550 Maranello - brake screeching...

The easiest way is to change brands of pads. I have changed several cars to Porterfield Brake Pads with great success. Daniel at Ricambi America will be glad to help you.

 

My 1999, 550 does it to, it runs in the ferrari family, gets better in summer.
In another word it is normal.

 

My 99 also does it. I've got 8000 miles. It's a bit annoying, but its part of the race breed....

 

Hey, you know me...

When my 328 was in for the big $$$$ service I asked about this, Richard says leave it be as it is normal.
Dan

 

My 2005 575M does it. I was told by the dealer, "If it doesn't squeek, it's not a Ferrari."

 

We put on Ferodo DS2500's at the recommendation of a few other members and they are world's better in every way than the stock pads. No squealing, significantly less dust, improved feel and stopping, much friendlier on the rotors, and did I mention NO SQUEALING! And the kicker...much cheaper than ordering stock replacements from the dealer. I can't believe how miserable the stock pads are in comparison. You will not be disappointed! They are described as a hybrid street/track pad. Another member reported tracking his car with these pads and he was very happy with the performance. Good description at this site... http://www.raceshopper.com/ferodo_compounds.shtml

We ordered from here (also recommended by a member) and they were very helpful and knowledgable, just give em a call... http://www.cobaltfriction.com/products/index.asp

Throw those old pads in the garbage, dunno what Ferrari was thinking...

 

Ah: now there's a new business opportunity for someone:

All the performance cars I own have a bit of brake squeal under light braking with cold brakes. If I warm the brakes up, it stops. But city gridlock tends to make for cold brakes.

So: The new Romco Automatic Brake Heaters

Package consists of a mask which collects all the curses you hurl at the other gridlocked drivers, and uses "invective heating" to convert your ire into brake heat.

Next week: Sledge-O-Matic.

 

550 have a slightly awkward anti squeal shim on the front callipers. They can be mis-fitted if not paying close attention.

Check them out, clean them, and use some Hi temp antiseize on all points of contact.

Make sure your service guy cleans (wash/vacuum) the holes in the discs too. It's the dust that squeals, and it gets trapped in the cross drillings... it takes a while to poke a drill through EVERY hole, but it needs to be done for thorough servicing.

 

My 2005 612 Scaglietti has the same problem and it's driving me nuts. I'm thinking of selling the F-car and buying a BMW M5 if I can't get it fixed! The dealer first tried to deny it was a problem and then proved incapable of finding a solution.

 

My Maranello has same problem, only 1500miles on the pads. For now, try cleaning off the dust regularly (power wash the wheels and calipers) and apply the brakes hard a few times from speed. I also read somewhere rolling backwards done a hill and applying brakes hard helps. Screech seems less of a problem now.
When pads worn I will replace with Ferodo DS2500.
Regards,
Ron

 

Mine were squealing badly. Just have them changed to fiorano spec.
Wouldn't say the squealing is totally gone but it is now much better.
I think squealing is a bit part of the game, although careful break servicing should keep it at very reasonnable levels.

Would be a shame to part with a car for something that trivial.

Tradeur, I am very surprised the dealer can't fix this. Who did you go to ?

 

HA! A limitless energy source. You, my friend, have just found a way around the second law of thermodynamics!

"Invective heating." That is just BEAUTIFUL!

 

I was thinking about this product, but StopTech write that "This compound produces some noise on the street", so I'm not sure anymore.

 

Not sure if the Fiorano spec is available on the 612. There's a Handling GTC package which includes Carbon Ceramic brakes, but I've heard these brakes could be even noisier. Is it the Carbon Ceramic brakes that you changed to in your 550?

My dealer HR Owen in London pointed me to the HR Owen service center in Acton, where somebody named Joe handled my car. Joe claims he put in brand new pads (even though the original ones had only 6,000 miles on them so they were not worn out) and that he applied some "CRC Disc Brake Quiet" anti-squeal goo (which I had supplied to him) on the back of the pads. To no avail...

If you can recommend somebody more competent, I'm willing to try.

 

Fiorano spec brakes are just Pagid 4-2 Blues, and available for a fraction of the dealer cost elsewhere.

I use Pagid Yellow, RS19(B), on front of 550 and blue on the rear only, as I've found the blues are still weak on track in the front, but they are fine on road.

The yellows are more expensive than the blues by about 25%. The yellows will squeal a bit though, but not un-manageably....

 

Fiorano spec on a 575 are Pagid orange. My car sounds like a garbage truck when rolling up to a stop light. I like the incongruity of a 200k car sounding like a garbage truck. To each his own, I guess.

 

Thanks, didn't know that. Glad they've up graded from the 550 spec.

Pagid Orange are std fitment to 355C FYI, of course the pads are competely different size and shape of course.

 

Tradeur,

I would not trust HR Owens for servicing. I guess you car is under warranty - so you want it main dealer serviced - so suggest you book it with Maranello Sales to specifically to solve that. They are close to ascott but can arrange pick up and delivery i n london.
They have received in a few cases mixed reviews but frankly for tough things to sort out, I have found them top notched in my personnal experience.

Otherwise, you can give a call to Karl Verdi. He services my car and always comes up with solutions at decent costs.

I doubt you can not get you 612 to have suffficiently quiet brakes.

 

I put up with squealing brakes for 4 years on my F355. After reading many posts from this site, I decided to get a set of R4S Porterfield pads from Daniel at Ricambi. Put them on and used the "anti squeal" spray on tacki stuff from Pep Boys. No more nothing! I mean, absolutely quiet, like my wife's Lexus! Hardly any brake dust either! I wouldn't put up with the squealing any longer!!!!

Jeff

 

I swaped my stock pads out a few months ago for Porterfield RS4's and it completely solved the problem. I found the best price here. Good luck.
.http://************/catalog/index.php?cPath=21_39&osCsid=9898a93d461845e859ac0f90f3ea68f6

 

I have found the Pagid orange to be horrible squealers on my Audi, and the Porterfields not much better on the 512. Solved the Audi problem by going over to Porterfields and the 512 by going back to stock.

In both cases I got a big improvement from cleaning the rotors with aircraft spec. brake cleaner. Each pad has a different composition and the material they deposit on the rotors sets up a vibration between the pad and the rotor which we hear as a squeal.

 

Thank you for the advice. I think this is exactly what I shall do.

 

After speaking to the official service center, I found out that NO brake pads are Ferrari-approved for the 612 other than the factory-standard OEM pads.

So for the next few years I'm stuck with screeching brakes because upgrading to more silent pads would void the warranty... Bummer! I've reached a dead end.

As a matter of fact, I don't know of any brake pad manufacturer that sells pads specifically tailored for the 612. And this probably explains why.