I have a 2007 that I bought back in October of last year and absolutely love the car. My only complaint is that the brakes squeal horribly when I first get going in the morning. I asked about them the last time I took the car in for service and was told they could not do anything about it. They said that the humidity causes it and that the brakes are fine. Has anyone else experienced this? Any advice?

Thank you!

I have a 2007 that I bought back in October of last year and absolutely love the car. My only complaint is that the brakes squeal horribly when I first get going in the morning. I asked about them the last time I took the car in for service and was told they could not do anything about it. They said that the humidity causes it and that the brakes are fine. Has anyone else experienced this? Any advice?

Thank you!


This has previously been covered on this forum - the main causes are hard disk brake pads fitted as replacements for the original pads if the owner was unhappy with the pad life, glazed brake pads and/or a build-up of dust on the brake disk. Cars that are driven gently and do not experience moderate to heavy braking on a regular basis are more prone to this problem.

The cure is simple - just take the car out on a deserted road and do a series of hard stops from 80/90km/hr. The best indication is you start to smell the hot brake linings then drive the car normally for a few minutes to let the brakes cool down and repeat the exercise. Drive the car home normally and let it stand for at least 30 minutes before thoroughly hosing down the brake disks from the outside and inside of the wheel. You should see pad dust in the water run-off from under the car. After hosing down, take the car for a short run and do some moderate braking to heat the brakes to dry them out.

The fact that it only occurs when the brakes are cold suggests the problem is either hard pads or dust build-up. if it occurs everytime the brakes are used, this indicates hard/glazed pads. If the problem is glazed pads, the best remedy is to remove the pads and remove the glaze with abrasive paper or wire brush depending on the severity.

If the car is not driven on a daily basis and you live in an industrial/marine environment with air pollution and if the car is not driven daily, the problem can be the formation of rust on the disks whilst the car is standing and this can cause squealing when the brakes are used for the first time.

Thank you for the info. To provide additional info,I drive the car highway almost 100 miles every day. The car has 36K miles on it when I bought it, I have put a out 24k on it since purchase.

I live in Central Texas, so definitely no marine environment around :)

How long should I get on the brake pads?

Thank you!

Thank you for the info. To provide additional info,I drive the car highway almost 100 miles every day. The car has 36K miles on it when I bought it, I have put a out 24k on it since purchase.

I live in Central Texas, so definitely no marine environment around :)

How long should I get on the brake pads?

Thank you!

Another thing that can cause brakes to squeal "sing" is lack of proper lubrication between the pad and mount. This allows the pads to vibrate causing a high pitched sound. A special high temp grease is used to form an insulation between the brake pad and the caliper to avoid this problem.

If your car has never had new pads installed after 36,000 miles plus your 24,000 miles which equals 50,000 miles, you might be over due.:)

Has the thickness of the brake material been checked?

The last two times I have taken the car in for service I have asked specifically about the brakes and have been told that they are fine. Should I get more specific and ask them for the current measurements?

Should I get more specific and ask them for the current measurements?

Yes.

I have a 2008 with 23,009 miles on it and sqeels like a pig every morning! I have taken to the dealer so many times over the years for this problem, and they always come back to tell me "its normal!" I have been to 2 different dealers that say the same thing. I have just given up and live with it.

Second, my sun shade has torn and the dealer will replace under warrantee. The dealer has said they have many coming in that do this! Both my doors have had the soft touch tops of the door panels delaminate and the left side has already been replaced under warrantee. The drivers side is awaiting a national parts recall because there are NO panels to be found in the US and they are waiting for parts from the manufacture.

I love my car, but the quality issues, the lack of repair fixes, the overall indifference by VW to back their products is causing me to think I will not by another VW in the future. This is too bad, because the car is so wonderful to drive.

Lopaka

I just went around and replaced all my pads.

I bought German manufactured aftermarket pads. The front pads MAY have to be fitted a certain way around. That's because they put a chamfer on the 'leading edge' of the friction material. Instead of looking square, it's as though somebody took a big file to the corners. Now curiously, although my fitting instructions referred to the 'handing' of the left and right front pads, all pads had the chamfer on the leading and trailing corner edges.

When pads are fitted, a small amount of copper anti seize grease should be used between the metal pad backing and the piston to act as anti- squeal. Unlike many other cars, the EOS does not seem to use thin anti sqeal shims.

As previously mentioned, you can get a lot of brake dust build up so the metal pad backings can stick. The EOS uses one piston per caliper and relies on a sliding 'shoe' to equalise the pressure to both pads. This can get gummed up with brake dust. It took me a couple of hours to change the front pads taking care to remove all the crud and check the caliper mechanism was free. I don't know if dealers give the same 5 star treatment.

Squeal can also occur with new pads if the discs have worn leaving a raised unworn edge (which is most discs) . The wise mechanic may lightly rasp the outer edges of each pad, to help them wear in faster without squeeling.