mikegarrison

Background: I have an '02, and I've been tracking it. All is stock except for Panther+ brake pads, Superblue DOT4 brake fluid, and cryotreated aftermarket rotors. 30K miles.

My rear brakes are squeeky. I don't mean that they squeal (they do that too, but that's what I get for having the P+ pads). What I mean is that in ordinary driving the rear brakes don't quite retract enough. So every rev of the wheel the pad brushes against the rotor. With the track pads on, they squeek. Sounds like a rusty kid's wagon. Eeep, eeep, eeep, eeep as I drive along.

So what's up with this? According to the manual, one possible source of brake drag is the brake pedal sensor switch. I opened up the gap on that a bit, and it is clearly not binding the brake pedal. No effect.

Since it is the rear brakes I obviously considered the parking brake. I adjusted the lever until it was completely loose (and the parking brake could not be set at all) and there was no effect.

I would blame the rotor, except I had the same experience with the OEM rotors as well. Also, when I change the brake pads I am able to retract the calipers far enough that there is no brake drag. So I don't think the problem is the rotor.

So the manual says that you should lift up the car, and with the engine running check to see if there is any brake drag. I did that, and both rear wheels have some brake drag (each only at one spot on the rotor).

Then it says to turn the engine off and pump the brakes a few times. If the drag goes away, you blame the brake booster. The drag did not go away.

So the next step was to disconnect the master cylinder. At this point I started thinking, "this car is still under warrantee".

But I may have some problems when I take it in to get looked at, because I'm sure the first thing they will say is "you put all these track parts on your car, that's the problem." I think I probably had this problem all along, however, and just didn't notice it because the OEM brake pads don't squeek as much. When I had the OEM pads on, my rear brake pads wore out much faster than my front pads. But I never checked them for brake drag. Water under the bridge.

My basic question to you all is, "do other people with track pads hear their rear breaks squeek as they drive down the road?" In other words, is this actually abnormal? When I talk about it with Honda about warrantee repairs do I have a case for anything here?

-Mike

cwychules

Your caliper slide pins may be stuck. Clean them and regrease them with some permatex synthetic brake lube. Either that, or the piston itself on the caliper may be getting stuck.

Are the track pads chammfered (beveled at the edges)? I'm guessing that the stock pads drag as well (just as much as the track pads), but you don't hear it because of the different pad compunds, which could also explain why the stock pads wear out fast.

mikegarrison

That's my thought too, that the OEM pads were dragging all along but I didn't notice.

The track pads are not chamfered, but I considered that possibility, and so I chamfered a set with a hand file. No effect on the squeeking.

What/where are the caliper slide pins? Are those the pins that you pull to remove the caliper? If so, I don't think they could be sticking. I've pulled and reinstalled those brakes several times in the past few months, with no change in behavior at any time.

Haven't considered cleaning the piston itself.

At some point I intend to dump this in the dealer's lap, unless I got a bunch of feedback from here that "they all do that".

S2000_Europe

I tracked my car too, got the sqeeking noise even in reverse.

I change the pads and the noise dissapear.

I was funny that the rear pad were more worn that the front pads

kitwetzler

The Panther Plus pads are going to squeal. Nothing you can do about it. they are a fairly noisy pad.

mikegarrison

Just to clarify --- I should have titled this thread "brakes are dragging". I know the P+ pads squeal when they are applied. They also dust horribly. But that's beside the point. My issue is that they are rubbing on the rotors while I just drive down the street. There is noticeable brake drag (on the rears only, on one location on each rotor only) with the car up off the ground and me turning the wheels by hand.

My question is "is it normal that there is so much rotor to pad contact that I can hear the pads while driving?"

-Mike