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Posted 2 Weeks Ago by kea
It's a couple of high pitched sounds, one is almost a squeal but not particularly loud, the other is a bit lower in pitch. I can hear it at the back of the car when I am driving.
They stop when I put my foot on the brake, even very lightly. One will stop, the other will start and if I brake again it will stop too, until I take my foot off the brake. However that pattern is intermittent, not continuous.
Usually at higher speeds, but not always.
I think it's something to with the drive shaft. It has that sound of being cyclical sometimes, other times the sound is even.
Car is all wheel drive and automatic.
Any ideas?
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Posted 2 Weeks Ago by Mu Beta using less than 30 cha
High pitched irritating squealing from the back of the car?
Kids.
B
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Posted 2 Weeks Ago by Icy North
...or the Mother-in-Law?
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Posted Last Week by hygienicdispenser
Are you sure it's coming from the back? Two common causes of squeally noises are a loose alternator belt or water pump on the blink.
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Posted Last Week by ~ jwf ~
Rear brakes.
The pads (or shoes) are worn.
There is a BUILT IN DEVICE making that 'warning' sound.
As the consumable material (which dissipates energy thru heat)
wears down, there is another material it encounters which 'squeals'
when the brakes are applied.
It SAVES the time and expense of doing regular inspections
by giving you ample warning that the braking material is
getting thin and needs replacement. It is an American invention
now almost universally applied in all braking systems. The thinking
was that even if people didn't know what it was, the noise would
cause them to have a mechanic look for the 'problem' before the
brakes wore to the point of uselessness. The moral being that it
is better to annoy a customer than educate them or allow them to
kill themselves or others.
If left unattended for long the noise will eventually stop.
But the car won't.
~jwf~
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Posted Last Week by ~ jwf ~
PS:
If you have recently had brake work done and do not believe that
could be the problem, consider the fact that in the rear brakes
it is quite possible that the 'emergency or hand brake' has been
left 'on' at some point since (only slightly perhaps and even for a
very short time) but this will wear out the brakes very quickly indeed
because pressure is constantly being applied and the material gets
hot, it never has a chance to cool when the car is in motion, and it
basically 'melts' away.
~jwf~
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Posted Last Week by ~ jwf ~
PPS:
It is also possible that a small (very small) chip of stone
or metal bounced off the roadway and got caught between the
pads (shoes) and the (rotors) drums just as the brakes were
applied. Under tremendous pressure this foreign object would
become imbedded and fixed into the 'softer' braking material
by the heat of braking. This object will eventually wear away
with every application of the brakes but not before scoring a
deep gouge in both surfaces of the brake system reducing their
overall efficiency and possibly throwing them off balance.
Good luck,
but do ask a qualified mechanic to inspect the situation.
peace
~jwf~
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Posted Last Week by Pit ( carpe diem - stay in bed )
 jwf, do I detect the smell of an old hand there? Ferodo Green in your drums, glued to the shoes instead of riveted - the first sound you heard was the ambulance.
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Posted Last Week by Pit ( carpe diem - stay in bed )
kea, joke mode off for a minute - sounds like a brakes problem, and brakes save lives. Have someone have a look before some child doesnīt.
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Posted Last Week by kea
The noise happens at usually high speed, open road driving, when I am accelerating. It *stops* when I put the brakes on, even very lightly (i.e. light enough so that I'm not actually braking the car noticeably).
Still think it's the brakes? I did consider the brakes but couldn't see how that would work if the noise happened when the brakes weren't in use and stopped when they were.
I'm sure the noise is from the back (it's not any of the belts). I think from the middle, so it's not one side or the other but of course it's harder to be sure about that as I'm driving at the time.
I'm happy to get a mechanic to look at it when I've narrowed it down a bit. I've had lots of strange, intermittent noises or problems that mechanics can't make sense of (on every car I've owned).
The last one was the back shock absorbers seemed to have stopped working on one side. If I drove over a small pothole, or the edge of the drive onto the road, there was a big thud (sound and movement). The mechanic took it for a drive, said yeah that's really bad but I've never come across that before (two mechanics actually said that), and we need to get it on the hoist. It will probably need the shock absorber replaced (= lots of $).
