brakes squeal... only shortly

marklin · #1 (**permalink**) 01-10-2005, 10:11 AM

Hi,

Forgot to mention another annoyance with my 04 HL, when I start out in the morning, yes, it usually happens in the morning (or anytime that it has been sitting for a good while), the first few brakes will screech and be grabby (i.e. stops very abruptly). After those first few stops, everything seems to go back to normal and the squealing sound disappears. I was told that it was due to the humidity collected on the brakes, but does that mean that I have to bear with it for as long as I own this HL?!?! any suggestion appreciated!

Mark

05MNTH · #2 (**permalink**) 01-10-2005, 10:35 AM

Mark,

Can you see your rotors through your wheels? If so, look at them the next morning. Most likely you will see a light coating of rust on the rotors. The first few times you used the brakes it will heat them up and burn off this rust.

If you live in a more moist climate or the car sits outside, I would expect to see this for the life of the vehicle. It is not the fault of Toyota or cheap parts. Just the way it goes!

marklin · #3 (**permalink**) 01-11-2005, 08:24 AM

I do live in a snowy area and the HL is usally parked indoors. Still, I believe there's got to be a better solution for that, since all my previous cars didn't do that, and certainly most other cars don't either...

05MNTH · #4 (**permalink**) 01-11-2005, 10:31 AM

Many (but not all) the vehicles I have owned have had this issue. My Acura NSX, which has quite expensive and sophisticated brake compoenents, did this all the time when it sat indoors for more than a few days.

You can try putting aftermarket rotors and/or super soft (no metal) pads on and that should help.

marklin · #5 (**permalink**) 01-11-2005, 03:42 PM

Like I said, this is more of a kickback than a problem (since it goes away after few brakes..), thanks for the suggestion, I'll definitely keep that in mind when it comes to pads replacement...