Advice Please My Car's Whistling So Much Its Embarrassing

[louise74]

I need a bit of advise please I have just been away in my Toyota Yaris Phase 1 (MII 05 plate) for a long weekend and covered 600 miles in her. On the way down to Nottingham I started to notice a low pitched whistle from my passenger side but it was only intermittent however as time has went on it has got more frequent and varies with the the speed, the lower the speed the higher the pitch it also seems to happen more frequently at lower speeds. When I start to drive my car the whistelling doesn't start straight away usually starts after 5-10 miles and when I put even the slightest pressure on my brakes its stops and the longer I am braking for (or stopped for) the longer it remains stopped for so if it s just the slightest touch it starts up immediately but if I am stuck at lights it can take a few more minutes to start whistling like a kettle again.

The car is running fine and seems to be braking fine no warning lights have come on and there is no burning smell coming from anywhere any suggestions? I am suspecting its something to do with my brake pads. Thanks

[ninosport]

It could be something in your brakes. Have you looked? If it stops happening when you brake then it either somethings up with them or you wheels.

If your ever in Yorkshire I can have a look.

[Cherry Red Pocket Rocket]

The brake pads are designed to squeal horribly when they're worn?

[Raeman]

Could be worn front pads. If you can't check or replace them yourself, nip it down to the Garage to be checked.

With worn pads you may hear a metallic grating type noise aswell whilst braking.

[minidoughty]

whistling = wing mirrors... search for whistle/whistling in this section.

[gar]

whistling = wing mirrors... search for whistle/whistling in this section.

Think she has already noticed it is a brakes related whistle, rather than the mirrors. Also, I have never had whistling mirrors on my Jap built Yaris OR the French school car one despite the Frenchie usually being to blame. I HAVE, however noticed whistling, if the windows are just ever so slightly open. Not enough to be seen but enough to.... well... Whistle, actually!!

Make sure the windows are either open or fully shut before trying out hard work remedies!

[Cherry Red Pocket Rocket]

I've never had whistling mirrors either... Does it happen? :S

[minidoughty]

erm... where does she say it's brake related? she mentions it actually stops when she brakes! not starts!

[alfiejts]

I've never had whistling mirrors either... Does it happen? :S

If you look at the underneath edge of a BMW M3 mirror, you'll see a series of "bumps". That's designed to break up the airflow at speed and reduce the noise they make....

You don't hear them whistle normally these days because manufacturers test them properly but in the days when you bought an aftermarket door mirror from your local car shop and bolted it to you door or window frame, it was very common.

[alfiejts]

erm... where does she say it's brake related? she mentions it actually stops when she brakes! not starts!

Straightforward fault diagnosis.

The brakes have static and moving parts that have small tolerences.

If the noise stops as soon as you touch the brake pedal, then very act of touching the brake pedal must have made the noise stop.

The only parts that "change" when you touch the brake pedal are the brakes themselves, so they must be the cause of the noise for it to stop when you touch the pedal.

As posted before, next steps would be to look at the front pads and rear shoes.

Take the pads out, clean the pads and calipers up and put them back with a touch of coppagrease on the back of the pad.

Take the rear drums off, brush out any dust from the drum and off the shoes with a paint brush and put them back together too...

[gar]

erm... where does she say it's brake related? she mentions it actually stops when she brakes! not starts!

I rest my case!!! :P

[minidoughty]

:P Very rare for a car to produce a "whistle" from the brakes? squeals, knocks, rattles etc. all very common. Any update on this? found the problem yet?

probably squealing brakes, a stone trapped somewhere around the disc, or maybe the shims.

