Here's what I've got for this week's Puzzler:
2005 Liberty making a horrible squeeling noise when braking. Make a mental note that it's beyond time for pads and rotors. Then it starts making that noise when NOT braking. I go in immediately, and they replace all 4 sets of pads and rotors. I was expecting that something else would need fixing, since it was making the noise when NOT braking as well, but they didn't replace anything else.
A week later, the problem happens again - squeeling noise when not applying brakes, rear wheels generating a lot of heat and smell. I bring it back in, they say "the rear brakes were too tight, so we loosened them". I don't entirely believe this, since the problem happened before I brought it in to have the pads+rotors replaced, but the problem wasn't happening when I picked it up, so I guess it was fixed
A week later, it happens again. Same noise, same smell, same intermittent behavior. I bring it in, they say "it's not doing it right now, so we can't find the problem. Pads and rotors look fine, no signs of uneven wear or overheating"
It's only the rear brakes, and it's intermittent. Driving could be perfectly fine, brakes silent and operational, or it could be like driving a train, screeching like a pterodactyl the whole time. I tried pulling on the parking brake handle while driving, thinking that it could be stuck, and pulling and releasing might unstick it. It sometimes makes the problem go away temporarily, but not for long. I've also tried pulling the parking brake when it's NOT having the problem. It screeches.
Any ideas? I'm starting to think that I'm better off fixing this one myself, at least then I'll know which shoddy mechanic botched it up.
