Series 3 Brake Squeal

Problem solved. The car had Mintex metallic pads installed. All of the suppliers I talked to said that OEM was organic pads. I ordered a set from the local NAPA store. I sanded both sides of the rotors with 120 grit to remove any glazing and I also tapered the leading edges of the pads on my belt sander. The car now stops great and the dogs have returned to North Georgia. Life is good. Thanks to everyone for their advice.

Thanks for the reply Dick. I tried hard braking driving to The Mitty over the weekend to the point I locked up the rear wheels. They were still squealing. I admit that I didn't try it three or four times though. I think the pads in the car are metallic. The parts houses I've called all say that I should be using organic as that was the OEM spec. I ordered a set from NAPA but will try the hard breaking routine one more time before I swap them out. I wouldn't think it would be a normal maintenance routine for Series 3 owners to have to periodically panic brake their cars.

Well, in the past, your car had this problem numerous times. The fix is to get up to about 50 MPH and put on the brakes like you mean it, just short of locking them up. Repeat about three or 4 times and the squeel will be gone. I have an old set of brake pads off of your car sitting on my shelf I saw the other day and it reminded me of that. They have virtually no wear and we replaced them with no effect. The hard braking did the trick. Just make sure no one is around or just behind you.

While you're at it, flush your brake lines until clear liquid comes through. My guess is that this is the number one neglected maintenance item on E-Types and old classics in general.

P

Not a brake expert here, but I always attributed the squel to what is called "glazing". I pulled the following off a website:

"Brake pad glazing is caused when the brake pad friction material is overheated.
This results in crystallized friction material on the pad surface and the brake disc.
Typical symptoms of glazed brake pads include: Poor stopping performance, vibration or brake judder, and cracks or fissures in the brake pad material.
Pad glazing is typically caused by operating the brake pads at a temperature above the specified temperature range of the friction material or not properly following the 'Bedding-in' instructions for the brake pads. Always follow the manufacturers brake pad bedding-in instructions and use a brake pad that has a temperature range that is sufficient for its intended use."

There is also more information here:
http://www.aa1car.com/library/tr996.htm

I have always thought that scuffing the surface of the rotors (or turning) was a solution, however, it is just as "easy" to replace the discs and pads to eliminate the problem if it is truly that bad. Replacing with drilled/slotted rotors may help in the long run, but I'd certainly do some research before making the change.

My brakes squeal when I go in reverse, and thay actually shudder a bit. Personally, I think my rotors are warped.

Patrick

Hello Pat, if you have tried all of the usual things then you have a pretty unusual, but known, problem. The noise is caused, apparently, by a change in the molecular structure of the hub assembly. When we first encountered it almost 20 years ago we resolved it by replacing the front hubs. However, I have learned since that another way to change the vibration frequency is to drill the rotors, as is done on many OE cars today. Lets see what other comments are posted.