A couple of weeks ago I noticed my brakes squeaking (barely but still a squeak). It only happened at the end of a soft stop, like at the end of the stop pulling into a parking space. Tonight after work I was stuck in rush hour traffic & was doing alot of soft stopping. My brakes began to squeak during the whole stop (not just at the end). I couldn't find any threads on this in NAM but I ran across one on mini2.com where many mini owners said they have the exact same thing happen in cold weather (on low mileage minis). I am only at 8900 miles. There is no squeak on hard stops.

Long story short...I am close to needing my oil changed so should I worry about this or ignore it for about 2000 more miles (which according to my mini is when I am due for an oil change)? I am driving to Knoxville for Thanksgiving but I really don't have time to drive to Georgia to get it checked out. I hate to pay money to a local garage to have them tell me everything is fine.

Anybody else had squeaky brakes in cold weather?

 

Does your Brake pads still look like they have the pad part on them? I think if they squeak on every stop then you have a problem.

I believe you are ok because mine does that from time to time.

Since you are going in for oil change , the dealer will check the whole car over anyway but ask them to check them.

Hope that helps!

 

sometimes brakes will squeak if you tend to use a lot of engine braking and use your brakes very gently. Try doing a couple of 60-0mph fast stops using antilock brakes. This should scuff up the pads and stop the squeak.

But I'd check the thickness of my pads too, but your mileage suggests that it is not time to replace the pads unless you have a bad caliper that has ground a pad down to nothing. If that happenned you should hear a metal on metal grinding and not just a squeak.. .

 

I asked the dealership because mine were squeaking before. They said ti was because of the rain. It hadn't rained in 3 weeks.

Then they said it was because they're high metallic or something... but they only started squealing like a month after i got the mini... and haven't (until today, ironically) since then.

I need to check my pad wear... they supposedly checked it before, and it was ok. I know how to check it myself, i might as well do it just in case.

 

Yea what yucca said!:smile:

I do 90-0 stop is that better?

 

Excuse me, but what is a soft stop? I haven't experienced one of those yet.

Kidding.

 

Ahhh Autumn.. The air is crisper, the trees show their beautiful colors.. and your brakes speak up and say HI!

Don't sweat it.. just the signs of fall. Mine do it randomly as well, most of the time their quiet, but if I break more gradually they will give a little squeel...

 

I can't talk . If it is in my way I will hit it.

 

From the thread in mini2 it seems like a cold weather phenomenon & mine did not start to squeak until it got cold. When I stop hard (say from 60 mph) I get no squeak at all so I am thinking that my pads must be fine. I def am not hearing metal on metal just a high pitched annoying squeeeeeeeeeeeeeekekeekeeek

How can I check the pads? If it involves removing any parts from the car don't bother explaining

Well, weather-permitting, I am going to go check the Dragon out the Friday after Thanksgiving (my mom lives only 52 miles from it). So I guess if I make in through the Dragon my brakes are ok

 

You can check the outer pads by just looking through the wheels at the brake calipers (if the spokes are not in the way). Let me find a picture. . .

 

Bamatt, you seem to be having the same problem I am having. For me it has occured when the temps were in the 70's and now in the morning with temps in the low 30's. Check out this thread that I started about the incompetence of service I received yesterday. In there you'll find a short video of when my squeek occurs.

Yours is an 05, correct? Mine's an 06 and the front brake pad looks odd to me. I'm curious about if this is a new style pad used in the 05 and newer. It looks like the perfect setting for dust to gather and cause a noise.

I can say for sure that my brakes are scuffed up pretty good.

 

Mine is an 05 & my brake squeak sounds exactly like yours. I will go out & look at the brake pads in the morning (will prob be dark when I get home today). Course I am not quite sure what I am looking for . Do I need to see if there is pad there & if it looks even?

I will do some good hard stops on the way home today. I had Petey the pup in the car last nite & didn't want to send him thru the windshield

 

The OEM pads have a very high metallic content so they tend to squeek at a slow stop. I think this is a normal occorence as I too did search the treads when I noticed mine were squeaking and that seemed to be the concensus.

I also asked me SA and he basically said the same thing. He suggested that the brakes might benefit from a 'deglazing' which is mechanic code for slamming on the brakes at about 40 mph. But this doesnt help the squeaking too much. You might want to have different pads installed if this is a big problem. This would also help with the insane amount of brake dust that the OEM pads spit out.

 

Wow, learn something new everyday. I was checking around and learned that the brake pads are supposed to look like that. Tells you how much of a mechanic I am, I've never seen such a thing.

 

Disc brakes squeak for a couple of reasons.

1. The friction material is worn away to the point that the the designed-in "squeakers" (wear indicators) are telling you that the pads are worn out.

2. The brakes are "dry", meaning that the dust from pad wear that "lubricates" the pad/disc interface has been removed. When that dust is removed, by rain, by washing the car, etc. you will get a squeak until the dust builds up again. A soft stop generates less dust, and thusly, more squeaks.

