Dirty Brakes

[wass]

Just recently our gen 2 started to make a very annoying squealing sound which was coming from the brakes. I remember that it did the same thing about 11 months ago. I investigated and found that the brakes were binding very slightly.

To solve this problem I released the pands and cleaned a considerable amount of dirt from the calipers. On completion I reassembled the brakes ensuring that the pads were free to move within the calipers. The result was an instant 5 mpg improvement. Given the frequency of this event I think that I will repeat this procedure every 6 months, its relatively simple to carry out and only takes a couple of hours and so I think that it would be time well spent.

By the way, although its way off subject, the radiator blind I ve been using on the lower grille has been saving an estimated 4% on the fuel bill and has worked very well over the winter. Somebody recomended using the blind until the ambients got to 15 deg C. I think this is about right. I have this website to thank for very useful advice. I see that Ford are advertising automatic radiator blinds on one of their new models.... maybe they read this forum too! :)

[GreenJuice]

Have you got some pictures to show what you did? I'd be interested for both the brakes and the blinds.

I have full block on the lower grill and 50% on upper (gen 3), monitoring engine coolant and inverter coolant temperatures on Scangauge. I can confirm your practice is beneficial and safe with ambient temperatures even up to the 15-18C range.

[wass]

Have you got some pictures to show what you did? I'd be interested for both the brakes and the blinds.

I am sorry to admit that I didnt take pictures of either issue. I am guessing that cleaning out the brake pads and calipers will also help to prevent un-necessary and expensive wear on the brake discs too. For the lower blind I used the recommended pipe insulation and tie- wrapped it onto the grille. It doesnt look very nice but it works ok.

[filcool]

I just serviced the brakes on my auris hsd the same way,dont know if you did the same but i put a small amount of copperslip grease on the areas the pad slides on this ensures everything stays nice and lubricated,you can get away with doing this every year and everything will remain silent and no squealing.

phil

[wass]

I just serviced the brakes on my auris hsd the same way,dont know if you did the same but i put a small amount of copperslip grease on the areas the pad slides on this ensures everything stays nice and lubricated,you can get away with doing this every year and everything will remain silent and no squealing.

phil

Thats how i do it Phil, Perhaps the Gen 2 calipers are a slightly different shape to the Auris and catch the dirt more effectively

[Peter Sale]

This may seem a silly question but was the squealing only when you were braking or at any speed ?. My Gen2 has started making a squealing sound but it is intermittent but now up to 30 MPH. Appears to happen more when I steer right. Have been wondering about cleaning the brakes or just giving it to dealer to sort.

Could be an expensive week, CD player has now gone into sulk mode like I have often read on forums. All buttons on centre unit dead, steering wheel controls ok though - at least there are onlt 2 CD's stuck in there :)

Peter

[filcool]

This may seem a silly question but was the squealing only when you were braking or at any speed ?. My Gen2 has started making a squealing sound but it is intermittent but now up to 30 MPH. Appears to happen more when I steer right. Have been wondering about cleaning the brakes or just giving it to dealer to sort.

Could be an expensive week, CD player has now gone into sulk mode like I have often read on forums. All buttons on centre unit dead, steering wheel controls ok though - at least there are onlt 2 CD's stuck in there :)

Peter

If the brakes do need a clean they could be binding slightly which could cause sqealing at different speeds,not on my auris but previous yaris it made quite a bad squel when turning one direction,but after i cleaned the brakes it stopped so it could easily be just the brakes needing attention.

When taken for a service at a toyota garage i dont know if the brakes are stripped down and cleaned or just a visial check is caried out,i always strip my down even after a service just to make sure everythings oiving freely,i hate noisy brakes.

phil

[wass]

This may seem a silly question but was the squealing only when you were braking or at any speed ?. My Gen2 has started making a squealing sound but it is intermittent but now up to 30 MPH. Appears to happen more when I steer right. Have been wondering about cleaning the brakes or just giving it to dealer to sort.

Peter

The squealing was between 10 and 30 mph and was quite constant whilst traveling normally. The squealing would increase initially with application of the brake and then subside to nothing as the car slowed. Speeds above 30 mph -the squealing would subside to nothing at 35mph. The squeal at 30 was embarrassing enough to demand a solution ASAP,however, given the cause, I suspect that it would have got worse quite quickly. It didnt seem to matter a lot whether the car was turning left or right or going straight but there were minor variations as I turned the steering wheel.

If you decide to fix it yourself, try the see what the front wheel bearings are like while the wheel is of the floor as this variation when steering right may be caused by a slightly worn wheel bearing ( an MOT fail point) . Hope this helps Peter. :)

[Peter Sale]

Thanks for the advice. In the end though I chickened out as the local dealer could look at it today. They weren't sure they had fixed it as they didn't find anything but did remove the pads and clean everything as well as cleaning the glaze off the discs. The best bit is that they didn't charge although they did find the rear wiper split when they cleaned the car. Overall, I didn't object to paying for a wiper blade as I expected to pay out more. Car was quiet on the way home so hopefully it is fixed.

Also, the CD player decided to work today so something else not to worry about. Maybe it fancied a day off, probably caught this attitude from the yaris it parks next to where the start-stop mode goes away on holiday for days at a time !

Peter