I have an issue with my 82 300D breaks... When I am in reverse, and apply the breaks, they make the LOUDEST most painful Screeching sound you can imagine. on occation, they will also do it while moving forward, but only if you are moving slowly. I live in the city and have been torturing my neighbors (while parking) as much as I (or they) can stand.

I also now have the dash light coming on indicating that it is time to have the back pads replaced. However, the screeching sound has been an issue since I bought the car over a year ago. Any ideas on just what causes this and how I can have it fixed?

Happy New Year to All.

Best,

Joe A
'82 300D, 154K

I heard that if you use Textar brake pads you reduce or eliminate the sqeeush sound.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

The wear indicator is for the front brakes only, so you may have been running on steel on the back the whole time. Pull a wheel and check, although by now you would have rust everywhere if you had actually had the backing plate hit the rotor.

Most common causes of squealing brakes are aftermarket pads without the thick rubberized or plastic coating, dirty caliper slots, missaligned rear pistons, and worn out pads, roughly in that order.

Jack up the car and remove the wheels (you can do this one wheel at a time), and check the condition of the rotors and pads. Pads must have at least 2mm of friction material, and rotors must not be worn to the point where there is a distinct lip on the outer edge. Anothe place to check rotor thickness is the inside -- the friction surface must be significantly higher than the hub area -- if not, or there is a lip, you need new rotors, too.

Buy OEM pads and you generally won't have squealing problems. More brake dust on the wheels so you have to clean them more often if you like spotless wheels, but no screeches.

Make sure the slot the pads fit into is perfectly clean and use a small amount of antisieze on the back and sides of the backing plate. This prevents rust and corrosion from causing the pad to stick on one side, leaving the other side free to vibrate.

Late model C class cars seem to screech as they get older no matter what you do.

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!