rotors can help pass the dust and burned pad residue. The best bet, however, is that coating the contact points will end your squeaks.
Follow Paul's suggestions as well as 'Bed' the pads in properly too. There's a few threads on the procedure. My original pads wouldn't stop squealing for any length of time even though they were fresh. I switched to Porterfields & it's very rare I even hear a peep from them.
Forgot the bedding procedure, however, I have never heard of pads squealing because they were not bedded properly. Could happen I guess. Bedding is the systematic process of heating up the pads through intended hard use so that the resins in the compounds burn off and the pads complete curing. Also, if this helps to mate the pads to the rotor surface, especially if you are using a older set - not replacements or "turned" ones. Usually, you take the car up to speed and brake hard 8-10 times. I did 2 sets of lower speed, then higher speed runs on my stock BMW pads. The web sites for your pads should have the recommended procedure. Pretty easy except that you need to find a place where you can run up to 60 mph then slam on the brakes for your runs without drawing attention. Just so happens the street near my house, ... Well, that's a secret.
Its often caused by the pads not being firmly clamped to the rotor allowing a vibration which resonates (squeals) and is especially noticeable at low speeds when coming to a stop rather than when the pedal is being pressed more heavily. Have a look at the insides of the front brake rotors - mine appeared just fine with the full width of the rotor being nice and shiny however the inside was a different story - see pic. Its a sure sign of either a sticky piston/s or the tracks have rust under them jamming the pad and stopping it making full contact. Either way the caliper needs refurbishing. Another simple test is with the pistons pressed back can you slide the pads backwards and forwards along their tracks? if not its likely rust under them pushing them up and jamming the pads and again causing the pad not to be clamped firmly to rotor. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Vince, as a BMW guy, I'm surprised you didn't reference the Zeckhausen guide! Instructions for bedding in your brakes .
No! :-( Still a job in process - "reconditioned" the 2 rear ones, replaced the other front with a new one and replaced all the brakes hoses. Details in link below... 348 DIY "Restoration" - Page 128 Squeak is a lot better but reckon it will disappear altogether once I do this final corner.
I kept boiling the fluid in my MINI using that guide. So I uprated from Dot 4 to Dot 5.1 - and boiled that too. Motul RBF-600 (a Dot 4, but higher temps than virtually all marketed as Dot 5.1) is better stuff and I haven't boiled that yet... though I am more careful these days. At some point in life, I'm going to have a car with ridiculously high-performance brakes that can handle my enthusiasm for that tugging feeling upon the eyeballs during extreme rates of deceleration. All the best, Andrew.
I tried stock, Potterfields, and both had a garbage truck sequel. I got Hawk ceramic and braking performance improved and not one squeak since on the 355! However, Hawk has got to be the worst company I have ever dealt with for customer support. I bought some HPS pads for my camaro which totally failed and they behaved poorly on my Lotus as well. I had used HPS pads for years on many cars to include the Lotus so something went wrong. I emailed them, no response, called them and didn't get a call back. And when I started calling specific people everyone I was transferred to was out to lunch and never returned a call. So I will be looking for an alternative to Hawk in the future.
The calipers on 348/355 are 4 pot so no sliders! I used the proper ate brake assembly grease on mine but as mentioned check the insides of your rotors and if not nice and clean then your caliper needs returning and lubrication will only give a short term solution
