Brake squeal

I've had some squealing since I changed the front pads a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty annoying, and would happend during most any but the heaviest of braking.

So I decided to fix it today.

I picked up a botltle of "Disc Brake Quiet" from the local Carquest. It's a red silcone goop in a squeeze bottle. It should work by waving it over the front wheel, but it doesn't. You have to pull the caliper off.

No pictures, sorry.

The nice thing is that you can do this without undoing the brake lines, and don't have to bleed the brakes after.

Start by loosening the three bolts (2 mounting, 1 caliper slide), then remove the slide bolt, then the mounting bolts. Turn the caliper over and remove the retaining screw.

Now, gently seperate the two parts, leaving the caliper block hanging. (Fine with stainless braid lines, if you have rubber, hang them from the handle bars with some string) Slide the pads and rattle plate out, keeping track of which one was on the piston side.

With a small screw driver, pry the stainless slide tracks off the caliper slide. Keep track of which side went where. Scrub the caliper slide with a mild soap. I used Simple Green in a cup of water and a el cheapo electric spinning toothbrush. I didn't like the spray on brake cleaner, fumes and all, and it evaporates too fast to scrub with.

Once all the funk is off the caliper slide, clean the slide tracks, on both sides. On my Seca, one of the four tracks had some factory anti-squeal on them. The others were bare metal. I think this was the source of my squeal. Once they're clean, put a dab of brake quiet on each side of each track and snap them back on the caliper slide. Clean up any goop that oozes out, and set the caliper slide aside.

Now, pop the spring clip from the caliper body by pulling it away from the piston and up. Clean it and the piston housing. Now, coat the back of the spring clip with brake quiet, and reinstall it. Wipe up your goopy mess.

Clean the back of the brake pads, and the rattle plate. Coat the pad side the rattle plate with brake quiet and "stick" it to the pad. Now, reassemble the caliper, don't forget the retaining screw, and remount it to the fork. Use loctite and proper torque when tightening the bolts and retaining screw.

Repeat for the other side. Enjoy squeal-free riding!

Notes:
1) Review the service manual so you know where everything goes.
2) Take digital pics as you disassemble, for reference if you've never played with your brakes before.
3) Use this as a chance to inspect your calipers.
4) Don't touch the lever while the caliper is off.
5) It might take a few pumps of the lever to get the pads seated again.
6) If you're putting the bike up for the winter, go ahead and change the brake fluid while you're dirty.