LesB3

This past summer my front brakes began to squeal and, after pulling the wheels, I noticed it was almost time to replace them so did just that a few days later. I bought Pagid brakes (http://www.autohausaz.com/pn/0054203920) from AutohausAZ after using them (all of the time) without issue on my W208. Brakes went on without an issue and after a few minutes of driving, the brakes would "whine" when coming to a slowing stop (like when driving around town and stopping at a stop sign). When I broke hard or quickly, no whine. The whine is not your typical squeal and, according to my "musical" ear it is in fact an "E" note being sounded by my front brakes. It is so loud that I honestly cannot tell if it's one side or the other (or both) wheels. I drove it around for about 250 miles to see if it "went away" as the brakes wore in but it's still there.

Today, I pulled both wheels again, inspected the brakes (wear is even), re-lubed everything, and took it for another spin. After about 15 minutes of driving, the brakes started whining again.

The car is a 2005 CLK55 with about 40,000 miles on it.

Checking here before taking it to the stealership (where I most certainly will be told I need new rotors / brakes / calipers / etc.)

Any ideas????

LesB3

It's definitely both wheels. Bad pads???

Yidney

How are your rotors? They may be glazed - basically coated with old brake pad material.

LesB3

I think that may be right... I notice that if I jam on the brakes, it gives me about 5 minutes of whine-free operation.
Problem is, why do the brakes keep glazing? Am convinced that I might just have to pay double for OEM pads and re-do them in the Spring.

LesB3

...and probably turn the rotors at the same time.

xsever

Consensus around the forum is that the OEM brakes are the best in terms of performance, lifetime, ane reliability. Their only cons is dust, but I'd rather deal with it than with other problems.

sailorben

I use pagid on all my cars, and that’s all my two CLKs have had, and they’ve been nothing but perfect...

insame1

I was having the same issue. new rotors new pads, correct bed-in process and still lots of noise. I bought this stuff (not from this site) and it worked great. It is messy as hell though. It drys to almost a rubber substance.
https://www.finditparts.com/products...xoCa-AQAvD_BwE

LesB3

Tell me about it. My W208 wore them all the time, little spongier than the stock brakes but 1,000X less dust! I'm surprised (and disappointed) that that seems to no longer be the case...

LesB3

Thanks Insame - I actually pulled the wheels and re-lubed everything with this stuff:
https://www.permatex.com/products/lu...aliper-lube-4/

Really thick and sorta slimy. Even applied it to the back of the brake pads (like it said to do) but didn't work.

Rudeney

My few cents worth:

1. If the rotors are not warped, don't turn them. Instead "knock them down" by rough sanding them to remove the shine.
2. I like the CRC red paste, but have not used it on MBZ brakes. It will need to handle a good bit of heat.
3. The Permatex stuff can't take the heat. Try genuine MBZ brake lube.

Anker

The CRC red paste is the way to go. Haven't needed it on my CLK, but I use it on my Porsche brakes and they get plenty hot on the track or on the AX circuit.

LesB3

Was at the stealership and asked them about this (since I have yet to fix it and the car generally sits through most of the winter) and they told me that when replacing brakes I should always replace the rotors too (!!!). To the tune of $2200... Now I only have 40k on this car so unloading that kind of money seems preposterous to me, but they said that this is an "issue" with this particular car and that replacing pads only was a crapshoot. Lies? It's crap like this that has me wanting to buy my W208 back and just sell this pig off.

What's the forum's experience with this?

dzmitry

Replacing rotors every time you replace pad is definitely bs )))
My brakes are also musical with exact the same symptoms you described except in my case it's original MB pads (the same brakes from clk/slk55), but I've installed all new components in the same time (calipers, rotors and pads).
I'm going to re-lube mine with plenty of CRC red paste.

Anker

CRC red paste on the back of the pads silences mine!

Rudeney

You know, if I owned a dealership, I;d probably suggest that the rotors, the transmission, and maybe some seat leather should be replaced at every brake job! Yeah, what a bunch of "stealers". Whenever you replace pads, you simply check the rotor thickness and if its in spec, you keep them, if not, you replace them. if you keep them, they should be "knocked down" (sanded) to remove the shine in prep for bedding new pads.

Tomsti

X2

I've sanded brake rotors before usually before putting on new pads, it's definitely worth a shot in this case.

Rudeney

This company sells excellent products for quiet brakes, including lubricants and a drill-operated hone for knocking down rotors:

www.gwrauto.com/gwrmain.html

LesB3

SO FAR SO GOOD with the CRC Red Paste!
I will admit to having driven only a few miles but so far no noises at all.

I go on a much longer trip (3 hours) tomorrow so will have a better idea of whether I can hang my MISSION ACCOMPLISHED banner up or not. Will check back in if it DIDN'T work, otherwise, assume it did!

Thanks all!
L

LesB3

Went for a ride today and the noise is back!
Will replace with genuine pads this time and give it one more try with the CRC paste. If that doesn't work, I'll glop on enough paste to shut them up for a day or two and trade the turd in on a new car.

Rudeney

CRC red is only good for about 300F. Your brakes can get over 400F. You need to use a lubricant that can handle the high temps of your brakes.

dzmitry

Applied Mercedes anti-squeal paste (001989945112) about 3 weeks ago, no squeals so far. Also sanded rotors and removed some rough edges from pads.

Rudeney

Good job!

ecdubreuil

And don't forget the $100 wiper blades at every service...