96 Regal continual brake issues

[lisa1120]

I have a '96 regal GS that has had constant brake issues for over two years now. I can't believe these people can't seem to get it fixed right. It's been back to the shop 5 times now. I can still hear what sounds like metal rubbing. I can't hear it when going fast, but can when I drive slow. They never seem to hear it whenever I take it back in. Now it seems to get louder as the car heats up. I never hear it first thing in the morning, but it gets worse as the day goes on. I also have a very loud noise every once in awhile when I'm backing up. Not sure if that is brake related or not. The mechanic has given me excuses like "this model year has very tricky brakes and sometimes we just can't seem to get the brakes shimmed just right" and others have said it could be the quality of the brake pads being used (cermaic vs a cheaper material). Now he's saying it's the calipers freezing up again. Is this a common issue? I had been told of this when I owned a '92 Pontiac Grand Prix and was told I would have to make a point of using the emergency brake on a weekly basis to avoid them freezing up again. Any comments or ideas?

[richtazz]

Your 96 has an improved design rear brake system that doesn't have the issues of the slides siezing like your 92 Pontiac Grand Prix did. It sounds to me like the shop is blowing you off and trying to make excuses.

[bobss396]

I had a '92 Regal with loads of brake problems as well. Mine was part of a class action suit against GM and I wound up getting $150 back from them.

First of all, use the emergency (parking brake) every day. This helps to keep the rear calipers from sticking, believe it or not. Most mechanics are either too lazy or inept to properly lube all the metal to metal points on the front and rear calipers. This is critical to keeping them working smoothly. Make sure the shops use a good quality brake pad, the cheapos fail in less than 10k miles, at least for me they did.

I would up doing my brakes myself on mine. I got quality rebuilt calipers for the front, the rears I had to get new as they weren't available rebuilt at the time. I had to replace the front rotors. I went with expensive Bendix pads all around. Everything was lubed up properly, the parking brake cable pivot as well. I also use Brake Quiet spray on the back of the pads, all the hardware was new. It was the best brake job that the car ever had, stopped well up until I sold it at 140k miles.

Bob