Squeaking brakes
 

I have about 9500 miles on an 04 rx-8 and the brakes started squeaking about 1000 miles ago. I thought they would stop, but they havent. Do i need to get new pads? What can i do to stop the squeaking?

Brake harder. Mazda put high metallic brakes on the car and if you don't brake aggressively from time to time they will squeeeellll. The dealer will replace our pads free of charge if you show them the tech bulletin. If you get on your brakes hard a few times this should get rid of the "wienie" alarm. No insult intended.

no...that doesn't work at all. TSB out on the brake squeal.

Im DANomite, did you have the a problem with the wienie alarm?

I had the "wienie alarm" for several weeks, tried the hard braking method but doesn't help. And to top it off the dealer told me that the couldn't duplicate the problem so they won't replace them,even when I showed them the TSB. I think I'm going to see another dealer next week.

*cough search button is your friend cough*

tiggerlee: your dealer sounds like my old one...good luck!

From someone who knows about the annoyance of brake squeal all too well, I would suggest you try out bedding in the brake first. While the new brake pad & shim replacement under TSB worked for a while, the noise came back soon after. In the quest of search for a long-term solution, this following link was found:

http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm.

The procedure works wonders and have finally brought a stop to the embarrassing and off-putting noise. Words of CAUTION: please only perform the process on a deserted road with minimal to no traffic and ample runway for cool-down drive that lasts at least 10-mintue. bxb40 and I both did the bed-in and the brakes have been "squeaky-quiet" for a week and going strong.

Another observation, the digital speedodometer is tricky to monitor the sudden deceleration from 60mph down to 10mph. By the time the car slowed down to 10mph on the gauge, the car actually felt as if it had stopped completely. With the powerful brake on RX-8, 60 -> 10 is mostly likely insufficient to heat up the brake pad. So adjust accordingly and brake from 80 -> 20 for less runs and quicker material transfer. You would know the process is done when you can smell the brake burning and rotors covering in blue layer.

I can't stress enough the importance of paying attention to both yourself and others since things happen very quickly when you are braking from high-speed out on public roads. Daytime would be best for safety reason, since cars behind you may have trouble judging the distance between cars in the night.

bedding in won't fix a squeal. squeals are usually caused by pad material or some foreign object. remember, these are semi-metallic and will cause occasional squeals. but in this case, it's excessive. i posted up a DIY about fixing the brake squeal. it works, but after awhile, it starts to come back (once again, pad material). also, you'll notice that the pads on the 8 have a little groove to disipate heat. brake dust/rotor shavings will get trapped inside the groove and cause the squeal. wish i had pictures to show you. next time i do a brake job on my 8, i'll make sure to take pictures.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-brake-squeal-fix-59318/

blue spots on rotors is never a good thing btw.

Thanks danomite. I'll try to fix the squeel this today.

Do as you wish, though just bear in mind of what I wrote based on first-hand experience. The metal shavings may have been flushed clean during controlled and repeated hard braking, which is what the bed-in is designed for. Read the technical detail at http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/bedintheory.htm concerning the subject matter.

My statements said "rotors covering in blue layer." The blue layer is the actual pad material that got transferred during the adherent friction operating temperature. Hot spot is not desirable nor the outcome of a proper bed-in. Therefore, one should never have the pad standing on a particular spot on the rotor.

"Simply stated, bed-in is the process of depositing an even layer of brake pad material, or transfer layer, on the rubbing surface of the rotor disc."

I read the article on stoptech, thanks. I'm just a little worried about getting something wrong during the break in and damaging the rotors/pads. If the squeak doesnt go away, ill try it out though.

Not too worry, my brakes are quiet now. After replacing the front pads (TSB) I got the squeal back in 2000 miles. Not very severe, just annoying at slow stops (pull to a red light and everybody watches you... nice car, piercing sound :o) ) Only after the bed-in procedure things finally got quiet... and if it come back, I'll do it again, no problem.
But as stated above: be very, very carefull, the other traffic has no clue what you are doing... and you need a looooong road to cool things off after the procedure. Always abandon it if you get in a situation. Can be repeated later, no worries, any "spots" caused by improper beddin will get fixed next time you to it. Also, if you have the 6SP, after the cooling on the road, park without the hand brake too until it is cold (30 min?).

Just keep the wheels rolling when letting the rotors cool off. If you come to a complete stop with your foot on the pedal it will leave an extra layer of pad material on the rotor in which case you will start to get that warped rotor feeling after a while. More details here. http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/...otors_myth.htm