Help! Brakes on new Prius making squeak!

Squeaking brakes are fairly common. The Prius uses the friction brakes very lightly, so they tend to get dirty and rusty. This makes them squeak and grind when you come to a stop. You will only hear this noise while braking at under 8 mph, when the friction brakes come into play.

You can easily clean the brakes by forcing the Prius to use them at higher speeds. On a clear stretch of road without any following cars, shift the Prius into N and apply the brakes. While in N the Prius cannot use regenerative braking, so it will have to apply the friction brakes. Slow down like this a couple of times from 40 mph and your squeaking should go away.

Tom

 

Hi Dianne,

You can easily see the front discs if you look through the front wheels. If the surfaces show any rust, then Tom's procedure should work well to remove the rust. The idea is to gently apply the brakes when in N, to remove the rust and any other dirt on the discs. It is not necessary to come to a stop; speed up and slow down repeatedly, until the squeak goes away.

When I wash my Prius, I spray water into the front wheels to remove brake pad dust. Then I take the car for a short drive and shift into N, just as Tom indicated, to dry off the front discs and pads.

Good luck.

 

Hello Dianne,
One more thought from the dirt road driver. About once a week my front brakes will make a horrid squeak because a tiny rock or something got between my brake pads and rotor. I simply put it in reverse and back up a few feet. Usually the offending item is ejected when I hit the brakes. Sometimes it takes more than once, but it does clear the pads and stop the noise. Same thing happened with my Jeep. Jerry

 

My brakes can get rusty overnight, so your mileage is not an issue.

No, you do not need to brake to a full stop. Just brake for a bit, whatever is convenient for you. If they are still noisy, try it again.

Tom