Causes of Noisy Brakes
Noisy brakes are a nuisance. They may squeak every time you pull up to a stop sign, squeal whenever you're not braking, or even wost of all, make a grinding noise when they've worn too low. Brakes just don't make noise for no reason, however. Many times that noise you hear can tell you a lot about what's going on with the brakes on your vehicle.
If you notice that your brakes only squeak a bit whenever you're stopping, the problem isn't very serious. More than likely, there is a buildup of brake dust in the groove on the brake pad. Most brake pads have a groove in the center of the pad to help evacuate the brake dust as the pad wears down. Ironically, this groove sometimes get clogged with brake dust and the brakes squeak as a result. Usually, thorough cleaning with brake cleaner can solve the problem.
Brake pads also come with with little warning devices on them to warn you when the pads wear down too far. These warning devices, often called squealers, are little strips of medal that are attached to the backing plate of the brake pad. When the pad wears down to a certain point, these squealers start touching the rotor and they make a high pitched squealing noise. The noise should stop when you hit the brakes. If you hear this while driving, it's probably getting about time to take your vehicle to the shop to have the brakes replaced.
If you should ever hear your brakes making a grinding, metal-on-metal noise, you have a big problem. This means that your brake pad has worn all the way down and the brake pad backing plate is now hitting the rotor. Essentially, every time you step on the brake, you're grinding off the face of your rotors and your car is that much closer to not stopping at all. If you ever experience this in your vehicle, you need to get your car to the shop immediately. Failure to do so can result in some very expensive repair bills, since your rotors and calipers may have to be replaced along with the brake pads.
The brakes on your vehicle are remarkably resilient, but at the end of the day, they're still made up of metal pressing against metal to create friction and this combination tends to create some noise. However, If you're cognizant of the sounds your brakes can make and check them at regular intervals, you should get many thousands of miles of wear and smooth braking out of them.
