Hello Everyone!

I have a 1998 cavalier z24 2.4

My question is related to my brakes i think its more my back drum brakes. I had two different mechanics look at all my brake pads and brakes in general and they stated my pads are good and everything is working correctly. Its seems that when i brake sometimes normal but more when i brake fast and hard that my "back" brakes are locking up and its sounds like my abs is acting up due to that weird noise that abs brakes make when locking up. Sometimes it does it when i am just coming down a driveway or parking in a parking space. I am afraid i am going to have an accident because it is not stopping correctly... and slides instead of stopping. If anyone can give me some advice it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

Oh yeah "FYI " my abs light is not on.

SweetCavy98

Pull the drums off and hose it out tith a garden hose, let them dry then put it back together. If the problem reoccurs, either change the brake shoes or hose them out again. This is pretty common, many times we clean them out and they never come back with the problem,


01 cav w/01 3400 gam gt 4t45e

I would actually suggest using a can of brake cleaner before just using water.

I have had cleaned the brakes but it only lasts for a couple of weeks then it comes right back.

Sounds like it's time to change the springs on the rear. If the shoes are wore down enough, go ahead and change those too.

I changed all those already

I had the same problem and changed drums, shoes, springs that fixed it for a short time ( 1 week ) Had the brakes checked again, the rear brakes and they told me it was the shoes that were semi metallic and too hard, I had the old shoes re-manufactured with a softer material and problem disappear, it is being some 3 weeks and hope it won´t comeback, since the swap to disc brakes is expensive plus I would have to get bigger wheels and tires too since there is a note that min. wheel size should be 17

I cant think of what else to try. My theory is that the grabbing is caused by the trapped brake dust, I thought about notching the bottom of the backing plate where the drum rides but i never tried it. There are a couple of other models that do this. 90's Grand am's, the old chevy celebrity, cavs, sunfires, Kia spectra...
Im sure you will get alot of posts on this problem, maybe some one has a better long term solution.


01 cav w/01 3400 gam gt 4t45e

Hey maybe Luis Baptista is right just last year i started using the semi metallic break pads... did anyone else have that problem with the semi metallic pads?? Here i thought they would be better...??? Any opinions??

I think i might try replacing the pads and springs.. thanks for all your help!

Do change the shoes ( be sure new ones are of some softer material) and have the drums spun on the machine so they get rounded. I bet this will solve the problem,

Oh wow. I switched to semi metallic pads and recently my rear passenger brake has been banging when I apply pressure to it. I have replaced springs, adjusters, and drum covers. Could that sound like and issue with the pads?

ShiftyCav wrote:thats probably the dumbest thing i have ever heard. you should take that serpentine belt and wrap it around your neck.

For me, I dont think its a banging noise... my car seems to locking up and kinda sounds like the brakes are sticking. You know the noise the abs makes when it is working... well thats how it sounds... But it thuds at the same time.. I dont know what my problem is.. but i have to figure it out before i wreak. Cuz sometime it does it and sometimes it doesnt.. i never know what to expect. I have talked to a few people and some believe it could be the pads and others say that the pads could not do that and say something is wrong with my abs eventhough my abs light is not on.

I don't Know the only prob i have is that annoying squeal from the back brakes when the engine is cold, i will start the car make it no more than say the end of my drive way and as soon as i hit the brakes one time you can hear the squealing in the back end as soon as i drive a bit and the car warms up it's fine.

Too make matter worse when it comes to my brakes.. the pads are all good, but semi-metallic (which doesnt matter i guess cuz they squealed before with basic pads) but they squeal/squeek no matter what.. i can hear them.. so squealing i just ignore now i think. BUT Everyone has to point the problem out to me... they are like hey you know you have noisey brakes.. i am like no @!#$.. can you fix it for me??? LOL

Yeah now see that's what i have just basic brakes, and even after they've been worked on the backs still squeal it almost seems like some sort of safety related issue because i mean by the by aren't brakes only supposed to squeal like that when they need to be fixed and not consistently.

Yeah i was always taught if they squeal you need new brake pads.....

yeah see that would be my guess also , but if you'd just had them replaced or worked on it wouldn't make sense for them to squeal.

thats why i dont understand why they are acting the way they are....

I had this same problem on my 2001 after the shop repaired my rear brakes. Turned out after taking it to a another shop that the rear shoes were installed backwards (short shoe on front and long shoe on rear or vice versa). If you have access to another car, you could compair the shoes? Just my .02

yeah Now see chris that's the exact same problem i ran into i took my car to a shop not 5 minutes from my house, another chevy dealer the stupid morons but both the fronts and backs on backwards so i got the replacement noise a lot sooner than i should have. Long story short i ended up having them reinstalled the right way after another dealer noticed their mistake thankfully no damage was done to the rotors and there was still a good 8 millimeters left on the pads. But someone said the Cavys are normally like that if they sit for extended periods of time the back brakes automatically squeal that doesn't sound right to me , i mean the fronts you know right away when they're bad because they eventually start dragging and then grinding but the backs, i don't know i've never heard of any compact car whether it be ford toyota nissan that ever had back brakes that squeal like mine do maybe it's just because gm cut corners with that section of the car.

You guys are confusing me. Are you talking about front brakes or back. Pads and rotors in the front and shoes and drums in the back. Short shoe goes on the facing the front.

If your fronts are squeeling try a ceramic pad if available or a soft cheap pad. Stay away from Bendix, they are awful for the front.

The foreign cars are almost all ceramic pads. Your going to pay a little more for them, but they wont squeel.


01 cav w/01 3400 gam gt 4t45e

I've got the same problem with my 2K Z... If I have my car up on a lift I can sping the rears 3/4 or the way around fine then the last quarter it will grab even if the brakes are off (park and normal)... I've also noticed a pulsing in the rear from the brakes... It happens at lower speeds or when I am applying the brakes lightly... I know my shoes are good, I checked them less than a month ago... I'm going to try the rinsing thing this weekend and will let you guys know...



Knowledge about everything and yet an expert of nothing!!
Jack of all trades.

Now the last few days my brakes have been fine.. i really dont get this brake problem... i didnt do anything.. didnt check the pads or spring.. nada... why would it do it constantly for a few days and then just stop.... HELP!!

Yep had the same problem rear brakes grab and lock up instantly, especially when it's raining or there's a lot of moisture in the air. the problem...cheap aftermarket brake shoes. Run gm shoes and you shouldn't have any problems. I switched to gm shoes and havn't had a problem since.