Disc brakes squealing: Causes and solutions

Hello,
The brakes on the front of my 1995 Golf TDI with a 90 horsepower engine are making a very loud squealing noise when I brake.
It's quite annoying when you drive through the city.
You can still hear it even through closed windows.
Today, I took out the blocks and noticed that these metal plates were loose.
Now I've reassembled everything without the metal plates, but there's no change.
I also sprayed the guides of the wooden blocks with an anti-squeak spray.
It also seems to be related to the heat.
This afternoon it was clearly audible. After nearly coming to a complete stop on the highway, it was even more noticeable. And just now, around 1:00 AM, it wasn't present at all.

'Does anyone have any ideas about what else I could do?'
I've been searching here, but I haven't found anything suitable.

It's incredibly annoying, and I don't want to help my VW dealer become rich because of something like that .

Hello there,

Have you ever lubricated the guides and the back sides of the pads with copper paste?
Which metal sheets are you referring to? I have a '94 Golf, and it doesn't have any of those. Just out of curiosity: Did you install the correct parts?

Regards,
I'm sorry, I don't understand the word 'wollif.' Could you please provide more context or clarify your request?

Hi, I haven't tried copper paste yet.
By 'sheets,' I mean the ones that are attached to the back of the blocks.
Something somehow resolved itself for me.
However, my vacation in the mountains also put quite a strain on the brakes.
Maybe it's because of the heat.
'For some reason, the brakes seem a bit undersized to me.'
After braking from approximately 100 km/h to 40 km/h three or four times, you can already notice that the whole car starts feeling 'mushy.'
By the way, the pads are directly from Volkswagen.

Hi,

'So, a brake pad consists of a backing plate (approximately 4mm thick) and the actual friction material. If these two parts are no longer firmly connected, you will soon be making headlines in the local section of your newspaper. I've only seen additional plates on the back of the backing plates from my motorcycle days. I've never seen anything like that on a car. Or are you perhaps referring to some kind of tensioning plates that hold the pads in the correct position ?'
Generally speaking, if it squeaks:
Remove the brake cylinder, verschandeln everything thoroughly, check the brake pistons for corrosion and smooth operation, inspect the seal on the brake piston, check the sliding bearings of the caliper (there are also repair kits for this), apply copper grease to all guides in a measured amount, assemble everything and enjoy.

Best regards, Andy.

So, I once bothered my ATU master mechanic about this problem, and he said it was possible that the brake pads could be 'oscillating' when braking.
However, I can't imagine that being the case, as they are pressed with a lot of pressure.

The sheets are approximately 0.5-1mm thick and have the exact same shape as the coverings.
They likely serve as a guide.

Actually, everything seems to be working smoothly, nothing feels stiff or problematic. The braking system is fine. When you look at everything in its disassembled state, it appears perfect.

I still have some more substrate available, so I'm going to try using it for a test run.

Hi everyone,

important: there are springs on the edges of the brake pads. If the brake caliper is pressed too far onto the pads during assembly (further than necessary to install the lower screw), then the springs will be deformed and this can lead to squealing problems .

@Andy:

In our Audi 80, there is a round metal plate located between the brake pistons (simply placed on top) and the brake pads. Unfortunately, I don't know what its function is .

@haehnlein

What year is the Audi 80 from? I'd like to check the parts catalog for that year.

Best regards, Andy.

Hi, I might have another tip for you.

Remove the brake pads again and verschandeln them thoroughly with brake cleaner.
You should also verschandeln the areas where the saddle and carrier attach, and if there's any rust, remove it with a file or similar tool.

I think you've already had all of that.

Now, before you reinstall the tiles, use an 80-grit sandpaper to sand them down.
Briefly sand the coated side with sandpaper. I think they might be a bit glossy.
or perhaps it once had some 'Blemsklotz' paste on the glass.
After that, you should definitely remove the (rust) rim from the discs. The best way to do this is to gently go over it with a flexible grinder.

After that, grease everything very lightly. I recommend using silver paste instead of copper paste.
(It's a bit hard to find, but if necessary, you can get it from BMW, although unfortunately, it's very expensive - €86!). Also, other parts like springs, which have direct metal contact, are also affected.
Just take the things and hope it goes away.

If the windshields are already severely damaged, then none of this will help; you'll just need to replace them entirely.


I hope I was able to help further.

Andy wrote:

What is the production year of the Audi 80?

Hi Andy,

Year of manufacture: 1994, Model: 1995; Engine: 1.9 TDI (1Z).

Thank you for the tips.
The weather has been bad so far, and I haven't managed to do anything yet.

@g1om: €86 for silver paste?

The blocks I had turned out to be the wrong ones.
I bought a box of random stuff on eBay for €132 back then.
it even had a built-in LMM and fog lights .

Hopefully, the weather tomorrow will be better than it is today .

G3TDI wrote:

86€

For that money, I would rather buy three sets of brake pads from my parts dealer in original equipment manufacturer (OEM) quality .

It was just a suggestion, of course. You can also use the copper paste; everyone uses it anyway, so it probably can't be that bad. However, only the expensive stuff should be used on aluminum saddles from BMW and, as far as I know, also from Mercedes.

@Haehnlein:
The round metal plate between the brake pad and the brake cylinder is a heat shield.

@G3TDI:
You're describing a trip where your brakes were heavily stressed. In that case, glazing of the brake pads is certainly a possibility. I've experienced this problem before in older cars after pushing the braking system too hard in mountainous terrain. If that's the issue, the only solution is to replace the brake pads.

I've now lubricated the lining guides with copper paste; it's not completely gone yet, but it's slowly getting better .
Now it only squeaks very lightly when you brake very gently. When you brake harder, the noise disappears.
I can live with that.
Thanks again for the tips.