squeeling brakes

A few weeks ago my husband replaced the front brake pads and rotors on my 2000 Century. Now they are screeching when I use them, and they weren't before. It's not just when it's wet or when you first use them - you can be driving for 1/2 hour, hit the brakes hard and awful high pitched screech. My husband says maybe the brake pads were bad because he bought the cheapest :banghead: So far I seem to be able to stop - anything to worry about? I admit I don't know much about brakes, but I guess I would have expected the screeching from the old brakes - not the new ones?

I'd say that the bargain basement pads are the cause of your noise. With the front wheel drive cars, it is always best to get something good, top of the line by Bendix or Raybestos are some of the premiun pads out there. With my Regal, I used to get them at the GM dealer for $66 a set.

Does your husband know what he's doing with brakes? No offense but they're not something to play around without experience. Some of us here have done thousands of brake jobs. There are critical pieces of hardware that should be replaced or at least cleaned and lubed up properly. There are adhseives to hold the pads to the calipers and so on.

My best guess, you'll have to go with a premium set of pads and have the rotors resurfaced. The person that cuts the rotors should know what type of finish to put on them, I always left them with a coarser finish than most people. This helps the pads break in and not glaze up right away, which causes the screech that you have.

Bob

I agree that it's the cheap pads he bought. The cheap pads have uneven sized metallic particles in the friction material, and when you hit one of the big chunks, they will squeal. The other thing it could be is if he didn't clean the rotors off before he installed them. The rotors will be coated with an oily film to prevent them from rusting during shipment/storage. If this isn't cleaned off, it will get in the pad material, causing them to glaze and squeal.

I agree that it's the cheap pads he bought. The cheap pads have uneven sized metallic particles in the friction material, and when you hit one of the big chunks, they will squeal. The other thing it could be is if he didn't clean the rotors off before he installed them. The rotors will be coated with an oily film to prevent them from rusting during shipment/storage. If this isn't cleaned off, it will get in the pad material, causing them to glaze and squeal.

I did think of the protective film on the rotors afterwards, but I would have HOPED that he would have washed it off. Some shops will take a cut on brand new rotors if they are thick enough, which is a good practice.

Bob