Yep, mine squeak too. Have squeaked since day one and they squeal everytime I touch the brakes.

There is a simple fix in my mind. Never again will I buy a GM product...

Way too many problems with this vehicle purchased brand new and only 12 months old (13 problems so far, several repeated over and over). The ironic thing is that I bought it so I would have something trouble free to drive (compared to my previous vehicle, another troublesome GM product...)

My HHR has been in for warranty repair more often than every vehicle combined owned for the last 30 years...

Love the vehicle. Hate the vehicle...

 

As an update, I took my vehicle in to the local GM dealer today to look at the squeaking brakes.

The service manager flat out LIED to me and said that they could hear no squeaking. I literally laughed in his face, because the brakes squeak non-stop with EVERY stop.

When they brought the HHR from the back lot, the brakes were squeaking LOUDLY when it stopped and the service adviser sort of looked up sheepishly from his desk. I had more than a few comments.

The mechanic who worked on it overheard and exclaimed that they could not fix a problem that required "re-engineering" and added that "Every HHR does this."

What a crock.

I have had zero problems with other new cars by Chrysler, Ford, Honda, etc, including a new PT Dream Cruiser we had for 3 years and 60K miles (similar vehicle that drove MUCH better and had ZERO issues).

This is the very last straw and the very last GM for me...

 

Wow, i didnt realize so many people had this problem. About 5 months ago i took my car to get the front brakes done to do vibration when starting to press the brakes, while i was getting this done they offered to adjust my brakes for a few addtional dollars....what a mistake!!!! The first week was good, it was as if i was driving a new car again. Then it started squeaking like everyone else described.

I want back to the mechanic (Midas) and they said all looks good and they cannot find anything wrong. They suggested getting the drums resurfaced because they were a little bit off. So i said "what the heck" i got it done. 4 days later the problem came back again.

I feel the problem has to do with the mechanism that adjusts the brakes (atleast in my case). Because when i take it to the mechanic it works good for a few days then it goes bad, so i am worndering if the rear brakes lose the adjustment. I hear the noise from the passenger rear.

 

If you have the Brembo option the noise is common with these pads. The standard SS front brakes seldom have issues if the pads are install properly.

 

One disturbing thing I've read here at least twice was people using air to blow off the brake dust.. This is a bad thing.

1) all brakes & dust should be treated as ASBESTOS (it may contain some)..

2) Use Brake-Kleen to wash off the dust into a collection pan.

3) the backing plates (in contact areas) do need a small bit of proper grease to prevent brake squeak during movement.

My brakes do not squeak...

 

That was my first thought was the lube points on the backing plate.

They will squeek everytime you step on the pedal As the shoes will twist on the backing plate and they will slide or move on these pads. They should be lubed with high temp brake grease only and clear of rust.

Other than that I suspect Shoe material as the drum brakes on this vehicle are not unlike anything else on the road and should not operate any different. Drum brake squeel is very uncommon for any drum brake.

Infact GM has used this drum system on many cars for years with little issue if any.

Dust is also the other main issue or cracked pad but it sounds as if the dust has been eliminated in some cases.

Just because a dealer checked them does not mean the backing plate pads were lubed. Cleaning a lube are two points many mechanics will overlook. I have seen it many times.

 

2 HHRs combined total of 53k miles and no squeeks.....one thing to take a look at is the inside of the drum , make sure the shoe itself is not making side contact on the drum..me thinks maybe the hub bearings are slightly shifted allowing the hub to set closer to the backing plate..you may not notice it right away so you will have to look closely at the side of the shoe and the drum for contact..if anything questionable is found give it a shot of white or black spray paint on the egde,drive and check again....as far as resonances, try a wrap or two of duct tape and go around the block slowly see it that does anything, but don't leave it on after and don't do any speed or heat runs.....this will check if the drum vibrates, tape acts as a deadener

 

Our HHR has about 86k miles now and, it has have never squeaked. I replaced the front pads and, had the rotors turned the other day.

I can hear a squeak when I let off the brake from the rear, that is the only squeak we have ever had. That I'm going to check out pretty soon.

 

I took my car to midas and to the dealer and neither one can find what is make the clicking noise on the passenger rear when slowing down at slow speeds.

I went under the car today because i was thinking maybe it was something rubbing that was causing the noise and found one thing.

1. Behind both brake drums right abvce the brake line entering the drum there is a screw and its loose on both drums..i can actually spin it with my fingers but i am not really sure what this screw is there for. Does anybody know if this is normal?

 

Has anyone checked the self adjusters on their rear brakes that are squeeling? It could be possible the drums were glazed originally from a hard stop because from the factory the adjusters were too far in (meaning the brake shoes were too far from the drum surface). Then when the HHR was taken to the Dealer for a fix, they may have over adjusted the self adjusters too far out (meaning the brake shoes were too close to the drum surface) close to the drum automatically reglazing the drums every time you step on the brake. Please use a jack, stand, and wheel chock, and no parking brake on, car off-Raise the rear and see how easy/fast the rear wheels spin by hand. If the wheel is almost non spinable or very hard to spin the adjusters are not properly set. You should only have a slight resistance when spinning the tire and hear the shoes rubbing against the drum. If there is no resistance and the wheel spins forever-the brakes need proper adjusting.