Hi all,

I just got a 2004 A6 and ever since the day one (I have about 1000 miles now on the car), I kept hearing a squeaking brake noise, especially when the car is going into a stop condition.

According to the Audi Service manager, this is normal and it has been an issue with A6 since it is using a soft braking pad.

Is this normal, anybody else has seen this before?

Thanks,
Tambeng

 

Audi OE brakes are known for squeeking. I personally think that Audi's complacency on this issue is bad service. They need to rectify this issue.

But yes... unfortunately it is common and found on all the Audi lines. It's not good, but it is common.

 

So Imolas, what kind of brakepad are you using to remove the noise? Are you going with a ceramic brakepad or not?

Thanks,
Victor

 

Mintex Red Box here, but others of merit are Ferodo, Pagid and Axxis. Each has it's own inherent pros and cons; each has its own fan base, too.

 

I just bough a 2011 S5 and am having this issue. It seems to be random but only happens at slow speeds. I just took it to Audi and they said it's common. I said it's "embarrassing" is what it is. Here I am in a brand new 60K car and the breaks squeak. It's unacceptable in my opinion. It's not a low squeak, it's turn your head squeak. They asked me to bring it back in and they'll resurface the pads. I've had the car for about a month and have had the Sirius radio not work (they had to replace the entire unit), the bluetooth not work on some occasions (MMI issue) and now the breaks. I'm starting to kick myself that I bough and Audi. I had a 2006 Porsche Cayman S before and didn't have one single issue with the car, solid as a rock.

 

The Syrius radio and bluetooth never worked on mine either...wait, never had it. I'm convinced that the more there is on these cars, the more there is that can go wrong. My 48 Chevrolet never threw a CEL in the 12 years I owned her. It also probably had the original (single) coil and it was easy to test (at night). Washing and replacing the metal mesh air filter was a 5 minute job and all spark plugs were accessible while you were sitting in the engine compartment next to the spunky I6 (which was a little bigger than my 2.7T, but had about 250 hp less).

BTW, I use Centric rotors and ceramic pads and they do not squeal and are low dust.

 

Congratulations.

** I can add a big + for the Mintex Red Box pads.

 

I'm a technician at an independant shop and I see a lot of squeeky brakes.. there are a lot of different problems that cause brakes to squeek in a harmonic fashion (Meaning under a certain pressure consistantly)

One of the biggest ones especially with european cars with soft pads and rotors is when they begin to 'dish' as the pad wears into the soft rotor metal, the pads wear into the grooves and on the edges become very shiny.. I've had great luck with taking a air tool die-grinder with a soft disc on it (could do this with a portable sander as well) and taking the glaze off of the surface of the pads but then 'beveling' the friction surface. I put about a 45* chamfer on each outside part of the pad so that it wont ride in that groove caused by the rotor dishing. Most often this will alleviate the squeek for quite a while, as it would take thousands of miles for the pad to wear into the same shape as the rotor again.

The other big one is just glazing in general of the pads and rotors from improper heat cycling. If you burnish the pads by sanding off the top layer of glazed material and put a fresh swirl/lightly sand the surface of the rotors it also in most cases alleviates the squeek but sometimes only lasts a short period of time.

So if any of you are do-it-yourselfers you might want to take a weekend day and try this out for yourself and see if it can fix up your problem.

 

If you tend to be a light "braker" it will burnish/glaze (make smooth) the rotors/pads and add to any squeaking which is cause by harmonics. And to a certain degree the brake pad type.

Try periodically stopping quickly from moderate speed. This can have the effect of wearing thru this layer.

From what I've seen Euro cars tend to have hard pads that will wear into rotors faster than the pad material wears down. I only see this on Euro cars...... done thousands of brake jobs on just about everything.

If you notice there is a 2 year brake pad warranty for wear (my 04 S4 had it). Very suspect to me as to what the priority is: long life.

Another option is to change to drilled/slotted rotors and/or upgrade the pads. At least there'll be much less dust. I've only used EBC pads/rotors with great luck-- however the first generation GreenStuff pads did make noise if used too lightly after awhile.

Keep in mind that the dealer is just that, they have little to no control over how or what Audi makes or does to "fix" problems. In the EU, squeaky brakes are acceptable.......Wish I could complain about noisy brake problems on a nice new 2011 S5! (or a Euro RS4/RS6 Avant)

Congrats and go drive that beautiful car!

 

I am a big fan of Pagid pads with stop-tech cross drilled & slotted rotors. I find that squeking takes place after I have detailed the rims and brake dust remover has gotten on the rotors. That is the only time they squeak but it happens everytime!