Sounds really freakin' hoopty. Just noticed it yesterday. It was driving fine before. Applying brakes will change the sound, slight turns (like around a curve) will also change the sound. I've tried applying heavy break pressure. i'll take it for a wash later today to see if there was possibly some dirt or salt that got in between the rotor and the pad??

Possible wheel bearings going bad? Seems like it's only happening on the passenger side. Just passed the 50K mile mark this week. Any ideas would be returned with plenty of internet gratitude.

 

bump....

 

When's the last time you changed your brake pads?

There's a wear indicator on the inside front pads that will "squeal" when the wear on the pad gets to a certain point. The indicator is a little metal strip that comes in contact with the rotor and acts like "nails on a chalkboard" kind of effect. Cornering and brake pressure/stopping will change the sound for sure.

Might wanna check that first.

 

At 50k miles ...I'd agree with Rad... unless you've changed your pads recently? Salt... I dont think so... dirt as well...that gets burned off by the heat when you apply the brakes...
Pop off the passenger front wheel and check out the pads... dont wait to long though ...

 

It's not quite like nails on a chalk board and it happens when not applying any brake pressure as well. I don't know what a worn wheel bearing sounds like so I was hoping someone with a worn wheel bearing can chime in and relay their experiences. I'll try to get the car up and take a look at the pads. I've only had the car for about a year and a half and haven't had any issues with braking since I got it. I've only put on maybe 10k miles since I got it (more like 7K now that I think about it). Has anybody experienced this even with other cars?

 

I had a wheel bearing go on my maxima. When driving slow you could hear an "eeee...eeeee....eeeee...eeeee...eeeee". Wasn't a steady sound. Also wasn't making the sound when turning a corner...only going straight and it didn't happen when applying the brakes.

I still say check your inside front brake pads. The squeeling sound will be present when braking, but will ALSO be present when turning and WITHOUT braking.

Worth a shot and its an easy fix.

Also, if you really think its a bearing, check your rotors for heat cracks. Blown bearings tend to heat up everything quite a bit, and with the combination of braking may "crack" rotors. They'll look like little straight lines that go across the rotor. And IF it is a bearing, you can expect a strong vibration in the steering wheel when hitting certain speeds....least that's what happened to my max.

 

I'll be putting my summer wheels on in the next week or so so I'll check it out then. Ugh....too many things going on right now! lol. Thanks for the input though. I remember reading something about BlackBetty replacing a wheel bearing at kinda low miles so I thought that might be the case.

 

if its "squeaking" not "screeching" then I wouldn't think its the brakes. I put look into the shocks, bushings, etc... It wouldn't hurt to check your brakes while your at it either though..

 

It's not the shocks or bushings as it increases/decreases with speed and wheel rotation. It's got to be something that's rotating, that's why I think there's something that's scraping on the rotor or dust shield or something.

 

I changed out to my summer wheels so I took off the brake plate....and you hit it right on the head. The inside brake pad is worn down to near nothing I ordered a set of pads and rotors the next day lol. Thanks man!

 

I may not know much, but every once in a while I get lucky

Glad I could help you out cheese!

 

The same thing happened to my front breaks as well. Is there an issue with the rotors if the insides wear out faster than then outsides? Call me crazy but shouldn't they wear out evenly???

 

we all get lucky every now and again haha. Nice sleuthing skills.

You would think they would wear out evenly...the outside pad of the one that I check had probably about 3 times as much thickness, but that's not saying much since the inside pad was shot. I wouldn't think it would be an issue unless you notice that your stopping power has decreased or you feel shimmying or vibration during braking.

 

Hrm, just for my own curiosity, if you check the bolt on the bottom of the caliper cage, there should be a bit of grease around it. If not, you might want to grease it up, as this can be a symptom of uneven pad wear. I hope I'm explaing this correctly, I tired looking for a pic online of the bolt I mean, but no luck so far. If you're left scratching your head, just let me know and I'll take a photo of mine. Anyway, glad to hear you got this sorted out.

Edit: I did find a photo from a post earlier. This is for the non-akebono setup, which I'm guessing won't help you since you've got an S, but none-the-less, I'll leave it here in case anyone else is wondering:



See #8 for the pin I'm referencing.

 

The BBK is set up differently based on the pic you posted. The retaining pins do not move at all, so they don't have anything to do with the braking power of the car. They just act to hold everything in place so the pads don't fly out. Maybe it has something to do with my brake fluid since I haven't changed it since I got the car (only have had it for 1.5 yrs). I'll be bleeding the fluid when I do all four corners Thanks for the suggestion though.