Front-End Squeal

[vcp]

Have an intermittent high-pitched squealing noise coming from the front end that has me baffled.

It will gradually increase in volume, then suddenly disappear. Live in the winter mountains where they sand and salt regularly so thought it might just be a piece of grit or sand.

But has persisted for months now (again, only intermittent), so suspicious. Took a front-end expert for a drive to let him listen, and of course, no noise.

Took the front wheels off but everything looked fine (brakes have about 50% left) and no noise when spinning the wheels, but the front boots probably need replacing soon.

Also noticed a few things while driving and trying to assess where the noise was coming from:
1. If I ever-so-lightly touch the brake pedal, the squeal disappears momentarily, but returns when I take the pressure off the pedal.
2. Squeal can disappear if I turn the wheel slightly in either direction.
3. Noticed the squeal lasted for about for 5 minutes one day as I drove the car to a friend's place and parked the car. When I backed the car out of his driveway and drove off, no more squeal. (Which is another reason I suspected it might be a piece of grit lodged somewhere.)

Okay, Team Tercel Masterminds - ideas?? Thanks!

[dlb]

hi van!

i remember we took a quick look for this when you guys were here last spring or summer but didn't see anything suspect. however, i just remembered that i had a similar intermittent squeak that would disappear if i touched the brake pedal, turned, etc. it was due to a marginal brake caliper. as calipers get old, the pistons can get stuck in the cylinder due to corrosion. when it's starting out and not too bad, you get the intermittent squeaking when the caliper holds the pad just slightly against the rotor, but as it gets worse the caliper ends up dragging the pads on the rotor all the time. this causes overheating of the rotor and pads.

i would get someone to stand on either side of the car when the squeaking is happening, and then drive slow so that they can tell you which side it's coming from. replace the guilty caliper and bleed the brake fluid from it. that should be it.

good luck, and hope you're well.

[Gottolovem]

Ditto

Sticky brake caliper

[Mark]

I learned from experience a few months ago that when I replace a brake caliper, I'll always replace the hose as well. On mine, the threads on the hose were worn and not sealing properly in the caliper. When I took my foot off the brake, air was being sucked in past the threads. This caused the caliper piston to not retract and the calipers were dragging on the wheel disk. It didn't make a squealing noise on mine though, it just smoked and was smelly from the friction-generated heat.

[vcp]

Thanks guys! Just get the part at Lordco? Or finding a used one better?

(David - pretty certain the sound is on driver's side. And definitely not a 'squeak' - a very loud SQUEALLLLLL. And only seem to hear it at higher speed but can't seem to convince Roxanne to get out and run beside the car at 80km/h ) We're up-island from you this week.)

[dlb]

yeah, buy the caliper new or remanufactured, for sure. used calipers will probably work fine if they haven't been sitting for too long but brakes are one of the few areas i don't like to take chances with used parts.

we're heading north this week too, will email you later.