Squeaky brakes on Protege

Unfortunately I have to spam you folks again.
I had the pads in front replaced by the dealer 10k miles ago and did
not let them
resurface the rotors. There is a quiet high pitched squeal from brakes
when slowing
down to a crawl. I want to install slotted rotors. Do you think that
will cure
the problem or the root cause could be something else? Rear drums?
Last time they checked there was plenty of lining left on drum pads in
the back.
The problem started after the car was in for a timing belt (I saw them
taking wheels off,
not sure what for).
Clues?

We had a '97 Protege that sacrificed it's life to successfully protect
my daughter in a head-on. That great car had front brakes that squeaked
quite often; the first stop of the day being the loudest.

I suppose you can mess around with backing plates, grease, rotors, etc
or you can simply ignore it. Squeaks and disc brakes seem to go together
like cheese and mold.

p.s. she's driving a '98 Protege now with brakes that, for some unknown
reason, do not squeak.

Ken



Body Roll wrote:
> Unfortunately I have to spam you folks again.
> I had the pads in front replaced by the dealer 10k miles ago and did
> not let them
> resurface the rotors. There is a quiet high pitched squeal from brakes
> when slowing
> down to a crawl. I want to install slotted rotors. Do you think that
> will cure
> the problem or the root cause could be something else? Rear drums?
> Last time they checked there was plenty of lining left on drum pads in
> the back.
> The problem started after the car was in for a timing belt (I saw them
> taking wheels off,
> not sure what for).
> Clues?
>

KWS wrote:
> We had a '97 Protege that sacrificed it's life to successfully protect
> my daughter in a head-on. That great car had front brakes that squeaked
> quite often; the first stop of the day being the loudest.
>
> I suppose you can mess around with backing plates, grease, rotors, etc
> or you can simply ignore it. Squeaks and disc brakes seem to go together
> like cheese and mold.
>
> p.s. she's driving a '98 Protege now with brakes that, for some unknown
> reason, do not squeak.
>
Mine did not either for 60k until the dealer did the timing belt.
Just curious how do you get into a head-on unless you aim for a fixed
object
like a pole or something?

"Body Roll" > wrote in
oups.com:

> Just curious how do you get into a head-on unless you aim for a
> fixed object like a pole or something?

Why would it make any difference who you aim for? You can aim for a
Czech or an Italian or a Spaniard or a.......

KWS wrote:
> We had a '97 Protege that sacrificed it's life to successfully protect
> my daughter in a head-on. That great car had front brakes that squeaked
> quite often; the first stop of the day being the loudest.
>
> I suppose you can mess around with backing plates, grease, rotors, etc
> or you can simply ignore it. Squeaks and disc brakes seem to go together
> like cheese and mold.
>
> p.s. she's driving a '98 Protege now with brakes that, for some unknown
> reason, do not squeak.
>
> Ken

I have replaced the front disc brake pads on three Datsun 280Z's, a 1992
Sentra, a 1994 Camry, my former 1996 miata, my current 1991 miata, and
two other M1 miatas that I can remember. That is at least nine changes
with hundreds of thousands of miles shared by all of the vehicles on the
replaced pads.
I also did the rear brakes on about half of them, both drum and discs.
Neither system was prone to squeaking in my experience, the drums were
just harder to work on.

I got a lot of sqealing when I used full-racing brake pads on one
Datsun. I pulled those and went with some aftermarket but not nearly as
metallic brakes. This was about 16 years ago.

Since then, I have used only OEM pads for the most part, (every time
with the miatas), and haven't had or heard of a squeaking problem from
any of the brakes yet except one time when I forgot a backing plate,
(oops!), that was easily diagnosed and fixed.

This is not bragging at all. I have seen a number of cars come out of
"professional" mechanics, brake repair shops and dealership service
departments with the brakes sqeaking and I try to figure out why they
can not accomplish what an untrained, (shade tree mechanic at best), can do.

