brakes and headlight

[GiLLT]

alright guys so my brakes have been screeching for the past month got my oil changed couple weeks ago told the dealer about it they said they couldn't find anything wrong. if it gets worse to bring it back in. so in the past week the screeching has gotten louder so brought it back in and they say the same thing "oh this is normal, there isn't anything wrong." i tell them all i have to do is tap my brakes and theres screeching, when i come to a stop its loud as hell. its irritating. and they try and just blow it off like nothings wrong, i haven't had my V for a year yet an already screeching brakes? it's under warranty so they are gonna have to do something cause it sucks listening to it all the time, i've never had a car with "normal screeching brakes".

also my drivers side head light has gone out twice now. i was running HELLA bulbs for the past 6-7 months and no problems till last week when i realized i had a bulb out. so i went to wally world and picked up some silverstars lasted about a week and yet again tonight my drivers side had gone out again. so i'm back to using the stock bulbs as of tonight. no i haven't touched the bulbs themselves or anything i'm thinking there may be a short somewhere cause it's only the drivers side that keeps blowing. so i spose when i go back to the dealer ill give them something else to look at... what so you guys think about all this?

[idunno22221]

yeah about the brakes...mine have been screeching for a longgg time. i have had everything changed under warranty and they STILL screech. its rediculous. its soo embarrassing when i'm coming up to a stop sign. i'm not sure what to tell you. good luck though. ha

[Chrispd100]

My brakes had screeched for about a week and then it stopped and went back to normal.

[shreqboi909]

ive had my V for a lil over a year and no screeching until now

[mrwoogie]

wow, my brakes have been screeching a lot too. The problem seems to be getting worse, before they would only make noise if I tended to hit the brakes quickly or at high speed. Now they make noise all the time no matter the speed or how fast I brake. I was going to call the dealer this week and now I know that this might be a common problem. I know what you mean about being embarrassed pulling up to a stop sign, I try to crank the radio and ignore it most of the time. No problems with my headlight btw.

[COVersaSL]

Brake dust? cheap replacment pads? just a couple of guesses

[cl76]

I had to log in to say that I'm having the same brake screeching problem. I've brought it in to the dealer three times already and just when I thought it was finally fixed, it started screeching again a few days ago.

First time I took it in, they replaced the brake pads. Still screeching. Next time they resurfaced the rotors. Still screeching. Third time, they installed new rotors. Fine for a week, then started screeching again.

If there are at least 5 people on this forum with the same problem I'm sure it's gotta be a pretty common thing for Versas. For me, the screeching happens more so during long sessions of city driving. I can usually prevent it from screeching by controlling the way I brake (brake a lot earlier). It's still annoying because there are still many times I can't control the screeching.

Can anyone think of why the brakes screech?

[CodeRed]

I'm a little PO'd as well. When i last picked my car up from service i noticed my brakes squeaking as well. I dont get on my brakes hard at all and i only have 7.7k miles. I sure hope my car is a lemon!

[pntang]

well i dont now how its making the noise but usually at the shop we just take the customer's car out to the back street and put it in reverse and use the brakes a couple of time...sometimes it takes a few tries but that usually fix the screeching...i notice on my friend's versa...which is not making the brake noise...that there were a lot of break dust...so i'm looking forward to her caliber sticking =)

[cl76]

Hmm. Sounds like it could work. I'll try it tonight. Thanks.

[cl76]

well i dont now how its making the noise but usually at the shop we just take the customer's car out to the back street and put it in reverse and use the brakes a couple of time...sometimes it takes a few tries but that usually fix the screeching...i notice on my friend's versa...which is not making the brake noise...that there were a lot of break dust...so i'm looking forward to her caliber sticking =)

I think it worked! Wow, a simple solution to a problem three trips to the dealer couldn't solve. Well, I guess I got free brake pads and rotors out of it...

Thanks!

[JoshH]

I reverse and use the brakes many times but it only seems like a temporary fix. By the next day it is usually up and screeching again.

[BBISHOPPCM]

My car has 15k on it, and no brake noise yet. However, it will happen. Brake noise is one of those topics that is often blown way out of proportion by many people. It is NORMAL for some brake pads to squeal. it is nothing to be worried about, and it is foolish to replace perfectly good brake pads because they squeal. If the replacement pad is semi-metallic, they will make noise... eventually. There are steps that can be taken to reduce the noise, but you almost can never prevent it. Coat the back of the pad with a pad adhesive and the noise may or may not go away. Another cause of brake noise is brake pads that were improperly broken-in. You can also replace the OEM pads with softer, quieter pads, but they won't last.

[cl76]

Hmm.. that's quite a blanket statement. I've owned four cars and none have screeched. My family has gone through many cars and none have screeched like my Versa's. This isn't like a brake noise you can barely hear when the window's rolled down -- this squealing is quite loud, and out of a hundred cars on the road at any given time, my brakes would be the loudest screecher, hands down.

You may be talking about brake noise in general, but (and people that have responded please correct me if I'm wrong) the brake noise we're talking about here that the Versa emits is very, very loud, and as annoying as nails on a chalkboard.

And JoshH, yeah, it seems like a temporary fix because my brakes are screeching again, too, although not as loud as before. At least not yet. Arg.

[RetiredTexans]

Our brakes started getting loud between the first (1k miles) oil change and the second 3.5k miles later. Also had a slight veering on hard braking action. The service department said they couldn't find any problems. At least the complaint was recorded on the service order.

Sure enough, brake noise and veer problems disappered completely after about 1.5k miles. The wife said it sometimes makes a little noise even now, but it doesn't persist like it did before.

We have had the V for one year today: 13,350 miles and are getting 30.1mpg overall since January 1st on 90% city/10% highway driving.

[Vahagn23]

no screaching on versa, but on our old minivan Ford Windstar everytime they changed the brake pads and placed a new one it would screatch.

[lain]

I got 4.5k miles and no screaching yet

[BBISHOPPCM]

Yes, I went out on a limb with my last statement (all disc brakes will eventually make noise). Some pads make noise, some don't. It's hard to say which ones will, and which ones won't.