Date:         Sun, 1 Jun 2003 19:38:30 -0700
Reply-To:     Sam Scholten <undergroundboy01@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Sam Scholten <undergroundboy01@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: weird little brake noise
Comments: To: Damon Campbell <damoncampbellvw@YAHOO.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <20030602013423.97439.qmail@web13105.mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

What he has is a sticky caliper with worn pads to
match. With a sticky caliper, the brakes are *almost*
engaged, which is why the squeaker is making noise
that goes away when you apply the brakes.

New calipers are relatively cheap at a FLAPS, and most
come with a lifetime warranty these days, so
rebuilding the old one is SO not worth it.

He should go ahead and get his caliper and pads,
although if he (or you) attempt to do the brakes
yourself, don't be surprised is the brake shop who put
them on airtooled the caliper on too tightly to get
off. If that's the case, a good honest mechanic will
put your own parts on for you instead of using his own
marked up parts.

Either way, he should take action soon or else he'll
be buying rotors as well.

Trust me, I've gone through this on both my cars last
month.

Take care, and best of luck,
Sam

--- Damon Campbell <damoncampbellvw@YAHOO.COM> wrote:
> This weekend, i borrowed my fiance's dad's '87
> weekender.  When driving along at lower speeds (say,
> under 30mph or so) i hear a light
> squeak-squeak-squeak
> coming from the brakes (not quite sure which brake,
> though).  Odd thing is (at least to me, anyway) that
> as soon as you touch the brakes - but before they
> actually engage - the squeak-squeak-squeak goes
> away.
> I don't really know any of the history of this van
> (except for what i've fixed in the last few
> months)...
>  any idea on what this could be?  Brakes seem strong
> enough, although it does pull to the right under
> hard
> braking.
>
> Seems like a quirky little thing, so i thought i'd
> ask
> a quirky little list.
>
> As always: thanks,
> -Damon
>
> =====
> '84 Westy (Sparky)
> '65 Kharma Ghia (Dharma)
>
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