My uncle swore by using WD-40 on squeaky brakes, so I tried it

So back in May, my '03 Civic had this awful squeal every time I braked. My uncle Bob, who's fixed cars for 30 years in Omaha, told me to just spray WD-40 on the pads. I did it, and for like two days the noise was gone. Then on the highway near 72nd Street, my brakes felt like they were grabbing and letting go randomly, and I almost rear-ended someone. Has anyone else had a relative give them terrible brake advice that could've ended badly?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylor.sean1mo ago

lol yeah honestly this is just how it goes with uncles and dads giving car advice. They mean well but they learned stuff back when cars were basically metal boxes held together with hope and duct tape. WD-40 on brakes is one of those things that sounds smart in theory but in practice it just makes everything slippery and dangerous. I swear every time a relative gives me a tip about anything from brakes to fixing a leaky faucet I gotta double check it online first because half the time they're just repeating something someone told them at a bar in the 90s. Glad you're okay though man that could've been way worse.

lucasschmidt1mo ago

Read somewhere that WD-40 actually cleans brakes but you gotta wipe it all off.

mila_campbell251mo ago

Actually used it for years on drum brakes with zero issues if you let it fully dry before reassembly.