Old car blues....and noises.

Post by **snoopdog** » Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:20 pm

Ok i do not work on cars as much as some so i have a couple of questions that i would like to ask.

The first are my brakes, in May i put on Bendix IQ(import quiet) brake pads and now my car is getting really squeeky when i come to a complete stop, more noticeable when the brakes are cold. I took the pads off last weekend and poured a ton of brake lubricant on the backs of the pads, the stuff that does not gel. Originally they had the blue stuff on the backs but that did not work i guess. Well they are still very loud coming to a stop. The reason i wanted to use the IQ pads are they are very low dusting and my rims dont turn black in 5 days with these pads.

Second are my tires. When i got my rims the first tires to go on them were Bridgestone Potenza tires, z speed rated. You know the ones that are directional. After about 10k miles that got loud as hell and you could not even hear the radio when you went down the road. I changed them later before there time with Kumho z-speed rated tires. Now after 10-20k miles they are doing the same crap. Very loud noise starting at maybe 20mph and highly annoying. So my question, is it the rims, tires or the type of tires.

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:28 pm

I've honestly never had any trouble with brakes squealing, and I've never used that lube on the back. I know this is a low-brow thing to check, but did you make sure the "change your brake" tabs weren't hitting the rotor? They don't have to be even with the pad wear, I had one car where the tabs wore on a part of the rotor with some rust on it, and started squealing waaaay before the pads were gone. Other than checking that, I'm sad to say it could just be something on the surface of the pad, dirt, gravel, who knows.

What size tires? My Neon got lots of road noise on it's 205/50/15" (Pirelli P700Z Z-rated) tires... that's just the way they are if they're pretty low profile. Check www.tirerack.com, look up your size and model tire, and read the user feedback chart, and see what number/grade all the buyers of that tire rated it on road noise.

Post by **snoopdog** » Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:34 pm

I was kinda going with the profile or the tread pattern causing the noise. I might go with a lower noise tire and sacrifice the grip.

harbingerofthefish · Post by **harbingerofthefish** » Wed Aug 27, 2003 8:35 pm

hmmm....this isn't really the car question I intended on this side of this post.

not a clue about your tires. Assuming they are balanced you would think they are cool. Are these on the truck? You have a truck right? Are these knobby tires?

back when I had the $$$ to keep my camaro habit going (no redneck jokes) some tires would make more noise than others. If these are new tires, break them in.

It may be that they aren't balanced right though. I balanced my own tires though, so...

ask scott.

as for breaks....who needs to stop when you can go go go!

Post by **snoopdog** » Wed Aug 27, 2003 10:41 pm

These are on my 98 Eclipse, the truck tires are much quieter than the car tires, like that makes sense.

Brandon · Post by **Brandon** » Sat Aug 30, 2003 10:15 pm

Semi-metallic pads?? The harder pads squeal more as far as I know.. its a toss up between better life and the squeal or shorter life and quieter. I like the softer/organic pads for the price and they are easier on the rotors.. The 2 jags have inboard brakes so I sure as hell don't want to change the rotors on those any time soon.

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Sat Aug 30, 2003 10:18 pm

What's "in-board" brakes? Is this like a 80's 3 series BMW where the rotor is part of the hub and accepts the "lug-bolts" instead of the rotor sliding onto studs?

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Sat Aug 30, 2003 10:34 pm

All semi-metallic brake pads will make some noise. The cheaper the pad generally the more noise it will make. There are some makes and models that will not have quiet brakes without O.E. replacement pads. I have seen it dozens of times on Mazda, Mitsibishi, and several other imports. I have even tried the highest quality brake pads that Carquest sold. They were about $60 and raised hell when they were cold. Replqaced them with O.E. pads, never saw the car again. There is some experimentation to be done. You have used the disk brake quiet and silicon grease with little success, now what do try? First, make sure that all brake hardware is there, nothing is binding, all contact points and slides are lubricated with silicon grease (to make sure that the pads aren't constantly touching the rotors), then:

1. There is a carbon based liquid that I believe Bendix makes that you actually apply to the friction surface.
2. Using 180 grit sandpaper, deglaze the rotors. Sand and clean the friction surface with brake parts cleaner or rubbing alcohol.
3. Buy expensive O.E. pads, deglaze the rotors.

Taking the glaze off the rotors should be the first thing to do, just sand the rotor in small circular motions turning the rotor until you end where you started inside and outside. I have seen the liquid carbon work and would be the cheapest way to start.

Let me know what works. I have not worked on imports for several years now, so I am just telling you the small amount that I can recall.

Post by **snoopdog** » Sat Aug 30, 2003 10:44 pm

Where do you get the carbon based liquid ?

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Sun Aug 31, 2003 10:10 am

Carquest used to carry it. I am not sure of the name, but it was the only thingI have ever seen that you put on the friction side of the pad. It came in little packets like ketchup.

Post by **snoopdog** » Sun Aug 31, 2003 10:16 am

Yes i read about this stuff on some website, i will try it.