switch81

Hey guys, just to start off, I did look through the FAQ at the top of this forum and ended up doing a search for this as well but didn't find anything. So here goes:

I drive a 99 Civic LX (no abs) and about 1500 miles ago, I had my brake pads changed at a local shop. At first, everything about the brakes seemed fine, plenty of grip, no noise, no shuddering. Recently (after a long drive of about 400 miles), my brakes have been squealing constantly. What's strange is that the brakes squeal regardless of whether or not I have my foot on the brake pedal. This squealing happens anywhere from 5-40mph (anything above and I can't really tell because it gets too noisy in the car anyway), and when I actually apply the brakes and come to a stop.

As even more background, I started off purchasing the Brembo blanks+Axxis/PBR XBG brake pads from Rotors88 on this forum about 3 years ago. I have never had any problems with this setup whatsoever until my brake pads needed replacing 1500 miles ago. So I took it to a local shop and they resurfaced the rotors and put in replacement brake pads for me. I have no idea what type they put in, but I'm guessing they're probably cheap ceramic-based (as opposed to the semi-metallic of the XBGs). I also made sure that everything was properly lubricated with caliper grease and "disk quiet" (something that apparently the shop FORGOT to do... bleh.

So I'm planning to recheck everything tonight regarding proper lubrication of parts. But after reading the Brake FAQs in this forum, I wanted to ask a couple of other questions:

1) Do you guys think that switching from semi-metallic to ceramic is a bad idea? Could the switch have caused the squealing?
2) Could this have been a result of improper break-in of the pads? I've read through StopTech's "Warped brake disc myths" and it seems like lots of bad things can happen if the pads/disc does not get broken into properly. And seeing how it is my mechanic didn't bother to lubricate anything, i'm guessing that they probably didn't break them in either.
3) Do you guys think switching back to the XBGs will fix the problem?
4) What else should I look for?

Sorry for the lengthy post and questions, but this problem's really bugging me... and it's incredibly embarrassing driving down the street with the constant squealing!

Thanks in advance!

Dogginator

If it squeals when the brakes are firmly applied, either the pads are worn to the wear indicators or the squealing is not the brakes.

B16B4NG

could it be the dust shield is touching the rotor at certain points?