1997 Stratus Brake Issues

[tpjefferson]

I have a 1997 Stratus, 2.0 L, 4 cylinder, manual transmission. About six months ago, I took my car into Brake Check - bad idea, since I'm a girl and they are always trying to upsell me! Anyways, I usually change the front brake pads on my own, but since moving to an apartment and not having the room to work on the car, I broke down and went to brake check. They did a free inspection, even though I just wanted them to check the front brakes and change the pads because I was hearing the indicator on the pads hitting the rotor. They told me (and showed me) where my wheel cylinder on my rear passenger side was leaking brake fluid. So, $270 later, I had it replaced and apparently all was good. Now, 6 months later, I started hearing a squealing/squeaking when I apply my brakes. So, naturally I think it's the indicator on my brake pads. So, I buy new brake pads and new rotors (last time I changed the pads, the rotors looked like they needed to be replaced). I pulled the pads and rotors off. The pads weren't worn and the rotors weren't warped or ground down. I replaced them anyways. However, the next day I started hearing the squealing again. So, I figured it must be my rear brakes. I took it to Brake Check since they worked on them last time and I don't know how to work on rear brakes. They said that my drums needed to be replaced because they are right at specs and the squealing is coming from the drums getting too hot. I asked if my pads/shoes were okay and they said that they were fine on both sides. I want to believe them, but when I called my Dad for his opinion, he said that the drums wouldn't be making that noise when the pads are good because the pads are a softer material than the drum and the pads would wear out if that was the case. So, I'm turning to the Dodge Forum folks for answers. Has anyone experienced this problem? Does anyone know what the problem might be? Is Brake Check right? Or is my Dad right? I don't know what to do. I found new drums for $25 each and thought about just installing them anyways. I didn't let Brake Check do the work because they wanted to charge me $170 to install them. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the VERY LONG post, but I need help and had to explain everything so that I don't have to answer a million questions or get answers that I've already followed up on. Thanks, Tracey

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[stratusoutlaw]

Depending on the pads you have one the front, they could be semi-metallic, rear shoes are usually also.. They are known to squeak and squeal. With the rears, it could be the brake dust getting stuck in between the shoes and drum. With the rears, did they replace the shoes? Depending on how much brake fluid was leaking, it could have gotten absorbed into the shoes. Usually sanding the surface of the shoes will help clean them up. Same with the drums and rotors. You can take some sand paper (320grit should work) and just lightly sand the surfaces of the shoes, pads, drums and rotors. This should give the pads and shoes a dull look to them. It should take off some of the shinyness that the shoes and probably the rotors have.

Can you tell for sure where the noise is coming from? Is it a really high pitched squeal I run ceramic brake pads and have only done my rears once in the 106Kmiles (now has 207K) i've owned it.

I have a 98 Stratus with the 2.0l manual trans. Do you downshift when coming to a stop?

[ratsttam]

The squeeling could be any number of things. My cavaliers drum brakes also squeeled, well, more like chirped. All I did to stop that was to remove the drums, using brake cleaner to clean them up, and also cleaned the mechanics of it. They were a pain to work on to say the least...

Does your noise sound just like the wear indicators from the front disks, but coming from the rear? If it sounds different, can you describe it in as best detail as you can? Hope this helps.