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Posted on Sep 22, 2011
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When driving or starting the car i notice when using the brakes it makes a squeaking noise - not all the time think its possibly damp causing it as it was raining yesterday and it happened but no rain today and no noise and never happened before when i used to store it in the garage. Also most concerning is when I drive with or without passengers the passenger side makes a knocking/clanking noise. Just had the rear left passenger suspension spring replaced but been making that noise for a while - got no clue what it is or could be and dont want to take it into the garage without an idea so i dont get ripped off

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  • Posted on Sep 22, 2011
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To address your first problem squeaking brakes aka "brake squeal", is most often casued by one or 2 things: "Pad vibration" or a "low brake warning sensor".

Pad vibation is usually caused by ineffective pad anti-rattling clips & hardware that allow the pads to vibrate at a super fast speed whenever the brakes are applied, thus causing a high pitch brake squeal. To correct this, replace all the pad hardware and anti-rattling clips and make sure you use a quality pad set that has anti-rattling plates attached to the backs of them. Weather conditions do affect brake squeal, that is why it seems to be worse at times.

Low brake warning sensor squeal occurs when your brake pads reach the point of replacement, the sensor attached to the pads scrapes on the rotor which produces a high pitch squealing sound to warn you it's time for new pads.

As far as your second problem goes (a knocking sound), I'll need more information about the problem before I can offer a possible cause (eg. happens on left or right turns, while going over bumps, at high or low speeds, accellerating...).

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