Let's see if anyone has any ideas....my brakes on a 2001 C5 squeal occassionally, not every time. This weekend I took the wheels off and checked, and the pads still have plenty of thickness left, about 3/8 of an inch or so. Like I said, they don't squeal every time, but occassionally they do squeal a little bit. Any idea on how to stop the occassional noise? I'm not a mechanic, but I have done my own breaks and oil changes for years, and usually I put the little lubricating or sticky substance on the back side of the new pads when installing them into the calipers....could it be that they just need some of this stuff? I just bought the car a few weeks ago, so I didn't do the last break change on it....Any thoughts would be much appreciated...

 

While this does not answer you question directly, it may help. The brakes on my 2004 also squeal sometimes, and it has the stock pads. I only hear the squeal when breaking lightly. When I'm heavy on the pedal or not braking then there is no noise. I did some research when I first got the car last year and mostly what I'm told is that aggressive brake pads squeal. They also put out lots of dust (and I mean lots). I was told to live with it or switch to a less aggressive pad compound (ceramic being the best compromise).

Others said that the brakes were not broken in properly and that I should resurface the rotors, replace the pads and follow a somewhat complicated process of heating and cooling the new pads. I opted to turn up the stereo.