Very glad to hear that your daughter made it through the head-on
collision and hopefully it was not too traumatic for you and your family.

Pat

Body Roll wrote:

> Mine did not either for 60k until the dealer did the timing belt.

Did you have brake work done at the time? The timing belt work has
nothing to do with the brakes at all.
If it started squeaking upon having the timing belt done, it is either
pure coincidence or a very shady dealership doing something like
swapping brake parts to get you back in for another repair.

> Just curious how do you get into a head-on unless you aim for a fixed
> object
> like a pole or something?

One way is for another driver to hit you with their vehicle. There are
plenty of other ways as well.
The best race car driver in the world using the best defensive driving
techniques possible still has a chance of having a head-on collision.
They will be far better at avoiding it than the average driver, but
nobody is 100% safe from a head-on when driving roads with other
vehicles on them.
One recent head-on collision was caused by a guy driving the wrong way
down the highway at a high rate of speed.
If one of these people is coming at you, are you sure that you will zig
when you should and not zag, or vice-versa?

Pat

pws wrote:
> Body Roll wrote:
>
> > Mine did not either for 60k until the dealer did the timing belt.
>
> Did you have brake work done at the time? The timing belt work has

No. 10000 miles before.

> nothing to do with the brakes at all.

Exactly. Imagine my surprise when I noticed squeaking.

> If it started squeaking upon having the timing belt done, it is either
> pure coincidence or a very shady dealership doing something like
> swapping brake parts to get you back in for another repair.

Hmm, after $900 timing belt bill I'd think they would not do this.
After all it was them who did the brakes 10k miles before.

> > Just curious how do you get into a head-on unless you aim for a fixed
> > object
> > like a pole or something?
>
> One way is for another driver to hit you with their vehicle. There are
> plenty of other ways as well.
> The best race car driver in the world using the best defensive driving
> techniques possible still has a chance of having a head-on collision.
> They will be far better at avoiding it than the average driver, but
> nobody is 100% safe from a head-on when driving roads with other
> vehicles on them.
> One recent head-on collision was caused by a guy driving the wrong way
> down the highway at a high rate of speed.
> If one of these people is coming at you, are you sure that you will zig
> when you should and not zag, or vice-versa?
>
I thought this is supposed to be the "who will zig first" game :-)
So far no head on close calls but two recent close calls with people
running red lights. Lucky me I have underpowered heavy car
and was pulling out late in both cases. otherwise
would've been killed in a quicker car.
The bay area is full of fscking singles :-[

Thank you for the good wishes.

She had a small cut on one toe and a bruised arm from the airbag. Other
than that, she was somewhat angry. Thirty years ago, she would not have
been so well off.

The head on was with another car in an intersection. I remember when the
genius sages were all against airbags. Glad they lost that one.

Ken

pws wrote:
> KWS wrote:
>> We had a '97 Protege that sacrificed it's life to successfully protect
>> my daughter in a head-on. That great car had front brakes that
>> squeaked quite often; the first stop of the day being the loudest.
>>
>> I suppose you can mess around with backing plates, grease, rotors, etc
>> or you can simply ignore it. Squeaks and disc brakes seem to go
>> together like cheese and mold.
>>
>> p.s. she's driving a '98 Protege now with brakes that, for some
>> unknown reason, do not squeak.
>>
>> Ken
>
> I have replaced the front disc brake pads on three Datsun 280Z's, a 1992
> Sentra, a 1994 Camry, my former 1996 miata, my current 1991 miata, and
> two other M1 miatas that I can remember. That is at least nine changes
> with hundreds of thousands of miles shared by all of the vehicles on the
> replaced pads.
> I also did the rear brakes on about half of them, both drum and discs.
> Neither system was prone to squeaking in my experience, the drums were
> just harder to work on.
>
> I got a lot of sqealing when I used full-racing brake pads on one
> Datsun. I pulled those and went with some aftermarket but not nearly as
> metallic brakes. This was about 16 years ago.
>
> Since then, I have used only OEM pads for the most part, (every time
> with the miatas), and haven't had or heard of a squeaking problem from
> any of the brakes yet except one time when I forgot a backing plate,
> (oops!), that was easily diagnosed and fixed.
>
> This is not bragging at all. I have seen a number of cars come out of
> "professional" mechanics, brake repair shops and dealership service
> departments with the brakes sqeaking and I try to figure out why they
> can not accomplish what an untrained, (shade tree mechanic at best), can
> do.
>
> Very glad to hear that your daughter made it through the head-on
> collision and hopefully it was not too traumatic for you and your family.
>
> Pat