[Parts-King]

I've never had whistling mirrors either... Does it happen? :S

Yes it does happen, obviously not on this car, the fix was to put Japanese mirrors on the French cars, they had a different wind deflector thingie mac bobbit on them so they didnt whistle ;)

My guess this car's pads might be low and the squeal shim is touching the disc (its meant to do that) when you brake, or you have some debris stuck in the caliper area

Kingo

[Cherry Red Pocket Rocket]

Nice technical language there parts king ;)

[gar]

Yeah, I think the doo-hickey is making contact with the wizzle-twizzle and causing it to rumbustulate, at high frequency!! :P

Larfs aside, I am thinking it is the pads, too! Just a mention, Kwik-fitup (If you trust them) Are offering to replace brake pads/discs for life, for free if you buy new ones. You need to still own the car to benefit, but may be ok to sneek a pal or a family member past the rules! (Shh, I never mentioned that).

[alfiejts]

Personally wouldn't use them as you don't know the quality of the parts they fit and that makes a real difference to your stopping distance.

Given that my 1.0 Yaris was on the same pads after 64,000 miles, a "free pads for life" offer is probably not worth anything, cos you're unlikely ever to need new pads after these are swapped.

[Cherry Red Pocket Rocket]

Kwick Fit are bersterds! I went in to have my car looked at quickly and they were incredibly rude so I told them not to bother and went elsewhere. Went to Humphries (also owned by them) to have my exhaust looked at (the back box was severed from the rest) and the bloke told me I needed a whole new exhaust system. Told me "you've not got a cheap car mate..." Gave me a horrendous quote and then an instant 20% off! Took it to a garage I know who fitted a new back box for me (got it from an autoparts place), only charged me £20 for the work, took half an hour, looked at the rest of the exhaust system and told me it was fine! No problems since!

[louise74]

Thanks for all your replies, I have kept meaning to come on here and give an update but never had time. It was the brakes at fault. Took it into Mr T, a mechanic took it out and immediately identified the problem on hearing the noise she was making.

On stripping the brakes down the calipers were sticking and there was a build up of brake dust, my brake pads were around 70% worn as well so the calipers have been freed, brake carriers have been cleaned up and new brake pads fitted, at the same time they did a safety report of the car and gave her a thorough check up . All seems quiet now was pleasantly suprised at the cost was expecting at least £150 given that its a dealership and it was only £79.99 hope I have no more problems for a while

[Raeman]

Thanks for all your replies, I have kept meaning to come on here and give an update but never had time. It was the brakes at fault. Took it into Mr T, a mechanic took it out and immediately identified the problem on hearing the noise she was making.

On stripping the brakes down the calipers were sticking and there was a build up of brake dust, my brake pads were around 70% worn as well so the calipers have been freed, brake carriers have been cleaned up and new brake pads fitted, at the same time they did a safety report of the car and gave her a thorough check up . All seems quiet now was pleasantly suprised at the cost was expecting at least £150 given that its a dealership and it was only £79.99 hope I have no more problems for a while

Result! Bet it feels a lot bette now aswell!

[gar]

Glad you got it sorted and not a bad price either, given the main dealer did it... I always say check with them first as they can often surprise you...

As for the Kwik-Stitch_ Many people DO trust them, many dont... That is personal preference, same goes for absolutely any dealer/repairer up and down the country and all across the globe.

If you doubt the quality of the parts they offer, ask them what make they are. A quality brand will still be just that, from a reputable garage or if you got a monkey with a spanner to fit them! (Same goes for rubbish parts)!

[bothwell_buyer]

Thanks for all your replies, I have kept meaning to come on here and give an update but never had time. It was the brakes at fault. Took it into Mr T, a mechanic took it out and immediately identified the problem on hearing the noise she was making.

On stripping the brakes down the calipers were sticking and there was a build up of brake dust, my brake pads were around 70% worn as well so the calipers have been freed, brake carriers have been cleaned up and new brake pads fitted, at the same time they did a safety report of the car and gave her a thorough check up . All seems quiet now was pleasantly suprised at the cost was expecting at least £150 given that its a dealership and it was only £79.99 hope I have no more problems for a while

well done!!

I've had problems with Toyota calipers sticking for 10 years now..maybe they are just not designed for the muck on our roads. Brake dust is a common for brake noise.....but folk were put off from using an airline to blow the brakes clear cos of the possible carcinogenic effect of the dust - but that was years ago.