Hi there. Can someone help me with a noise problem in my 99 Civic LX? My front passenger side wheel is squeaking. Sometimes it's silent, but for the most part it squeaks during an entire drive. It does this whether or not I'm turning, and regardless of speed. I took the wheel off and notice nothing in the brake. However, when I turn the wheel, it sounds like it's coming from the CV boot area. What kinda issue could I be dealing with, and what type of cost should I expect when I take it in tomorrow? Thanks much for any heads up!

 

Err, I need to correct something. I'm not sure what the mechanism is called that holds the wheel on (it's got the lug bolts attached to it), but the squeaking occurs when I spin that, and not the steering wheel. I don't know if it has a bad bearing or what. Any thoughts? Thanks much!

 

The part the lug studs are attached to is called the hub. Check that the sheet metal plate behind the brake rotor is not dragging on the rotor. Then if still squeaking, remove the brake caliper and pads and check again. If it's coming right from the center of the hub not the brakes, that's the wheel bearing.

 

Hi there. Kinda of a delayed reply to this thread. I took my car down to the local brake / suspension shop, and they are telling me the grinding noise is from the safety indicator on my front brake (I thought they were only supposed to make noise when braking; not while driving the whole time). So, they gave me a quote ranging from $4-600, depending on if the rotors are shot.

As a broke college student, $4-600 is about half a year of food for me, so I'd like to do this on my own. I've done a decent amount of work on my car and have a good set of tools. However, I've always avoided brakes because of fear of improper replacement and subsequent flying off the edge of a cliff when I need them most! But I'm thinking it's about time I change that fear.

Can anyone suggest a good starting point? Ie, maybe a food DIY here or elsewhere? Additionally, do people buy rotors just in case they need them, or is there a way to tell before I purchase and install them?

Thanks much for any suggestions!

 

Buy a set of new brake pads for about $40, install them yourself. If it hasn't worn down to the metal you can almost always just do a "pad slap" and reuse the rotor. Rotors are less than $30 each if you need them. $400 for a basic brake job is crazy.

It's good to have a safe place to test drive after working on the brakes, as new pads need to be worn in to match the rotor (even if it is also a new rotor). After checking that the brakes work at all, get going about 30 mph and step on the brake pedal hard until the car almost stops. Don't actually stop though. Repeat that 3 times or so, if the brakes are working properly then the car is ready to drive normally.

 

Hey, thank you for the reply. I bought some brake pads for my swap, though they only ended up costing $20 or so. I was looking at a DIY on a different site... hope I can link it without causing trouble... http://www.honda-acura.net/forums/do...or-change.html

It mentions applying grease. Is there a specific type of grease I should be using? It also says to properly break in the brakes. Is that the method you are referring to, as far as testing them at a slow speed and then doing it around 30 mph? Thanks for your help. Greatly appreciated.

 

This was super easy, by the way. Thanks much for the help. Saved me tons of moola.