Hi!, my wife recently inherited (dad gave her) a 2004 Buick lesabre custom and recently they went on a road trip from our home here in Michigan to Seattle Wa.before they went,I suggested that he have a brake inspection done.the car has 60,000 miles on it and when he went to the dealer the rear pads were severely worn,(almost metal to metal)the dealership installed new front and rear pads and four new rotors.the car came back with a noise like a groan when backing up and going forward I finally heard it last night and it sounds almost like when a semi-tractor applies the brakes, a groaning screeching sound when the brakes are applied sometimes,a faint sound like a person blowing across a pop bottle is heard with or without using the brakes.he did take it back to the dealer before the trip and,they said it could be the brakes breaking in or may need four new calipers!.they got to Washington and the noise did not stop(they went 3000 miles)called a dealer in our old home town and they asked if there was a lot of brake dust on the wheels or any smoke or blueing on the rotors.there was none.they came back to Michigan and the noises were still there to the current day.I originally inspected at the pads front and rear when it was on the rack,fronts looked like normal wear but,the rears were toast! almost metal to metal,not burnt up but just scored and falling apart(we do live in the rust belt).I cannot believe that it needs 4 calipers with only 60,000 miles on the car,the sound is definitely coming from the rear,I have not jacked it up and pulled the wheels yet,nor looked at the invoice to see what kind of material they used (ceramic or metallic)or have I ever used OEM parts,as I used to manage a few NAPA stores for 25+ years and have never came across any problem like this before.I will pull the wheels when we get a cooler day and look for anything obvious soon.has anyone ever experienced this?. I'm thinking of a dragging caliper or a harmonic problem but,we went for a drive yesterday and when we got home the first thing I did was pull out my raytec laser thermometer and shot the rotors(front sides only) and the temps were all at about the same (130 f.after about 5 mins, the time it took me to go get the tool) so,I am thinking maybe it may be a harmonic problem.and need some disc brake de squeak and re lube the slider bolts.any thoughts would be appreciated.........Rich.

Are you saying the rear pads went down to metal in 6,000 miles? I am surprised you didn't observe the rear brakes smoking. You probably need new rear (not all four, just rear) calipers but before you do that I would change the rear brake lines. Just the flexible ones right at the calipers. Sometimes older rubber brake lines will deteriorate on the inside, and severely restrict the inside diameter. To the point of closing off. Under pressure of the master cylinder brake fluid will flow into the calliper, but there may be insufficient return pressure for the brake fluid to flow out of the caliper. This would cause the brakes to be applied (to some degree) at all times, and could possibly cause the wear you are seeing.

Change the rear brake hoses at each wheel and see what effect that has.

Don't take any more long trips until you get this resolved.

Rich,

Sorry to hear about the problem. You mention "dealer" in your post. Did you get the work done at the dealer or at a third party repair shop? I am guessing non-dealer work.

I had a 1997 Bravada and used the cheap Chinese rotors and pads. Grinding noise worse than metal on metal. I replaced a few weeks later with Wagner brake parts- problem solved. Your issue likely is different but worth mentioning.

Please note- on Blazers, Bravadas, Jimmys and S10s, when replacing rear pads on vehicles equipped with rear disc brakes, the calipers need to be replaced with the pads when replacing oem pads. Bad design by GM, pushing back the caliper causes the caliper to fail.

they are not metal to metal at 6,000 miles.they are making noise after the replacement of OEM rotors and pads and hardware(not the caliper bolts) on all 4 corners at just 60,000 miles and I am sure its the rear,the work was done at a gm dealership.I was looking at some different brake parts on some websites and,why do they show new caliper brackets for these cars? are they trouble prone? also, I saw some disc brake pad anti-drag springs that NAPA had and am wondering about these and they are not included in the hardware kits they are separate,they seem to be a specialty item.I have been out of the business for some time so I may have to call Raybestos who I believe still makes NAPA brake parts(they used too anyway) does anyone know about brake probs with these cars?I have the invoice now and cant interchange the pad#* to see if they are ceramic or metallic or if this even may matter in this situation.I have not yanked the wheels and inspected yet as its like 96 f. here today.just wanted to know some preliminaries about this beast. thanks rich....