Volvo 480 Club Europe

has anyone got a permanent fix for brake squeal?
ive copper slipped the pads, and that works fine for a week or two, then the squeal creeps back in!
driving along, the brakes start to whistle...this creeps up to a full blown squeal at anything over about 25 mph.
must be a volvo trait, as both my s40s do it, and the mother in laws 440 does it too, although the 480 seems worst!
rgrds
rob

Are they new pads? I remember my rears did it loads when i fitted new ones for a while. Frequent adjusting of the handbrake adjuster seems to cure it. I also replaced the handbrake cables as they were shit. I reckon most 480 handbrake cables will be in a similar state. The cable seems to stick in the sleeve due to rusty cable surround.

pol

nah....seems to be coming from the front (on the 480, as well as both s40s)

the pads on them all are pretty worn in....wouldnt say old...6 months ish.
seen something somewhere about silicone covered shims...any one know what they are(brand)/availability etc?
was thinking of maybe putting a coat of silicone on the back of the pads, but would hate it to get on the discs!
rgrds
rob

try another make brakediscpads.
I have suffered this also and cured it by coppergreasing the back of the
discbrakepads and strting tu use another brand.


I strongly think that that is the cure in your case.
Because I suppose that all the family volvo´s you mention in your question are surviced by the same garage or at least suffer from teh same parts-supplier (even if it is Volvo).

Good luck
Gerrsvolvo

Hi Rob,

I'm getting the same thing and has been doing it for months.

Brakes feel good but a new set will be installed soon.

btw how long does a disc last in normal driving / hard driving? How do I tell if the disc is on it's last legs?

Cheers

If you can feel a big 'lip' at the top of the disc then replace them. You can measure the wear. The springs are meant to be to stop squeal also arent they? They can get bent out of shape but have no idea if they work anyway.

pol

I haven't had brake squeel, but I did have some no-name crap brake pads, they didn't work all that well, and started to crack up. I replaced them with Volvo ones.

The rear did squeel for a short while untill the pads bedded in. It wans't that loud or anything. The new type volvo pads have some sort of plastic goop on the back (phase change anti-squeel compound, they call it) that mets under the high pressure / temperature and then sets hard. It seems to do the trick ok.

I suppose a thin layer of high temp silicone / RTV on the pad would do the same sort of thing when it sets.

Richard

@pol......when i bought the 480, the first thing i did was change the pads and discs all round, as the ones on it looked like they were original
(the pads disintigrated in my hands, when i removed them!!!)the pads are mintex....not a particularly cheap brand?
might try the silicone on the back idea,see if it cures
rgrds
rob

hmmm, sounds strange... maybe a caliper or some other fault then... There's only so many things you can replace...

pol

if it is coming from the front, check the caliper slide bolts are not seized. if one or another is, the pads will not contact the disc sqarely and you will squeal. another symptom may be uneven wear on the pads, i.e. inside pad wearing less, pads wearing at an angle.

remove the caliper (as per doing the pads) then lift teh rubber gaiter off the caliper and pull the slide bolt out. remove any rust with some fine sandpaper or similar, clean off, grease up and put back in.

yeah, thanks chris....when i changed the pads and disc, i did this, as they were stuck.
they seem to be free enough....checked em today.
have put a thin film of silicone on the backs of the pads, and so far, the squeal has gone!
will have to see how long it lasts though, ive only used normal silicone, so it will probably melt at temp!!!
rgrds
rob

chanfer all the edges on the pad faces.
regards joe

what would you use? some kind of grinding wheel or something?
also, what angle, how big etc, or does it not really matter?

rgrds
rob