My 2001 TDI Elegance Est gives occasional squeal from rear brakes when slowed to walking pace(ish) - ie in traffic. If I'm creeping and apply handbrake - gently the squeal goes - is this a known problem??

Yep - I had it on the old TDI. Rear brakes wore out quicker than the fronts! :( Then I smashed it up and the current TDI is pretty good now, but then I do have new pads which squeal all the time anyway...

I think there is a fix for the rear squealing brakes - something like an overhaul or removing the pads and trimming off the burr thats left behind when bit of grit and stuff get in there.

hjg

That sounds exactly like the noise Mrs R's new Fab vRS is making. It's odd as it only starts once the car is warmed up after about 6/7 miles. Noticed it while crawling along the M8 the other morning in heavy traffic. As you pull away it squeaks and as wheel rotation increases the squaek increases until once you get to brisk walking pace it disappears.

Got it going back to dealer in the week to investigate. After 4 miles of crawling it became extremely irritating

I thought they used some kind of lubricant on the brakes to stop the squeeling, prehaps just needs a bit more??

I also get that on my Fabia Hatch 1.9TDi. I've been told it's due to the build up of break-dust more than anything... dunno if that was drivel, but I do make a point of them cleaning up the break discs, pads when I take the car for a service.

Regards,