Squeaky Wheels

[bobbyboy]

I have a 2007 T spirit,had it for about 3 months,25000 miles on the clock,delighted with it,

recently been getting squeals,notice it at low speeds,we were away on holiday for 4 weeks so the car sat in the driveway

for that time,something to do with the brake pads?Can anyone advise?

[timberwolf]

Surface rust on the brake discs would be my first guess.

Find a straight, quiet road.

Bring the Prius up to 30 mph.

Check that no one is behind you.

Put the car into neutral by holding the gear shift in the N position for a couple seconds.

Apply the brakes to bring you to stop.

Repeat.

[DrCez]

I agree, it does sound like the squeals could be caused by corrosion on the brake disks (you may be able to see it through the wheel spokes). The Prius (and other hybrids) are prone to this as the disks don't get used very heavily, hence the remedy suggested by Timberwolf.

My Gen 3 makes a rubbing noise pretty much all the time (even if I have done braking in neutral) but I can only hear it when I have the windows open, so I haven't worried about it. Also if a particular brake is binding I think the disk will be hot to the touch (you can test just by putting your finger on the disk when the car is safely parked). None of my disks seem to suffer from this so again, I haven't worried about it.

More mechanically minded folk may be able to recommend doing something with the brake pads and/or disks but I leave that sort of thing to the garage mechanics.

[robert baxter]

Hi-Thanks for that,problem solved, I did notice when I came back from my holiday

the disc on the drivers side of the car which gets the prevailing wind and rain was rusted.

[capnbirdseye]

If your getting squeaks while driving but not actually applying the brakes then you may have the problem I had with my 2007 spirit. When you hear the squeak pull up & carefully touch the front disks, if one is really hot then it's pads are binding.

This only occurred with mine after applying the brakes heavily & then the offside front disc would start to squeak. Took it in under warranty & they stripped & greased the calipers & removed the glaze from the pads & it's been o.k. ever since. If it is your pads binding then you have to make sure you don't warp the disk with severe overheating, an instant cure I found whilst waiting for it to be fixed was reversing & stabbing the brake pedal & this released & realigned the pads.