mgazer

When I release the brake pedal on my 98 Civic, there is a chirping noise
coming from the rear of the car. The same noise appears when I lift the
handbrake up and down.

My guess is that either the rear brakes or the handbrake cable needs
lubrication.

Fyi, I have 88,000 kms and am on the original rear brakes.

Any thoughts?
Thanks,

cibs

I don't think the handbrake cable would have anything to do with you stepping on the brake pedal...

mgazer

than explain why when I lift the handbrake, it makes the same noise as when I release the brake pedal? It appears that the noise surfaces when the pads (or discs) on the rear brakes are either applied or removed from the drums.

cibs

because the problem is in your brake drum not in your cables....

imported_BoOsTd

yah so that narrows it down to the drum internals... My guess is the shoe to drum plate contact is dry... i used to have the same sound, i rebuilt my rear brakes with new shoes and greased everything well and the noise was gone... Im not saying you need new shoes by any means (ill bet they have 50% life left at least) but if the noise really bothers you that much pull the drum off and grease the backing plate where the shoes contact it... theres 4 or 6 points of contact (cant remember exactly)

Idealy to ensure it will be eliminated would be a compleate rebuild with fresh all temp brake greese!

After all its just a squeek, if your brakes feel fine during stops then thats all it is, just a squeek... its not an indication of failure...