The front brakes on my wifes 2002 Intrepid R/T have been squealing for over a year. It started about 6 months after replacing the original rotors and brake pads. Pads and Rotors are from Napa. The pads are the OEM model and not the cheap things. I tried using anti squeal products to no avail. It works for a couple of weeks and then returns. While having the car serviced at Goodyear they looked them over as well and did the same thing I did with the same results. Does anybody have any suggestions. The squeal is getting to the point where you really want to hide under a rock when you braking.

 

Replacing the pads again with a different material, like ceramic, might help.

 

Some Dodge products have this problem, but I haven't heard of many probs with your make. There's a Neon near where I work... I cringe every time she applies her brakes. I don't see how folks can stand that sound, but she's happy.

There are a number of things we tried over the years. I'm told: Glue the pads to the calipers... it cushions the sound. Turning the rotors and/or sanding the pads can help, though I'd probably recommend swapping out the pads for something a bit softer. (Our local brake religning company has many such products they use for troublesome brakes.)

Generally, this is caused by a build up of dust, a slight warpage of the pad or crystalizing of the surface. This latter can be caused by not breaking in the pads slowly in the first month of use, or from excessive heat. Heat is caused by constant or hard braking, riding the brake pedal... or both dust and excess heat can be caused by the caliper not retracting properly. (When you have it apart, the calipers should retract with thumb pressure. If not, rebuilding the calipers, and polishing the pistons, helps. Come to think of it, these are probably chromed pistons, so maybe just lubing the seal.)

As you know, it can be very frustrating. Since it started w/ the new pad brand, I'd start by replacing the pads and checking the calipers retract.

 

you can try cleaning the pads. this is done by putting on the brakes, put the car in reverse, then with the brake pedal at about half strength, go backwards for 50-100 yards while you can feel the brakes fighting you. see if that helps. it's a good thing to do every 6 months or so as maintenance. it's a lot easier than constantly replacing pads. if it doesn't help the problem, at least no harm is done.