Help - C5 2002 Squealing noise under braking

[oxtailsoup]

Sods law. On my way to the MOT station and the car has started squealing under breaking and stays squealing for a second after the taking foot off brake pedal.

So decided to head back home. I'm hoping it is just the pads - either worn or slipped. There's no warning lights on the dash, do the C5 have brake pad sensors? I'm slightly concerned that the squeal stays there for a second after releasing the brake pedal but may be its just stuck on the disc.

Hopefully I'll find a 'how to change C5 brake pads' sticky on this forum. Just off to search.

Any help or suggestions welcome!

[KevMayer]

I had this recently on my C5.

I changed the rear pads and all is well.

It's very easy to change the rear pads. Clean everything up and apply a little copper slip to the sliding surfaces and back of pads when refitting.

[oxtailsoup]

Did a few checks. The brakes don't squeal if I use the handbrake, only whe using the pedal. Do I assume this points to the front?

Took both front wheels off to take a look and pads still have life in them.

[Clogzz]

The C5 has brake pad sensors front and back.
The rear pads may still be the original ones, and they squeal when over half worn.
The only solution is to replace them, preferably with Bendix ones, if you can find them.
Edit ... The handbrake works on the front.

The caliper has a gasket where it mounts onto the trailing arm.
Rust forms there, and the caliper goes at an angle to the arm.
The pad then wears at an angle, and the metal touches the edge of the disc to make noise even when the brakes aren’t applied.
I’m not aware of C5 brake topics, but we have many about the Xantia that does the exact same.

[quintet]

Sods law. On my way to the MOT station and the car has started squealing under breaking and stays squealing for a second after the taking foot off brake pedal.

So decided to head back home. I'm hoping it is just the pads - either worn or slipped. There's no warning lights on the dash, do the C5 have brake pad sensors? I'm slightly concerned that the squeal stays there for a second after releasing the brake pedal but may be its just stuck on the disc.

Hopefully I'll find a 'how to change C5 brake pads' sticky on this forum. Just off to search.

Any help or suggestions welcome!

The front brakes on c5's do have warning sensors (i THINK all models do, not 100%), the rears don't. I've found its fairly common for c5 brakes to squeal & like Kev (above) suggests its usually just a case of stripping them down & giving them a damn good clean, however if your replacing the front pads you'll need a special piston windback tool & they come in pairs as the pistons are obviously sided (l/h & r/h). If your doing the rears check the condition of the calipers paying particular attention to the cast hole in which the pad retaining bolt goes through, these can corrode & crack/break, also check the gaps for the caliper, if you stick your head into the wheel arch (car on stands with wheel off), look down on top of the caliper & do a visual gap check between the inner caliper section & the outer caliper section compared to the brake disc, these cars suffer from corrosion between the rear suspension arm & caliper & what happens is the corrosion builds up between the caliper & rear arm & can cause the inner section of the caliper to rub against the disc & wear the pads out quickly.
Removing these calipers can be a right pain in the bum because the 2 retaining bolts often seize solid, but that's another story, if you just want to clean the rear pads then doing this is as kev stated quite easy. I personally might not fail a car on its MOT just because it's got noisy brakes unless i could see there was an actual issue (pads worn out, poor brake efficiency etc) but if it were bad enough (without obvious faults) then i'd certainly be tempted to advise there's an issue.

[quintet]

Did a few checks. The brakes don't squeal if I use the handbrake, only whe using the pedal. Do I assume this points to the front?
You do know the handbrake is operted on the front wheels of these cars as opposed to the rears like most?

The C5 has brake pad sensors front and back.

I've never seen sensors on the rear calipers of a C5, must be an Austrailian thing

[Citroenmad]

Did a few checks. The brakes don't squeal if I use the handbrake, only whe using the pedal. Do I assume this points to the front?

Took both front wheels off to take a look and pads still have life in them.

That would point to your rear brakes then, as your handbrake works on the front.

One of our C5s squeals from the back brakes sometimes, its pads are recent. There is a degree of caliper twisting going on with it, not sure if that will make it any difference.

[JohnD]

Two or three years ago my C5 developed an embarassing screech when using the brakes. Fitted a new set of pads on the back and it's been fine ever since.

Incidentally, you don't need to buy a special tool to wind the pistons back on the front. I knocked up this which works well.

[myglaren]

Schreechin rear brakes appears to be a common problem with C5s.
Fortunately I haven't been affected (although will be now, no doubt)

A smear of brake grease/Coppaslip on the sliding parts of the caliper and pad backing seems to be the prescribed cure.

[oxtailsoup]

Car passed it's MOT with no problems at all. A mechanic friend of mine is going to take a look at the brakes this week as the car will be driven to the South of Spain on the 28th May... hopefully not on the back of a recovery truck!!