About two months ago, the Brembos on my ’03 coupe started squealing and squeaking horribly under light braking (e.g., when approaching a stop light). The noise was extremely loud and most certainly not normal. It came from only the rear brakes. I’ve finally gotten the problem fixed, and I wanted to share my experience in case it might help someone.

I learned on this forum that squealing usually comes from either (1) improper bedding of the pads, or (2) improper installation and greasing of the pads and shims.

I tried bedding in the pads as Tirerack recommends, with no luck.

Then I dug up the Factory Service Manual. The manual shows that the rear, but not the front, brakes should have shims installed between the pads and the pistons. The manual also recommends you change the shims every time you change the rear brake pads. (Interestingly, Brembo does not include shims with new rear brake pads.*)

I took my rear brakes apart, and lo and behold, no shims.

I ordered the shims for $60 on the internets (part #44085-CD00J), and I installed them and greased everything as the factory service manual recommends. Now the brakes are dead quiet. Not even a peep. It’s wondrous.

If you’re having a persistent noise problem, you might check your shims.** And if you’re replacing your rear pads, don’t for god’s sake throw away the shims like whoever worked on this car did!

*The rear pads do have pieces that look like shims on the back. (We’ll call them “shim look-alikes.”) These look-alikes can easily be pried off with a screwdriver, and I think a lot of people confuse them with the shims. They are NOT the shims. The shims are separate pieces, one for each pad. The shims appear to be made of stainless steel, while the shim look-alikes are black, say “Brembo” on them, and are glued to the backs of the pads.

**I took the car to two different shops, one of which was a Nissan dealership, to figure out what the problem was. Neither shop had any clue, although both were happy to recommend that I replace all my pads and rotors for $3,000+. No thanks. The Nissan people, who should have known better, didn’t even notice that I was missing the shims. Nice.

 

Reviving an old thread... had my rear pads replaced and I'm suffering through the same squealing/squeaking noise. I have an 04 with non-brembo brakes. Can anybody link me to the replacement shims that I need to have installed?

 

Hrm, as far as I know they usually only come with the brake pads. You can try contacting the dealer to see if they sell it separate. On the other hand, it's just a metal shim...why not cut out the shape from a piece of metal?

Also, apply brake quiet on the back of the pad where it contacts the piston.