I asked for a quote, which they did and I picked the car up later that day to think about things. The problem was completely gone. Putting it on the hoist had obviously changed something. When I told the mechanic he actually didn't believe me, he said oh you just haven't driven over the right bumps yet  Because obviously I don't know how to make the noise happen even though I'm the one that identified it and showed them when it happened <duh>
So, I don't really want to go running to the mechanics until I've got some information and sense of what's going on. It's a girl thing, they see you coming and $ signs appear in their eyes.
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Posted Last Week by kea
I do agree that getting it sorted before damage is done is important. It's been doing it occasionally for a few months, but I drove for several hours the other day and for the first time it was doing it alot.
I drive on gravel roads alot, and sometimes in places where the bits on the bottom of the car might hit something on the ground (not at speed though).
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Posted Last Week by Pit ( carpe diem - stay in bed )
>I do agree that getting it sorted before damage is done is important.<
 to you. If it is a brakes problem.
And on the kind of roads you use - maybe a car really built for that might be a good idea to save you money and stop you worrying?
If you have a dealer nearby somewhere, what about a Mahindra? Itīs the original WWII Jeep, still being built in India, with a modern European Diesel engine. Difficult to get it road legal where I live, but wonderful for what you need a car for. And at half the price.
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Posted Last Week by kea
My car is built for the roads I drive on (kind of, it is a jap import after all). It's normal in NZ to drive on roads like this 
Mahindra... I hope their vehicles are more user friendly than their global website 
Is this what you have in mind? http://www.mahindra.co.nz/ Bit worried about the UV and precipitation exposure though.
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Posted Last Week by Pit ( carpe diem - stay in bed )
Yup, thatīs them.
>The 40s : Mahindra & Mahindra formed to assemble jeeps from Willys, USA.<
Their website *is* a bit sldfkgn djg , though.
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Posted Last Week by kea
Did you look at the link?
Mahindra in NZ sell tractors.
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Posted Last Week by Pit ( carpe diem - stay in bed )
The dealer might order you a Jeep though. And whatīs wrong about tractors? The illegal yearly grammar-school-finished tractor rally in my home town is better than Formula1.
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Posted Last Week by DaveBlackeye
Definitely brakes. The fact that the noise goes away when you use the them is all the evidence you need. The pads are always in contact with the discs, even when the brakes aren't on - they squeak either when the pads are worn out (but not worn to the point of nothing left), or when the pads move against the piston behind. Either way, forcing them against the disc will stop the squeak.
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Posted Last Week by kea
Ok, will get them checked. You do realise the noise stops on very light application of the brakes, light enough that it's not slowing the car. There's no force in the sense of pushing on the brakes enough to make them work.
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Posted Last Week by kea
I've just talked to an AA tech person who also is pretty sure it's the brake level indicator. What I don't understand is why it would make an intermittent noise when the brakes weren't being used. Can anyone explain?
And can I check the brake pads myself? The AA guy said the check involved taking the rear wheels off. I've done mechanical work on my cars, just not brake stuff.
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Posted Last Week by ~ jwf ~
Modern braking systems are fairly complex and because they are a vital safety component they are not something to trust to an untrained mechanic. If your car has an ABS system there will be very sensitive electronic parts (sensors) inside that don't like to be banged or twisted.
>> What I don't understand is why it would make an intermittent noise when the brakes weren't being used. Can anyone explain? <<
It is possible that some gravel (you said you sometimes drive off paved roads) is caught up in the system. It may be scrubbing along as you drive but when brakes are applied it is effectively immobilized.
And your comment about putting light pressure on the brake pedal but not enough to actually brake is a matter of degree. Any pressure on the brake pedal will move the pads (shoes) closer to, and very likely in light contact with, the rotors (drums). As you say it's not enough to slow the car or even give you any sense that they are in contact - but any contact will be generating some friction and heat and wearing out your brakes. The brake pedal is not a footrest! (Nor is the clutch pedal for the same reasons of wearing things out prematurely.)
That's why an emergency (hand or foot operated) brake must be fully 'off'; even if it does nothing perceptible to slow or impede forward motion it is still causing wear if not fully disengaged. It may seem like that the pressure is not enough to activate the brakes but it does slightly and they will wear out prematurely.
Unhappily there is no real cure for your situation except an inspection by a experienced brake mechanic. He/she can tell you quickly whether it some loose part floating around in there, or some bit of gravel of metal, or the 'wear indicator' device in action.
Good luck,
~jwf~
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