Technical Squealing brakes

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Technical Squealing brakes

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My Brava's brakes have recently started squealing on the rear drivers side while braking. It's done 13k miles, no problems found at MOT (10k miles) or service (12k miles). It only happens when braking hard, there is no pulling to one side and it seems to happen more when the car is cold.

Do you think it merits going in to be looked at, or cleaned off, or hope it goes away? And if it does need new brake bits, what kind of costs am I looking at?

<font color="violet">
. o O Helz O o .

Proud owner of a silver Baby Brava with a Smiley air freshener​
</font id="violet">
 
There are few things more annoying than squealing brakes.:(

From what you say it is unlikely that there is anything dangerously wrong with the brakes. Squeals usually come from a bit of dirt on the brake shoes, (I'm assuming rear drums not disc's but pretty much the same for disc's), and can take a few hundred miles to burn off. It is rare for the dirt to be big enough to actually cause any damage to the shoe or drum.

Things to look out for:
grinding noises
chattering
pulling to one side whilst braking
loss of braking power or quick brake fade
very hot brake drum(s), don't touch, just put hand near drum
one hot and one cold drum
handbrake sticking on, yeah I know it does it all the timeB)

Should be ok if not any of the above, however, as brakes are rather important, if you are not happy then get them checked. You know better than anyone if something feels strange and at the end of the day it's you who is in the car.

Oops, slipping into H&S mode for a second there.;)

<h5><font color="black">Dave. :)
Marea HLX 2.0 20v
</h5><h6>Airbox with attitude[8D]
Blue Momo Tomahawk Gear Knob, Blue stuff ;)
Ecotek fitted, removed and waiting for warm weather. Only getting 23.5mpg
So much to do, so little time.... and Totally Skint!! :(</h6></font id="black">
 
on my brava the first few times i use the brakes they are noisey(front).untill the layer of surface rust is worn off.then they are fine no noise.if you look at front disks at this time of year a layer of rust forms in 12 hours,maybe the rears could be the same on your car.is your handbrake ok?try adjusting it.just take off trim around handbrake turn adjust nut toward you as you sit in dvrs seat.made a big difference to mine.12mm spanner i think.

if it aint broke dont fix it.purple pain.up the villa.brava 1.6sx.
no fag.lighter required.
 
Thanks guys for your thoughts. Polecat I have none of the problems in your list so far but I will keep an eye unless it settles down. Thanks very much for providing that info, it gives me a much better list of what to look out for. If it is dirt, is there any way to clear it off from the outside or just wait for it to go away?

No problems with the handbrake either, but my experience of using that as an emergency brake is approximately nil so if you hear a great big screech over the next few weeks, you'll know what it is. So Rich, does this turn of the nut tighten up the handbrake? I notice it's not 100% unless pulled right the way up (which being a gal isn't so easy to do!) so this would make it easier for me to use? I'm not heavy handed with it, so it wouldn't risk me breaking it altogether would it?

Nice to know you're suckers for a damsel in distress ;)

ps. Rich, I DO use my brakes, pity the peeps behind me don't....

<font color="violet">
. o O Helz O o .

Proud owner of a silver Baby Brava with a Smiley air freshener​
</font id="violet">
 
yes duck that needs adjustment,should be strong enough to thold car on 1-2 notches.its easy to do.10 mins.does make a difference.takes a good 10 turns of the nut.

if it aint broke dont fix it.purple pain.up the villa.brava 1.6sx.
no fag.lighter required.
 
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