2L8ULUZ

I have had my 2015 Convertible with the Z51 package for 8 months and about 5K miles. I'm at 21K miles now and the brake squealing noise is driving me nuts! They have always done it hot or cold since I got it with 15K. They squeal as I come to any kind of slow stop. It is either the right front or right rear. I can't tell. Is there an easy fix other than replacing them with the low dusting ones. I just can't justify that expense right now. Would pulling them and spraying a coating of disc brake quiet stuff on the back of the pads do the trick? I'm open to suggestions, Its embarrassing and annoying as hell. Also, it seems the engineers could have put some little red LED lights in the visor buttons so I don't have to fumble around trying to find which one to push at night. Can't see where they are. The door buttons are all illuminated. Weird. Love the car and just got back from a nice fall drive as the weather is holding out here in the pacific northwest so far. Into hibernation soon though I'm sure.

NashvilleGrandSport

Get the American Car Craft stainless steel trim piece for the sun visor buttons. Helps alot. Just peel and stick.

Gearhead Jim

Our C7 Z51 brakes have been pretty quiet, but on our C6 Z51 they would get pretty annoying sometimes. The cure was to do a half dozen hard (but not getting ABS) slowdowns from 60 to about 10, then drive for about 5 minutes without using the brakes at all (which requires some careful choice of road). Eventually they would start squealing again, but not for a while. And fixing them was fun.

For the visor buttons, I cut out a square of fuzzy Velcro, same size as the button, white; and stuck it on the button I normally use (middle).
In anything except pitch darkness, I can see the white color. If I want or need to find it by feel, the fuzzy Velcro is easy to distinguish but not annoying.

Works for me, but no guarantees...

eseibel67

This is a great idea! Except Im going to use a black Velcro on the center button and go by feel.

KenHorse

Now if I could only get my Homelink buttons to program!

4thC4at60

I've got 78K miles on my '15 C7. The ONLY time the brakes squeal is when there's a light film of rust after washing. This has been true of all six of my previous Corvettes, amassing more than 700K miles total.

I suggest just driving the thing and using the brakes rather than the gentle breaking I'm thinking you do....

2L8ULUZ

Mine does the same thing after washing it and pulling into the garage. Only mine does it at every red light or stop sign too. Just the last 20-30 feet.

2L8ULUZ

I tend to be easy on brakes but will give your method a try next time I take it out.

JerryU

That squealing brake noise comes from an uneven accumulation of brake pad material on the rotors. Mine started making that noise at ~1000 miles. I used the brake pad bedding procedure in the Owners manual for Tracking. GM calls it burnishing as I recall. Don't need it the number of times they suggest. 5 or 6 aggressive stops from 60 to 10 mph as I recall (whatever it says in the Owen's Manual) did it for me.

I recall an article on bedding said you must use performance brakes aggressively from time to time to maintain a uniform layer of material on the rotors.

Bedding is cheap and worth a try. I lived with the OEM 2014 brakes for ~ 9 months cleaning my wheels every 150 miles! Terrible. When you can get ~ $350 suggest buying Carbotech 1521 ceramic low dust pads. Stop great cold or hot!

Sconn

Same here! Can't get them to sync up with either our garage or our shop.

Coastrider

wgood

Mine does the same thing and about a year ago they changed the pads and it does it a lot less but it does it after the car has warmed up( local slower driving traffic ) and not when it is cold !!!!! Maybe it is just the brand of brake pads ???? Wayne

JerryU

Per my previous post, "Squealing" went away when I bedded my 2014 Z51 brake pads/rotors. GM calls it burnishing but you can google "Brake Bedding"- lots of info on what it does! Basically the squealing is coming from an uneven layer of brake pad material on the rotors causing vibration. You can't see it, it's very thin. But that layer is critical and occurs with all pads. Performance pads like the Z51, GS and Z06 are just more of an issue.

Below was copied from the Owner's Manual and I included the difference I used for street use NOT Tracking. It's easier.

"The new vehicle break-in period should be completed before performing the brake burnish procedure...
Perform this procedure only on dry pavement, in a safe manner, and in compliance with all local and state ordinances/laws regarding motor vehicle operation. Brake Burnish Procedure (Z51 Performance Package, Grand Sport without Z07, and Z06 without Z07 Performance Package or Z06 without J57 Ceramic Brakes)
1. Apply the brakes 25 times (JerryU 5 or 6 for street use) starting at 100km/h (60mph) to 50km/h (30mph) while decelerating at 0.4g. This is a medium brake application. Drive for at least 1km (0.6mi) between applying the brakes. This first step may be skipped if there are more than 320km (200mi) on the brake pads.
2. Repeatedly apply the brakes from 100km/h (60mph) to 25km/h (15mph) while decelerating at 0.8g. This is a hard brake application, without activating the Antilock Brake System (ABS). Drive for at least 1km (0.6mi) between. Repeat until the brake pedal travel starts to increase. (JerryU only do 5 or 6 times) Depending on conditions, this should take no longer than 25 brake applications.
3. Cool down: Drive at 100km/h (60mph) for approximately 15km (10mi) without using the brakes. (JerryU, you don't need 10 miles as you did not use aggressive braking 25 times. But I did drive on the Interstate a few exits to let the pads and rotors cool without braking,)
4. Apply the brakes 25 times (JerryU only apply 5 or 6 times) from 100km/h (60mph) to 50km/h (30mph) while decelerating at 0.4g. This is a medium brake application. Drive for at least 1km (0.6mi) between."

The toughest thing is finding a road to do it! A recent article on bedding said for performance pads you must periodically apply the brakes agessively.

For all those who bought a GS because you liked the look- you have performance pads. You probably know that because you have a lot of dust if you didn't already switch to ceramic brake pads! (Note I did that day one when I got it home!) Suggest you make occasional very hard braking. I do it all the time where needed when I pull into 65 mph traffic on a highway near my home then turn onto another rural road. Almost as much fun as accelerating!

Sixgun95

KenHorse

It worked with my 2014 so I expect it should work with my 2019! I just can't get it to program for some reason.

defaria

Re: Brake noise. On my 2008 it plagued me all the time. On my 2016 it's always quiet and I'm glad.

Homelink buttons: You look at them?!? I mean really! There are only 3 buttons and each one has a different shape and feel. I just reach my fingers up there and hit the proper button. BTW, couldn't pair it up at all and called the help number there. Got good advice - use a different button than the far left one. Everybody uses that and it wears out. Now I'm using the middle, square button. Works like a champ!

Gearhead Jim

I should have mentioned that we were getting brake pulsation (like "warped" rotors) after about 10k miles on our Z51. Dealer shaved the rotors just a small amount but pulsation came back within 3k miles. Dealer replaced all four rotors under warranty at my request instead of shaving them again. Thanks. Tech said I needed to use brakes harder, most of our miles are on the Interstate.
After getting some miles on the new rotors, I had an autocross coming up so did the first part of the burnishing procedure, and now I make sure to use the brakes more aggressively from time to time. Good so far.

dbirdhouse1

Why go into hibernation; they'll be winter days where she can go out for a spin...I dailied a Vette for the past 14 years though when I had to get to work and there was snow my lovely bride drove me the nine miles each way....enjoy, enjoy.....FYI new pads worked for me but I don't know of a spray, good luck

F4 Phantom

It worked for me with my 14 Z51 vert. Two or three fairly hard stops got rid of the noise every time. Eventually, the problem went away completely.

mschuyler

Given that this is coming from someone who regularly jumps in with both feet to criticize others for spelling and grammar mistakes, this is really funny. "Break noise"? Really?