KWS wrote:
> Thank you for the good wishes.
>
> She had a small cut on one toe and a bruised arm from the airbag. Other
> than that, she was somewhat angry. Thirty years ago, she would not have
> been so well off.
>
> The head on was with another car in an intersection. I remember when the
> genius sages were all against airbags. Glad they lost that one.
>
> Ken

Excellent! I am also glad to hear that she was not seriously injured.

My '91 has a Momo Champion wheel and obviously no passenger-side airbag,
not that airbags were that great in 1991 anyway.
Yet one more reason to look at the new one, especially now that it won't
deploy if it gets too cold. ;-)

Airbags have improved considerably as far as effectiveness and less
injury caused when deployed since they were introduced from what I have
researched.
I am not sure that I would want the original airbag from my 1991 model
installed, but if I could put a 1999-2005 Nardi steering wheel with a
working airbag in there, I would have already done it.

Do you mind telling what you paid for your Protege? My daughter will be
driving soon and a '97 to '99 Protege might be an excellent first car
choice.

Pat

I don't recall what I paid for the '97, but I replaced it with a '98
that I got for $2600. It had 122K miles on it. Needed tires and an a/c
compressor.

We also bought a 2000 for another daughter which set me back $2900. This
one was not going to sell due to the "check engine" light being on all
the time. I anticipated this and brought my code reader with me when I
saw the car. It needed a catalytic converter and O2 sensors. That was
around $500 worth of stuff, but it was still a good deal. It had 116K
miles on it when purchased.

Both cars checked out OK with Carfax. The '98 was a leased vehicle and
the '00 was a rental car someplace back east (we live in CA). These were
both obtained about a year ago, so I would be careful about cars with
water damage today.

When the kids were in high school, I did a little research and convinced
myself that the Protege was an overlooked car. They have all the
features one could need, are very reliable and use modest amounts of
gasoline.

When our oldest graduated from college, we went downtown and did battle
with a local sleezeball Mazda dealer. We got a good deal on a new 2003
(last year for the Protege), which has served her very well since.

We could be an advertisement for Proteges, if they still existed.

Ken


pws wrote:
> KWS wrote:
>> Thank you for the good wishes.
>>
>> She had a small cut on one toe and a bruised arm from the airbag.
>> Other than that, she was somewhat angry. Thirty years ago, she would
>> not have been so well off.
>>
>> The head on was with another car in an intersection. I remember when
>> the genius sages were all against airbags. Glad they lost that one.
>>
>> Ken
>
> Excellent! I am also glad to hear that she was not seriously injured.
>
> My '91 has a Momo Champion wheel and obviously no passenger-side airbag,
> not that airbags were that great in 1991 anyway.
> Yet one more reason to look at the new one, especially now that it won't
> deploy if it gets too cold. ;-)
>
> Airbags have improved considerably as far as effectiveness and less
> injury caused when deployed since they were introduced from what I have
> researched.
> I am not sure that I would want the original airbag from my 1991 model
> installed, but if I could put a 1999-2005 Nardi steering wheel with a
> working airbag in there, I would have already done it.
>
> Do you mind telling what you paid for your Protege? My daughter will be
> driving soon and a '97 to '99 Protege might be an excellent first car
> choice.
>
> Pat
>