Hello, I have a 2011 Honda Civic EX-L sedan with 10,000miles on it. I’ve noticed that the brakes often make a sqeaking noise when I am driving slowly and come to a stop at a stop sign. It seems to happen most often after a cold start (e.g. I notice it in the morning when I start my drive to work and otherwise when I have not been driving around in my car). I took it to the dealership today and they said everything was fine with the brakes; they are in great shape and starting to wear normally. They found nothing wrong and they did not hear the squeaking although I heard it this morning and last night. Any ideas?
This is a common problem since they stopped making brake pads out of asbestos. It happens on my 1998 Civic, and it’s something I’ve decided to live with.
I’ve found that cleaning the brakes helps, for a while. I remove the wheel (and the drums in the back), protect rubber parts, put some rags on the ground to catch the brake cleaner, and spray brake cleaner on the brakes. Then I let them dry and remount the drums and wheels.
Some people have gotten better results with expensive ceramic brake pads, but there is a chance you can spend the money and still have the problem.
Braking creates a lot of vibration of brake parts. This will especially be the case on the first drive of the day as surface rust will form on brake rotors & drums fairly quickly. The vibration creates squeak.
What keeps brakes quiet are various anti-vibration measures, including various springy bits of brake hardware and some well-placed dabs of brake grease. Its a 2011 - the brakes shouldn’t squeak. So I’d keep taking it back. You can say something like “yes, I understand that the brakes are just fine in terms of functionality. But something is wrong with the anti-vibration/anti-squeal measures for these brakes. I’d like you to take care of that so that they don’t squeal anymore. If I wanted things like squeaky brakes I would have spent a fraction of the $$ on a used car.”
Either they used a rather finicky compound in the brake pads OR you dont have any anti-squeal on the back of the existing pads… Either can be the culprit here… I would put high temp silicone gasket maker on the back of the pads and see what you get…if it still does it…replace the front pads with a good aftermarket set…see what you get… One of these will make it go away. Start cheap (gasket maker) and then go to pads…still not expensive…
I think the dealer is right. Under the conditions you mention, a faint squeak is normal. Now if you are getting a loud squeal, then that is a different problem. Then you would need the dealer to put some Molycoat 77 on the backsides of the pads, UNDER WARRANTEE.