Not just a squeal from the brakes...

[Guest]

1992 Ford Festiva
EFI, No Power Steering

Here is the problem: After the car has been sitting for a few hours, I begin to hear a squealing sound come from the front drivers side wheel. It does this only after it has been sitting and goes away after I drive it a little bit. When I hit the brakes, the sound goes away. I have tried putting my foot on the brake while going 35 mph (just enough so that I am not slowing down), and the sound goes away, but when I release the brake, it comes back. Also, when I jerk the wheel to the left really fast while going 35 mph, it goes away for a split second, but of course I have to jerk the wheel back to the center so I do not get pulled over.

I do know that I need to get the brakes fixed because sometimes I will be driving down the road and want to gradually brake, and the pedal goes down farther than it should. Also my brakes squeal when I come to a stop.

With being out of work for a month, finances are kinda tight, but I finally got a job. Hopefully someone understands what I am dealing with.

Thanks,

R

[jglutz]

Pull the wheel and examine all of the hardware....all there...all clean....all tight.

My 'Guess' The slide pins/bolts are rusted....bent...or lose

[gdawgs]

Sounds like the pads could be worn. The squealing could be the wear indicator(a little metal piece that rubs on the rotor when the pads wear down, they squeal and warn you that the pads need replacing). Replacing the pads is easy to do, and a set of pads is pretty inexpensive (roughly $20). As long as the rotors aren't warped or really ground up due to pads that are completely shot, you would not have to machine the rotors.

[CHills]

^^I agree.
I am almost positive that's what it is, your cars symptoms are IDENTICAL to how my car acted when the brakes needed to be replaced.

[Phatbowler]

Thanks, I will check all those out Thursday (weather permitting).

[GenevaDirt]

Sounds like the pads could be worn. The squealing could be the wear indicator(a little metal piece that rubs on the rotor when the pads wear down, they squeal and warn you that the pads need replacing). Replacing the pads is easy to do, and a set of pads is pretty inexpensive (roughly $20). As long as the rotors aren't warped or really ground up due to pads that are completely shot, you would not have to machine the rotors.

^^I agree.
I am almost positive that's what it is, your cars symptoms are IDENTICAL to how my car acted when the brakes needed to be replaced.

^^Absolutely....get the pads from autozone....lifetime warranty....just swap them whenever you need to.

[Phatbowler]

I checked the front brakes and that was the problem. I got the new pads and a bottle of brake cleaner so that I can change them on Saturday.

Do I need to also get a bottle of anti-squeal compound like the Haynes book says to put on the brake pad backing shims???

[m715]

No. Reuse the shims off the old pads, and they should be fine. Check the pins on the calipers. They will likely be frozen, and need to be freed up to have good brakes. When they are stuck, you will only be using one brake pad instead of both. Festiva brakes REALLY suck when they are like this. Next best thing to Fred Flintstone brakes, Wilma!

Michael

[Phatbowler]

Which pins??

Check the pins on the calipers. They will likely be frozen, and need to be freed up to have good brakes. When they are stuck, you will only be using one brake pad instead of both.

What do you mean by the pins: Do you mean the retaining pins like the M-shaped pin, the W-shaped pin, and the anti-rattle spring?

[m715]

No, what I am talikg about are the slider pins that are under rubber boots on the caliper. They are VERY prone to getting stuck with corrosion. Sand any rust off them, and treat them with silicone grease before you reinstall the calipers. You will be happy you did.

Michael

[gdawgs]

I checked the front brakes and that was the problem. I got the new pads and a bottle of brake cleaner so that I can change them on Saturday.

Do I need to also get a bottle of anti-squeal compound like the Haynes book says to put on the brake pad backing shims???

I just replaced my pads a couple months ago and I did not put the anti-squeal goop on. THEY SQUEALED LIKE CRAZY! So I went down and bought some goop, then took them apart and gooped them. Nice and quiet after that. I would put the goop on the first time around.

[GenevaDirt]

its a hit or miss on the squeel stuff....I have used it and then on others I have not....No squeel ever with the stuff....sometimes you get the squeel if you don't use it. I would make sure you use silicon or anti-seize on the pins like Mike says....also the retainer pins... make sure you get them good and clean. It will be a piece of cake. If the rubber is in tact on your sliders I am sure they will be fine....I usually just remove the wire clips and retainer pins and slide out the old and slide in the new. I make sure the caliper slides without any problems when I have the pads out....if it does I do not mess with the sliders.

[Phatbowler]

Thanks

Good to know, I will hop over to autozone and get some silicone compound before I start changing the brake pads.

[Phatbowler]

All done

No more squeal with the brakes. It was the brake shoes that were causing the noise.

I only had two parts left over, lol. One part was a copper washer when I took off the brake line, but I know I put one back on it. I learned that taking off the brake line to move the caliper was not necessary. The second part was one of the whole hardware kit that you can get from autozone. It is the flat metal piece that fell off when I removed the caliper to get the brake pads in.

If these parts are necessary, please let me know. If not, I will not worry about it.

Thanks for helping me through this.

R

[GenevaDirt]

You did not have to remove the caliper to remove that pads. Just remove the 2 retaining clips and then the 2 little pins....brakes pop out from the top. Just so you know next time....lol.