Bosch Pads

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Howdy folks! Here's my debacle.... Vehicle is a 2014 Passat 1.8T

Bought car used Dec 30, 2017- Brand new brakes- no squeal.
March 2018- Horrible squeal similar to the wear sensor sound. Constant.
May 2018- Pulled pads, hardly any wear at all. Noticed idiots did not apply ANY grease, rubber coating on shim wore off at contact points. Applied grease, squeal went away for about a day.
June 2018- Squeal still there, want to bang head against wall. And so do others nearby.

In summary, I am looking at replacing the pads because the current Bosch pads suck. They tend to slip a bit when braking hard. Not good. I have read conflicting information about whether or not the stock VW brakes in the front are ceramic or semi-met... does anyone have factual knowledge pertaining to the OE pad material OR do you have experience with an aftermarket pad that worked out well for you and wasn't ear-piercing loud on this car? I have used many different brands in the past, all with good results. I am looking to see what would be closest to OE formulation without paying the dealer pricing for this specific vehicle.
 
How about using some of this on the back of the pads:

Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
If you can fix it yourself, I would disassemble, clean and re-lubricate. Also, you could try this. I saw Trav recommend it in a different thread.

If the pad and rotor still look ok try to fix it first, your labour is free and the materials are of negligible cost.


Correct. Clean, lube the pins and use CRC Disc Brake Quiet on the back of the pads, reassemble and its done, no more noise 100%.
If it stops okay with these pads regardless of who made them there is no need to toss them.
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
How about using some of this on the back of the pads:

Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
If you can fix it yourself, I would disassemble, clean and re-lubricate. Also, you could try this. I saw Trav recommend it in a different thread.

If the pad and rotor still look ok try to fix it first, your labour is free and the materials are of negligible cost.


Correct. Clean, lube the pins and use CRC Disc Brake Quiet on the back of the pads, reassemble and its done, no more noise 100%.
If it stops okay with these pads regardless of who made them there is no need to toss them.


Isn't that the sticky red stuff? I swear i've used that before on my old Altima and is made the squeal worse.
 
Are you only replacing the front brakes or both F & R?

I prefer ceramic and don't even buy semi-mets anymore. Looking at RockAuto, they show mostly ceramic pads however their listing does show some semi-mets as well.

I also prefer brake pads with a Coefficient of Friction(CoF) of "FF" instead of "GG". I like the initial bite of the "FF" better than the "GG". I only see the semi-mets in "EF" of "FG"(maybe "FF") and I can't answer for that.

Also, get new pads with the hardwear already included and install them after cleaning the hold down bar(pad slots) thoroughly. Grind out the rust, don't use a wire wheel as it only shines up the rust.
 
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Akebono makes good pads that are nice and quiet and don't dust
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Akebono makes good pads that are nice and quiet and don't dust
smile.gif

Agreed. Have used them in the past amongst many others. I like the Wagner TQs too but according to RA, they are semi-met.

Curious how good Centric posi-quiets are now- have yet to try those.
 
Put some Wagner OEX pads on the rear of the Camry a year ago. Have been happy with those. Quiet as a mouse. Since you mention Wagner.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Did they replace or turn the rotors when they did the pads?
Honestly, I cannot speak to either one of those. All I know is that the dealership I bought it from took care of it before they put it up for sale. Wish I knew. If I go the route of replacing the pads, I would have the rotors turned.
 
ATE, Textar, Pagid, Jurid, EBC Ultimax. any one of them will work well, sauce them a little on the back of the pads. Some VW's are notorious for brake squeal without OE pads.
 
You are criticizing Bosch pads, but you don't say what model they are and if they were installed with new rotors. Bosch makes three grades of brake pads. I just had Bosch Quietcast ceramic pads along with new Brembo rotors installed on the front of my M35. Smooth and quiet with no issues at all. Rotors are a fraction of what they used to cost. Don't turn them, buy new.
 
the rubber coating is likely not sliding smoothly on the pins giving you chatter. I would try one more time filing or burning off the rubber coating...and lubing the pins and ears.

Otherwise my next new pads are likely going to be Raybestos EHT ...they seem to have the best of all worlds and reasonably priced.
 
FWIW, I have Bosch's private label rebrand of their QuietCast pads on a friend's Subaru and so far, so good. He even reports they work better than the Wagners that I installed before that.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav

Correct. Clean, lube the pins and use CRC Disc Brake Quiet on the back of the pads, reassemble and its done, no more noise 100%. If it stops okay with these pads regardless of who made them there is no need to toss them.


Sweet advice, thanks!!
 
I've been using Bosch pads and rotors on my Suburban forever. I have nothing but good things to say about them.
 
To each their own I guess. I didn't choose these pads, unfortunately, the dealership did. I wouldn't have chosen the Bosch QuietCasts (Confirmed by part number) as I had noise issues with them on a previous car as well. However my main concern is the safety aspect. I drive the wife to her daily commute every morning, and people are always crossing the street in front of me between cars- ie, I have to hit the hooks. I could be doing 10-15 MPH and the pads fade and the car keeps on creeping. Almost rear-ended someone once too when they decided to not make a turn at the last second. Point being, if I slam on the brakes at that low of a speed, the car should stop [censored] near in it's tracks, not keep moving with no air between the floor board and the pedal.

Does that mean it's only the pads, no, but the rotors look good to my experienced eye. Could they have gotten glazed in the bed-in process, maybe, but unlikely. Never had that issue before either though.

I called out Bosch as the culprit as anyone would if they had more than one bad experience with a brand. Nature of the beast, not brand shaming for fanboy purposes. There are so many choices of pads it can be overwhelming, so I was curious if anyone had luck with something in particular on the Passat. When I do the rears on the Jeep this weekend, it will be getting the Wagner OEXs. It's too bad NAPA doesn't have the Adaptive One's that I love for the Passat.
 
Originally Posted By: lugNutz
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Akebono makes good pads that are nice and quiet and don't dust
smile.gif

Agreed. Have used them in the past amongst many others. I like the Wagner TQs too but according to RA, they are semi-met.

Curious how good Centric posi-quiets are now- have yet to try those.


Have used the Centric Posi-Quiet Ceramic(F & R) on the Mazda3 in my signature and they seemed to last forever. However on this particular, although they lasted almost 7 yrs/> 70K miles(and still had pad remaining), they dusted terribly which is odd to say the least.

Have used Akebono ProACT on my wifes Lexus and they felt just like OE, meaning great, and didn't dust at all.

It's strange that with the Wagner TQ's from RA, they F: are Semi-Mets and the R: are Ceramic...Hmmm! Not that other vehicles don't do this, I just find it strange in the VW application.

Just last week, I installed MONROE ProSolution Ceramic(not Total Solution Ceramic) on the R: of my Altima and they came w/hardwear. I'm liking them so far and have good initial bite which I like. Feels like OE thus far.
 
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Originally Posted By: Char Baby
Have used the Centric Posi-Quiet Ceramic(F & R) on the Mazda3 in my signature and they seemed to last forever. However on this particular, although they lasted almost 7 yrs/> 70K miles(and still had pad remaining), they dusted terribly which is odd to say the least.

I was looking to go Ceramic if I went with the Posi-Quiets. RA lists a 104 (metallic) & 105 (ceramic), so figured I would check the Centric site just to be sure, and Centric doesn't list a 105 version in the front. Maybe it's an EOL part that RA still has stock on. IDK, but it makes me skeptical of them.

Centric Pads - 2014 Passat
 
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