Hello!

New to the forum, but not new to Ford.

Currently I drive a 2020 Focus MHEV 125 Active Wagon which has an annoying noise problem coming somewhere from the brakes. I'm the second owner of this car which was in a stand still for a few months at the dealer before I bought it. I'm driving the car with this problem for more than 18 months now.

I've searched the internet but I could not find anyone with similar issues, so writing here is one of my last attempts to find the cause for this as dealer seems not capable.

Here it is:

The car makes squealing (high pitched metal) noise from the brakes while it is moving around town and while the brake pedal is NOT pressed. The noise STOPS when I PRESS the pedal and also when driving with HIGHER speeds outside of town.

Noise starts to sound after at least 5 minutes of driving but NOT on every drive. Few times I have tried to force the noise to appear (driving with all windows down on an empty parking lot with lots of starts and stops and many many turns like in a usual city center) but not even a slightest squeak. Other times it starts on the 5-th minute of relaxed driving after only 1 turns and 2 full stops. There are days when I don't hear it at all and there are days when it is very strong. Most often I hear it from rear right wheel (no matter of the outside temperature, even in below 0 conditions) but there are some commutes when I hear it from front wheels too (the left one being more prominent). I believe it is mostly when the weather is warmer - above 23-25 degrees. And also it changes while turning - gets stronger depending on the side and how much I'm turning.

The noise first started to appear 2-3 months after replacing the rear discs and pads at the dealer (and maybe 6 months after I bought it) as rust had eaten some deep ulcers in the rotors and driving around wasn't enough to clean them. What dealer did to address the noise issue was lubricate the brake calipers a few times. They finally replaced the rear right wheel caliper with new one as this wheel is the one that makes the noise most often. Nothing changed - noise is still the same. They also said they have updated the ABS module software. The only thing that helped was taking the pads from the right rear wheel and replacing it with the pads of the left rear wheel and vice versa. This healed the noise for 1-2 months. There was an obvious difference in wearing between the left wheel and right wheel pads as those from the left side were not able to fit in the right side.

So with almost everything replaced with brand new Ford OEM in the system I don't know what else to do to deal with this issue. The dealer didn't offer further solutions but the problem is very hard to diagnose. Even I, while I'm driving the car everyday am finding it hard to say exactly in what conditions it will certainly be possible to hear it.

I wonder if it is possible to be some issue with the ABS hydraulic module. I'm worried if it is something with the ABS it could be dangerous to drive the car.

Any ideas, questions, suggestions, findings?

It's probably the pads themselves squealing, the material.

The only way to solve it will be to change the pads to none Ford ones to change the material mix.

If you lift each wheel you may be able to feel any interference as in a seizing caliper, but there's always a bit anyway.

These annoying squeals are often caused by a hard spot on the friction material, or something sticking, as previously said.

If it was my car, I would strip & clean the brake pads, and make sure they are free to move in the holders, then lubricate the contact points where the pads fit in the holder, and the contact points where the pads touch the calipers, using some proper anti-squeal paste, like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/375422047643

Ensure you don't get any on the discs or friction material!

This is one of the first jobs I do when I change my car, along with lifting the rubber boot on the calipers and lubricating the pistons with rubber grease (but I never buy anything less than about 8 years old, so they are ready for this work)!

Hmmm, what braking pads brand would you recommend, guys?

The garage technicians already tried grinding the pads surface. They sais they are in perfect condition and quality. OEM are the standard metal type. Maybe another brand and type (like ceramic) would help...

Not ceramic.

Try Green Stuff, but you'll need to change the fronts too to match

Sounds like it woth a try. Will there be any benefits if I replace the rotors with a kit from EBC too?