For about the past month I've been getting a high pitched squeal/whistle sound coming from one or more of the wheels. It is almost the sound I'd hear if a rock or something is stuck between the brake pad and caliper. I've been able to troubleshoot the following:

1.) I only get the noise after the car has warmed up - after driving 10+ miles. The noise does not occur if I drive a mile down the road to the store.

2.) It seems most prevalent when turning but sometimes happens when going straight.

3.) I can stop the noise by applying the brakes or straightening the steering wheel but as soon as I release the brakes or turn again, the noise returns.

4.) Once it starts, the noise is present at all speeds-highway, city driving, pulling in to the driveway.

The front pads and rotors were replaced in 2008 and the rear drums were serviced at the same time. The noise doesn't seem to affect the handling or braking of the car. There is no thumping or clunking associated with the noise.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be?

 

I would first look at the rotors to see if they are glazed; meaning they look polished to almost mirror shine.
Honda brake pads, post 98, are a very hard material and tend to cause the glazing.
You could also recheck the brakes, be sure the slider pins move, and there are no backing plates or mounting clips dragging on the rotor.
Just for grins and giggles, you can rough up the brake pad material with 60 grit sandpaper to see if the noise goes away for a couple days.

 

have you removed the wheels and chk for something rubbing? chk the pads?? also chk the shims , sometime they come loose and rub on the rotor especially if you used non factory pads

\best advice i can give you is to remove the wheel and have a visual inspection ,also raise the frt of car, spin the wheel see if you can duplicate the noise

 

Thanks for the tips. I took off the wheel and checked the pads and shims but nothing appeared out of place. The rotor was quite shiny so I sanded the pads. This stopped the noise for a while but it has since returned. Aside from removing the wheel and repeating that procedure, is there anything that I can do to prevent the noise?

 

resurface the rotors,, sand down the pads ,, if less than 25% on pads install new pads,,, Honda pads,,,,,,you might want to try a softer pads set ( ceramic) but it won't last you as long

 

It could be wear indicator on the pad. It is a little metal tab on brake pads(I couldn't find a term that didn't rhyme) that hits the rotor when the pad material wears down or the braking plate hitting the rotors. I am just listing some other causes that I didn’t see listed yet.

 

Yeah, those tabs are supposed to hit the rotor & screetch, when the pads are worn down to a couple mm. But they're not the most accurate; I've seen them bent so they start making noise when the pads are still pretty thick.

 

The pads were new in 2008 and still have plenty of life left. I suppose it could be the wear indicators but why would the noise only occur once the car had been driven for 1/2 hour and not on short trips? Heat from use causes everything to expand?

 

if it was that it would be there all the time ..

sounds like rotors are glazed...........resurface rotors, replace pads with softer material.....pads will not last as long

 

Thanks, dh. Although the noise is only coming from the passenger side, should I replace the pads on both front wheels? Does it matter if one side is the OEM Honda pads and the offending side is something softer?