New Brakes grinding and squeaking

Factual Questions
1

Replaced the pads with ceramic and rotors on the front of a 2007 Jeep Commander. Full disclosure: I replaced the passenger side caliper but not the driver’s side since it is only about 2 years old and the same brand. Also the driver’s rotor was stuck on with rust behind the wheel (loose but wouldn’t come off) so I had to use heat and a hammer to knock it off. The pads did not have the typical anti-squeek backs I’m used to but I thought I did a good job applying the grease on the back.

Brake job was Sunday and today (Wednesday) it grinds going forward and squeals going backwards. It is very quiet - hardly noticeable unless you’re listening for it and to be honest I don’t hear the grinding most of the time (but my hearing sucks). I suppose the backwards squealing could have been there since Sunday, the Mrs started noticing it in a parking garage today and was then listening for it. All of the sounds stop when the brakes are applied so I suspected the caliper is not fully releasing but when that happened to me before it was obvious - smoking brake pads just going around the block.

I can’t fix it tomorrow and the car is driveable* meaning no loss of braking power on that side, not pulling, drove 100 miles today with no ill effects**, etc. Friday I can look at it so what I need to know is what could it be. What should I look for when I take the wheel off? Is it as simple as brake dust or grease on the rotor or something more serious? Will I have to tear it apart again? (I hope not)

*At least I hope it is. Mrs Cad has to take it to work tomorrow. Stupid I know.
** She tends to tell me about car problems in passing like “Oh today my engine temperature redlined going to work yesterday.” and when it started spiking when the A/C was on she was, “Yeah I noticed that last week.” :smack:

2

Do I understand correctly that it only makes noise when the brake pedal is NOT applied?

Any place where the pad’s metal back touches something, that something (e.g. slot in caliper bracket) should be cleaned of rust and debris (a steel-bristled “toothbrush” works well), and the corresponding portion of the metal back should be coated with high-temperature grease.

3

Correct. No noise when brakes are applies.

4

These noises are somewhat common when applying the brakes, and rather rare when not. Nevertheless, the lubrication I mentioned above may help with the squeaking, and the grinding may stop after a break-in period. It’s a pretty sure bet these are “annoyance noises” and not indication of a problem that needs to be fixed.

5

SaintCad, you say the pads didn’t have the anti-noise shims, but are you talking about the old pads or the new pads? I’m asking b/c I’ve seen these shims stuck to old pads; stuck so well that they appear to be *part *of the pad and not a shim. Just inquiring as to the possibility that you overlooked them. Probably not, but thought I’d ask.

ets: *shims *is probably not accurate, but I think we’re talking about the same piece (you called `em “backs”).