I happened to follow a friend out of a parking lot the other day and noticed there was a very loud squeaking when they got to the stop sign in their 2004 Prius and again when they slowed to turn into another business. Of course it was VERY quiet while they waited at the stop for traffic to pass ;-) Is it normal for the friction brakes to be that loud or should I ask if they have inquired at the dealer regarding a repair? Is was way too loud, I would never be able to tolerate it as a normal sound.
Doesn't sound normal to me. Are you sure it was the 'friction' brakes? Could it be an axle/bearing issue?
Don't know. I only heard it as they were slowing down, definately below regen speed. Didn't hear it as they left the stop sign.
Had it been raining that day? If so, that's the brakes basically scraping away any rust and removing the water from the brakes.
Last Saturday just as I touched the brake it made a little yelping sound. We actually thought there was a little dog outside of the car - until it happened again. It had been raining that day and the night before. I'll have them check it out at it's 10,000 mile check.
How many miles on the car? This car has a indicator on it to replace the brakes and they make a scraping squealing noise. Don't ignore that I did once before I knew about such things. It goes away soon and the next noise is the bake shoes on the drum or disk. This is bad and cost me money to resurface the disk on the car. Learned my lesson. I think all cars have it now and it is mentioned in the manual.
What is being reported is typical, normal brake noise. Most people like to think that brake noise is not normal, but in reality, some noise will occur at some point, since friction is simply a high frequency vibration (very quick grab and release of the rotor or drum) that when altered by debris such as dust, rust, or moisture, can result in the vibrational frequency changing such that noise can be heard. The difficulty with the Prius is the linings are used so little, and generally only at low speeds, where the brake system is most susceptible to noise. Try doing a few moderate brake applies and decelerate to zero speed, so that you get the brake linings to come fully into play under 8 mph. This should quickly wear away the contaminants and should stop the noise.
yup noticed it the other day in the wife's 2k4 I had washed the car the day before, and it was on the way home commute and just slowing for a traffic light. Commute to work has a hill with 13% grade for almost a mile and used them on that one so don't know why after work. Car has less than 4000kms on it so I do know they're not worn out and if they are were all in for a lot of trouble!
I just noticed a squeking noise coming from the front passenger wheel area this weekend. Mine is not from braking but happens at low speeds and more often when taking a left hand turn. It is also a repeatitive sound like one full rotation of the wheel. I'm having this looked at but my dealer needs a week to get a prius tech to his location.
Also noticed this on my Salsa...normally it's a quick chearp/squeek which occurs when I pull out of the garage in the morning. I also noticed this squeak when I leave work to go home after I've had the car parked in the parking lot all day. I figure that these quick chearp/squeak/yelp is normal...I may ask them to check the brakes when I take her in for the 5000 mile service. It sounds like lots of people are getting this same problem...if it can be called a problem.
I also have heard this, usually when I turn a hard left into a parking space at, say 3-5 mph w/ my foot on the brakes. Is this normal? Do I need to take the car in? I was told by an alarmist friend it sounded like a serious problem, but someone else just said to inflate the tires more. I doesn't really bug me, I just want to be sure it isn't a problem.
I talked to them over the June 26th weekend at the International Theater on Ice comp in Bourne, MA. Not brakes, the dealer thought maybe bearings but they hadn't had time to look at it yet. It did have some "happens more turning 1 direction than the other" component. Saw them again this past weekend and they said the noise went away all by itself! BTW, they were very happy with their current mpg. Got nearly 50 mpg on the trip to Cape Cod, 53 mpg on the way back. Car just turned over 10K miles.
The problem I was having wasn't a problem at all. It only does it on one ype of surface (blacktop) and the service guy at my dealer said it is the rubber squealing on the treated surface they put down on parking lots to keep leaking fluids from ruining them. Seems logical, as it only does it there.
Mine wasn't really a problem with the car. I had peice of tar caught up in the wheel which was rubbing when i took left turns.
