Q&A: Why does my car squeal in reverse?

Q: “I have noticed recently that when I reverse in my car I hear a squealing sound from my back tires. What is going on? Is something stuck in there or something? It only happens in reverse and it goes away once I accelerate.” Katie S.

A: What you are hearing is the squealer that is attached to your brakes. As the pads wear down the squealer rubs against the rotor making a high pitched noise to indicate that it is time for a brake job (you can see a squealer attached to that brake pad pictured above). Sometimes a squealing sound could be something else, but a tell-tale sign of a brake squealer is that the sound will go away once you depress the brake. You are hearing this in reverse because the car is going slowly in reverse. You can really only hear the squealer at low speeds so you won’t hear it much driving forward (unless you live in Oak Bay, ZING!).

If you think you might need a front or rear brake job just send us a message and we can slot you in, or at least take a quick look to confirm you have a brake squealer spoiling your quiet ride.

– Gerry Brouwer