Gents I have a '13 GTS roughly 15K miles on it a few weeks ago, the breaks started squealing out of nowhere. At first I thought it was just break dust buildup, so when I washed car on Friday, I aimed the hose spray inside each wheel between the rotor and caliper (that usually worked on prior p-cars). No luck this time...fairly annoying. only time is does not now squeal is when I apply brakes VERY hard. Of course, around town driving not really conducive to this.

Any recommended solutions? Could I possibly need new pads already?

I appreciate any insight.

Thanks!

Scott

 

Rebed the pads. You're probably not using the brakes hard enough to keep the transfer layer in good shape.


$0.02

 

Thanks for the quick reply..

How does one "rebed" the pads?

 

The specific process usually depends on the pad material and manufacturer.

Generally speaking, you are going to find some open roads, and get the brake components up to temperature by doing a series of half effort (5/10th) brake applications. Say 60-20mph a maybe four, five or more times. Once the pads and rotors are warmed up, then you're gonna do a series of much harder brake runs. Faster down to near stopped. Several times. Using near max pedal effort.

Then you drive around without touching the brake pedal for a while.

Done. Squealing should be gone. If it's not, then try again, using more runs and more pedal effort.

Someone else might have a different generic regimen or certainly one more applicable to the pad material on your car.

 

Maybe its a sign that brakes are almost gone? But I doubt it. Sensor should show it. Problem is that sometimes sensor dont show it because one side of the rotor is worn more than other. So sensor will never trip. I had that happening on the S550.

Take the wheels off and see if any part of metal shim is not touching the rotor. I have not seen the panny rotors taken apart so its hard to me to tell if its a shim. A lot of other cars on the roads use shims that make the noise.

 

I had the problem before, Porsche look at it twice no issue still have 8-9 months of life on the pads. They say its typical for high performance breaks. Got tired of the god awe full sequel like a big rig stopping even if im going 15mph and slowly stopping, was quiet embarrassing, this was unaceptable especially if your talking about a $100K plus car, So I bought a brand new set of OE pads, had it replace and all the noise went away.

The breaking hard for certain amount of times only works for a couple days to a couple weeks then comes back.

 

2010Panny, you probably use a very light touch on the brake pedal if you're having the squeal return again and again.

 

I only drive 10-15mins to work so not much reason to hammer the break bud. regardless if I have a 100Kplus car if I'm just driving it and not taking it to the truck my opinion is it shouldn't sequel like a mac truck breaking from 80mph to a dead stop, or every time I drive.
I shouldn't have to slam on the breaks every so often just to " JAR " the brake dust off and jarring my passengers. I shouldn't have to feel like I have to break harshly or have a 10lb break foot when operating the car so as the brakes OPERATE in a manner that it heats enough to warrant no brake squeal. just my .02

 

I had no idea this was a thing, but there are articles about it online if you look up "rebed brakes." The additional things I read were "do NOT come to a complete stop when doing the hard braking" because you'll imprint pad material on the hot rotors, and the point of driving around afterward is to cool the brakes off.

 

2010Panny, it's not brake dust. You really should do some research on the topic. And that's not to sound like a prig. The transfer layer on your rotors is a critical piece of the brake friction puzzle.

Understanding this will prevent unnecessary trips to service for brake noise and will also get you to wring-out your car a bit every now and then.

When the transfer layer brakes down, you may hear some ungodly screeches and squealing or you may feel a pulse or judder in your brake pedal. Neither of those things are unique flaws to Porsche or any other car with high-perf brake components. It means that the pads are now in direct contact with the rotors. No buffer.


On the track we call a light brake pedal "limo braking." Its not a good practice in that environment for many reasons, but it also can apply to street driving.

If you want to have a high performance car with incredibly high performance capabilities, then you must be prepared to do certain things to retain those capabilities. These aren't Toyotas.

To the OP. Please visually inspect your pads for thickness. Then rebed the pads.

 

thanks for the advice gents....the "rebed process" worked yesterday we'll see how long it lasts. Much thanks!

 

Yes Gus, definitely a thing.


In the early days of Federalized Lotus cars (this past decade), there were very few brake pad options for those of us who tracked their cars. Basically it was the stock pads, Porterfield or Pagid.

The stock pads couldn't hold up to track duty. Neither could the Porterfields. Pagid offered two compounds the Blue (RS4-2 )which a was street-track pad and the Black (RS14) which was a track pad. There was much rejoicing with the Black front Blue rear combo. Only one problem... the transfer layer of the Blacks wouldn't hold up. I mean talk about frustration. You could see streaks/splotches in the transfer layer on the disk. Stomping on the brake pedal would rattle your teeth. I learned a lot about brakes during that time. How to mechanically remove the transfer layer (or just toss the rotors) and go with new... How best to rebed the pads, etc.

Now there are more options, and they don't require as much care and upkeep. But every pad is a compromise. Porsche is using a pad that can perform in a broad range of applications. This likely includes very light track duty. Which in terms of temperature, is a whole different animal compared to bumper to bumper commuting with nothing more than limo braking.

Anyway, I encourage everyone to become more familiar with your brake system. It's the NUMBER ONE safety system in your car. Whether its the minivan you haul your kids in or your GT3 you bomb around the track in.

 

I've done the whole speed up thing up to 80mph and breaking the ISH outta those breaks etc. I actually had that issue with the car since day one when I first got it as CPO. The 1st or 2nd week I already started hearing that thing squeal, dealer mentioned I do the re-bed process. Tried it off and on when that thing would come back after a couple weeks. With the new pads it went away and if for some ungodly reason that thing comes back I'll re-bed it again.