3. Pad compounds have a workable heat range designed into them. Brakes need a certain amount of heat. Street use pads operate at low starting and low maximum tempatures. By contrast, race use pads are totally useless until they get HOT. A long stretch of driving without brake use will cool everything down below the minimum operating temperature. Cold morning = cold rotors = squeaks.

4. The pads are too hard and/or the material is conducive to inducing squeaks. Squeaks are common with the hard pads used in endurance racing.

Lots of myths out there about brakes. Once your pads are "glazed" or surface hardened by excessive heat, there is little you can do to correct it other than replacing the pads. A hard stop on glazed pads will score your rotors. Pads are cheap, rotors are not.

My guess is that MINI has had so many complaints about excessive brake dust that they have switched to a harder pad compound. While it reduces the dust, it induces squeaks. My guess is that MINI will have more warranty claims due to the squeaks than from the dust. People associate squeaks with failing brakes, simply because they have become acustomed to hearing squeaks when the pads wear down to the wear indicators. However, the squeaks from the wear indicators sound very different.

My recommendations: 1) This is an issue that has caused you some concern, so get it checked out just to satisfy your peace of mind. You can bring it by my place and I'll be happy to pull the wheels and check it out. Call me at 678-2392 (Chelsea) first. I'm home today but leaving tommorow for a few days.

2) Switch to a softer pad compound, like used in the early models. But beware, you will have more dust. I have a set of stock front pads we can dicker on, or you could go with EBC Greens or Hawk pads. You'll stop better and have less dust (due to ceramic compounds).

3) Learn to love the sound. After all, your brakes are telling you that they're working!

 

I went out & looked this morn & it looks like I have plenty of pad left so I guess I will just squea eee eeek. I have read alot of threads about those EBC Green pads. Everyone says they produce much less dust but I have also read where many people say they do not stop nearly as good as the OEM pads. Anybody have an opinion one way or another? (for street driving, I don't race ) I personally would rather have the stopping power that my OEM pads give me but if there are some pads that stop equally well with less dust I would like to try them when these pads wear out.

p.s...about how many miles did everyone get out of their OEM pads? I use my gears to slow down most of the time so am hoping these will last longer.

 

I got about 35k out of my stock front pads before I changed them (and they still had not set off the brake pad indicator light).

My rear pads and rotors have been replaced twice under warranty at 23k miles and 47k miles, but this was due to a faulty rear caliper that was wearing down one side way too fast. The good side had 5mm pad left at each replacement suggesting that they could have gone just as long as the fronts. The first time this happenned, Global Imports simply replaced the rear pads and rotors and did not bother to investigate the actual cause of the unusual wear pattern. The second time this happenned, I had to call upon every last MINI god to intervene to get Global to fix it right as they should have the first time. My brake pedal is a bit squishy now, and I'll be taking it to Stephen's Garage for an inspection and a proper brake fluid bleeding. . .

My front brakes are using the HAWK HPS pads that I bought from Detroit Tuned. Good stuff and very minimal brake dust, although they are supposed to put off a little bit more dust than the EBC green pads. I went with the powerslot rotors but would probably just stick with stock ones since I notice no difference. . .

 

I get home this afternoon; and I'll be getting on the brakes on the '05 Cooper. If there is any brake squeak I'll post.


Magicmini-What happened?! I know they say "rubbin s racin.." but gees...

 

It was Rainning very hard and I decided to back up in a bank parking lot and there was a light pole in the middle of the parking lot. Orcouse I didn't see it or I wouldn't have hit it. BTW it will cost $2500 to fix the small bump. But yes I was doing about 20 mph when I hit the pole.

 

Let's get this straight, magic mini. . .

You were in an empty parking lot at night in the rain, going backwards at 20mph. . . . .

Why won't you just admit to us that you were practicing your handbrake turns/spins. . . ???

 

I'm not saying I have never went to a open parking lot to play around but not this time. But at the bank I got the turn but I didn't get the spin.

 

the brakes squeeked exactly like yours did...
it was hardly noticable though...it is not an issue to me.

 

"deglazing" is actually accomplished by removing the pads and sanding them with coarse sand paper. The same treatment is also given to the rotors to allow the pad and rotor to seat together again.

Gentle breaking for 100miles(160km) with several GENTLE stops from 30 mph and then progressively higher speeds until you are stopping from 50 mph. We are not talking full-on panic stops, rather stops at half effort or less.

"Slamming on the brakes at about 40 mph" is a formula to make the glazing worse not better.

 

Who Can Hear The Brakes With The Radio On? What? You Talking To Me?

 

Just got home from TN. I got to check out the Dragon for the 1st time. It was pretty fun & I almost had the road all to myself. But...I did run into one of the dreaded lost, rookie 18 wheelers. Luckily he was being escorted through by 4 motorcycles & they warned me in just enough time so I could slam on my brakes about 2 seconds before I would have met him on a blind curve (& probably driven under him thus rendering myself permanently topless lol )