Squeaky front brakes

[thepetrolhead91]

I thought it might be daring putting a non bike related message on here, please dont cancel my account lol. My Saab 93 for some reason has developed squeaky brakes on the front. I have had them taken apart and looked at, copper grease applied, the tin plates re shaped as so they dont touch the discs. I have had the calipers off, grinded them to remove any surface rust, reapplied copper grease and refitted yet still the squeal driving around town. The pads and discs were only a few months old when I bought the car but just dont understand where the squeal is coming from. Any mechanics on here or people with similar experiances, please help, any longer and Ill be checking into a mental institution haha. Thanks, Tom

[redken1]

Are you certain it's not a wheel bearing Tom?

[NiteW4tcher]

are the pads glazed over?

[Red Zed 1]

are they genuine parts fitted,if not that will cause a squeal..if they are non genuine pads you could try shamfering the edge of the pads to see if that helps..

[thepetrolhead91]

Hi redken1, Im sure its not the bearings as there is no humming noises and when brake pedal is applied, the squeal stops. Im sure the parts are genuine, the last owner and only owner had full Saab service history and parts and I did have the pads skimmed

[Geordie Stu]

Do the brake squeek when you apply the brake or is the squeek there all the time ? Reason being my Alf had a warpped disc on the offside rear, had to replace Disc & pads both sides

[Dan505]

Some cars have a 'squeel bar' on the pads to indicate pads need replacing and the squeel stops when braking.

[alanTDM]

When i had to get new front discs for the bike i gave them a good clean with Brake cleaner then wiped them.Some manufacturers of bike/cars put a thin coating of preservative on the replacement discs to protect them.

[Wes]

Maybe the caliper pistons are sticking applying light pressure on the pad/disc, worth a look :)

[thepetrolhead91]

Hey everyone, Well last night me and the old man jacked the car up and ran it with the front wheels off to try hear where the squeal was coming from. On the discs, a ridge had built up so they were sanded flat and this seemed to stop the squeal on the test run, but later that eve, I went out and the squeal returned. The brakes dont squeal when pressure is applied from the pedal and the pads and discs are probably only 4 months old and genuine so im running out of ideas as to what it could be :( Thanks for replies!!!

[Dan505]

Anything embeded in the pad/disc?

[thepetrolhead91]

Hi Dan505, on the left hand side disc is a groove that suggests something got caught between the pad and disc creating a perfect circular groove. The inner floating pad had a raised ridge which im guessing filled the groove on the disc. Annoyingly they still squeal around town at low speeds which is a bugger!!!

[Kevinb]

Sell the Saab ;D
If you had the wheels off and car jacked up it does sound more like wheel bearings. As soon as strain is placed on them squeel starts. When you brake you would also be applying more pressure to the bearing more so when cornering and braking

[thepetrolhead91]

Hey Kevinb, no no no, cant sell my beauty of a Saab haha, well Ive tried most everything : cleaned the calipers, cleaned the brackets, skimmed the pads, disc etc, put copper grease on the carriers and checked the tin plates aren't rubbing. The car had been sat for damn near 12 months when I bought it so possibly bearings have corroded. The hydraulic struts for the convertible top had rusted too, that was a cool £560 out of pocket. Could have bought another motorbike :P

[Kevinb]

Hey Kevinb, no no no, cant sell my beauty of a Saab haha, well Ive tried most everything : cleaned the calipers, cleaned the brackets, skimmed the pads, disc etc, put copper grease on the carriers and checked the tin plates aren't rubbing. The car had been sat for damn near 12 months when I bought it so possibly bearings have corroded. The hydraulic struts for the convertible top had rusted too, that was a cool £560 out of pocket. Could have bought another motorbike :P

They are very lovely cars. The Swedes can do no wrong (I used to have a Volvo)
They had a thing on Wheeler Dealer about the bulkheads can crack on the convertable but you can buy a brace kit for it. Did you check it out when you bought it?
Which one have you got Aero LPT?

[thepetrolhead91]

I have the 2.0SE turbo 2001. It was a neighbours and he's been the only owner with full Saab history. Just been neglected really and I took it on as a project. Am now taking it in this Friday to have the bearings checked :S. Hopefully wont be anything too serious haha

[Dan505]

if the disc is scored it could be wind noise, making the pad move as they are floating. failing that it could have caused a thread to shear off the disc (swarf) and pin between the calipers causing the squeel when no load applied but disappears when pressure is added.

swap the discs/pads from left to right side and see if the noise changes sides, if so you know for deffinate its the brakes, if sound stays on the left start looking at bearings and also check the CV boot and CV joint splines

[thepetrolhead91]

Well Ive had it all apart and cleaned so I dont think its anything to do with the calipers. The squeal occurs on both front brakes and if I turn the wheel while driving say 20mph, the squeal goes quiet one side, and louder the other. Has to be something with a high point as there is a time blip between each squeak/squeal. When I had a wheel off and tried rotating the disc, you could here a distinctive rubbing noise like there was a tiny bit of friction. Hmm, well the garage is going to test drive it and find out. Does give me an excuse to play ACDC really loudly though :P!!!!

[Snowy]

Well Ive had it all apart and cleaned so I dont think its anything to do with the calipers. The squeal occurs on both front brakes and if I turn the wheel while driving say 20mph, the squeal goes quiet one side, and louder the other. Has to be something with a high point as there is a time blip between each squeak/squeal. When I had a wheel off and tried rotating the disc, you could here a distinctive rubbing noise like there was a tiny bit of friction. Hmm, well the garage is going to test drive it and find out. Does give me an excuse to play ACDC really loudly though :P!!!!

That sounds just like bearings.....

[thepetrolhead91]

But for bearings, I always thought they hum rather than squeak or make grinding noises. This is a faint squeak if rotating by hand but on the road, sounds like justin beiber haha

[Rabb]

Sounds like bearings to me too.
Have you jacked the car up and tried to move the wheel to check if it is the wheel bearings?