2001 C5 Coupe, Stock Brakes, 87km

Just went on a long 500km trip and halfway went through a drive through and heard a creaking noise (like slowly opening an old door) when I depressed the brake pedal (it bounced off the drive through wall so I could hear it).

When I'm parked, come to a stop, etc. it creaks when I go more than half way down the brake pedal. If I go fast from no brake to full floor brake it doesn't make the noise, only when it seems I slowly press the pedal. I shot some brake cleaner on the brake assembly and it stopped doing it. But, then came back the next day.

worried it was a caliper issue I brought it in for a lube/ service. Tech took everything apart, pads still good had 60% life, rotors fine, everything moving freely. He cleaned and greased all but it still made the noise. He said it's inside the actual caliper, but the caliper is moving fine so he didn't suggest replacing it. He said it might be normal (but I've never heard this in years, ever, on this).

anyone else had this issue or have any idea what it could be/ what I can do? It's only on the front driver side the noise comes from.

 

Ha! I was googling this EXACT same issue and your thread came up. I have the EXACT same issue - 2001 Z06 with the stock calipers, 43k miles and I track the car frequently. I have noticed that when my pads get low on material (usually less than 30-40% left), this noise becomes more prevalent from the front wheels. And yes, it sounds exactly like a crreeeaaaky old door slowly opening.

Usually when I hear this noise, I'm replacing the pads even though it's probably premature. One thing I have noticed on my driver's side caliper is that the pad wear is uneven as the pads get low - I also seem to get the noise more from that side.

The passenger side seems fine. It's also an unusual wear on the driver side- it's not front to back wear (ie the front of the pad is thicker etc), it's top-bottom wear - inner diameter of the pad is thinner than outer diameter.

I've looked this pad wear up and the only thing I can come up with is that the caliper might be slightly warped from repeated heat at the track, but it seems to run fine so I'm not inclined to replace it just yet. I've had this noise for at least a year now and other than being slightly annoying, I dont find any issue with the braking or stopping off the car, especially at very high speed braking zones on a racetrack.

Just an FYI, Rebuilt calipers for the cars are pretty cheap.