rear noise + misc (help) Protege ES 2002

hi all,

i have a protege 2002 ES.

recently, i heard a squeak noise in the rear and i thought the brake pads might be worn (though they have been changed by previous owner some 20K miles ago); well, the pads look great.
the noise seems to appear sometime when i depress the brake or when i drive after a stop; any ideas? it does not appear all the time.

i also looked around and everything looks good with the suspension.

i have two more questions:
1 - where do you put your stands/supports when you work on the rear of the car? if you put the jack under the reinforced area there seem to be no place to place a stand. pics would be great.

2 - i discovered that the parking brake does not work (works a little) on one of the rear wheels, meaning i can rotate the wheel with some effort with the brake set; how can one fix this? do i need to adjust the pads using the gear in the caliper or is it related to the wire itself? pls advise; the wire is in the right place, etc.

thanks - Neko

yeah i also have a 2002 es and the rear brake caliper spins a lil even with the ebrake pulled up... im pretty sure its the gear in the caliper which is an easy fix so try that first and see if it fixes the problem

1. There's a place on the undercarriage of the car to lift the entire rear end of the car. Then you can easily place jackstands on the side rails. There's a picture of it somewhere on here, but you can also find it in the owner's manual.

2. Regarding the e-brake, keep in mind some freeplay is needed to make sure the brakes are not engaged when the e-brake lever is all the way down. If the e-brake is set and both wheels still spin, then you can remove the slack by tightening a bolt next to the e-brake lever. You can consult the factory shop manual to see where it is.

thanks.

i will try to operate the gear on the caliper for the wheel that turns; the other wheel is stopped cold by the emergency brake (e brake, right?)

the jack has its own reinforced areas on the side rails; the stands do not have the jack's special shape to fit there; if i remember right, the place to put the jack is on the side rail, but i will check; anyway, i would appreciate more details in this area.

any ideas what the noise could be?

So yea:

1) just follow the trailing arm up to where it connects and put the jack stand there. it is what the service manual says so it is good enough for me.

2) Start off adjusting the gear. Bleed the brakes afterwards and never press the brake pedal while the bolt hiding the gear is off.

Here is what the service manual says for when changing the pads:

1. Turn the manual adjustment gear
counterclockwise with an Allen wrench to pull the
brake caliper piston inward. (Turn until it stops.)
2. Install the disc pads.
3. Turn the manual adjustment gear clockwise until
the brake pads just touch the disc plate. Turn the
manual adjustment gear back 1/3-turn.

Click to expand...

If the rear pads look new after 20k, they may not be doing much work. The bridge pins that the caliper slides on (not the piston) may be corroded and binding so the travel is severely limited. They may need a yank/clean/lube.

Drive around the block, hit the brakes a few times, see if the back heat compares at all to the front heat.