Oil or grease to stop brake pad squeak?
 

Hi Newbie here. I'm tired of hearing the ear piercing squeal from the front brakes on my Benz and I plan to grease the pads this weekend. I've talked to number of mechanics and some say soak them in oil and others say to just use regular grease on the braking surface. Anyone tried either way, and what were the results?

Thanks

No!
 

You do not want grease, oil or any other foreign material on the brake surfaces. In fact, oil could cause your brakes to lock up if its on the pad/rotor interface.

Replace the pads with good ones.

UTTERLY INSANE ADVISE!!! Petroleum products on the disk or pad friction surface will usually render the pads useless and require replacement and a thorough cleaning of the disk surface. I hope you just misinterpreted what these "mechanics" said.

There is a product usually known as "brake paste", available at most auto parts stores, that you can apply to the pad's steel backing plate where it contacts the piston on the inboard side and the caliper housing on the outboard that may help, but you are better off selecting a pad that has low noise characteristics - like PBR Deluxe.

Duke

As others have said, you put antisqueal goop on the BACK of the pads. nothing on the part of the pads that contacts the rotor. Mercedes sells a nice little jar of antisqueal paste with a brush applicator in the cap. not cheap (around $15) but it will last you years.

Out of curiosity, what model car do you have?

Yeah, soaking the pads in oil is beyond dangerous, nothing at all should ever be applied to the friction surface.....the squeal is usually caused by vibration between the back of the pad and the caliper, not by contact between the brake pad and the disc itself.

"stop squeak" should be readily available, just make sure it's only applied to the back of the pads! Back on the old days there was a great line of brake chemicals sold under the "lubriplate" name, not sure if they are around anymore. But as mentioned, if you are going to the trouble of removing the pads, they might was well be replaced as well, and the discs checked to make sure they are in spec for thickness and straightness.

Use OEM Pads
 

Under no circumstances should grease or oil ever touch the brake pad material. The only substance that should contact the pad surface is brake cleaner. That will not cure your squeel. Mercedes does have a special brake rotor cleaning pads that replace the pads and there is a procedure to use them but I don't know about it.

I had a squeeking problem that was cured by changing the rear pads to OEM. The PO had a chain store change the brakes and it always squeeked. I just changed the front pads and the "thick" pads fit without the backing plate. I used just a little brake paste and they broke in fine, with no squeeks. My suggestion is to replace the pads and check the rotor thickness to be sure you are within the repair specification. Brake in: 50 mph slow brake to 25 MPH. Repeat perhaps 20 times with time to cool between. Good luck.

BRIBENZ,
Congratulations! You were the first reply to the thread who actually read the WHOLE POST. I didn't hide anythind. The top left and right corners had all the info you picked up on. I can't believe I nailed old Duke 2.6. I hope I didn't offend anyone. On the one hand I was feeling it was time for a little prank. Secondly I kind of wanted to make a point that too many folks don't read carefully enough. It's too bad you caught me so early in the game. Actually I'll bet we get a few more folks who skip right over your post to anxiously post their advice. Heh, Heh, Heh.

Peter

autozen

Pull that stunt again and I WILL oil your pads while you're sleeping. ;)

I'm with Manny. This is not funny.

Peter

Hmm it's surprising that quite a few people were "duped" by autozen :-) I knew he was "lying" when I first came across his post. Autozen is a familiar and knowledgeable auto mechanic in these forums.

Actually, if you ever inadvertently smear ANY petroleum-based oil on your brake pads and rotors, just buy a 12 oz can of brake cleaner, and blast it on them. The brake cleaner fluid will remove the oil INSTANTLY and CLEANLY. There's no need to replace pads or rotors.

I have never seen anything that can remove dirty oil as amazingly as brake cleaner fluid.

Eric

I also soak new windshield wiper inserts in 85W-140 gear oil before installing.

Eric,
If you are sincere, congrats for catching on with Bribenz. I'll bet your analytical cautious Asian back ground helped. Don't jump into things like the Occidentals.

Peter,
Lighten up man. It was just a joke. A bit of bantor in a world gone crazy. Why am I in this hand basket, and where am I going?

To all,
My intent wasn't to offend or humiliate anyone. My intent was two fold. I wanted to have some fun, and I really wanted to get people to read everything and reflect before answering. I'm sure everyone here remembers that silly test where the instructor gives everyone a sheet of paper and says to hand it in when done. The first instruction is to READ ALL THE DIRECTIONS FIRST. THe second instruction says to run around your desk twice. The third instruction says to draw a big circle around the page and so on until the last instruction says that if you have read everything, sign your name and turn the paper in. Actually it is not a silly test.

Actually the factory sent a bulletin to all dealers in the 70s to heat the brake pads with a torch and coat them with ATF. Does anyone have a copy of that bulletin? By the way, I don't smoke pot, peyote, or anything.

Ciao,
Peter

Actually, there was a time in the '70s, when FIAT
 

dealers in some tropical parts of the world were instructed to deal with brake squeeeeeel and vibration or grabbing complaints by drilling holes of a certain size on a special pattern in the pad material and then pressing sticks of graphite -- i.e. pencil "lead" -- into the holes to provide just a tiny bit of lubrication to the surface. The very idea scared me, but it apparently produced good results for some people.

Fimum,
You're my man. If you know anything about Fiat, you know that they make incredible automobiles. The 124 Coupe and the 124 Spider are amoungst my favorite cars. They were never marketed well in the U.S. just like Mercedes when it was distributed by Studebaker. Not many sports cars hold a candle to the 124 Spider in my opinion.

Peter