2020-2022 Kia Telluride Brake Noise: Squeal, Grinding and Pulsation Causes

By Core Brake Parts Tech Team — Circleville, OH warehouse

Most brake noise on a 2020-2022 Kia Telluride comes from one of three places: a pad wear indicator squealing to tell you the pads are thin, worn or dry pad hardware letting the pads chatter in the caliper bracket, or rotors with runout that you feel as a pulsing pedal. A grinding sound is different and more urgent. It usually means metal-on-metal contact, but on the Telluride it can also point to a driveshaft problem covered by a safety recall, so check that before you spend money on brakes.

How the Telluride Brake System Works

The Telluride uses disc brakes at all four corners, with a caliper squeezing pads against a rotor at each wheel. The rear calipers also do the parking brake job. Every Telluride has an Electronic Parking Brake (EPB): you pull up a switch and an electric motor on each rear caliper applies the pads. Kia's owner information says a click or electric motor sound while the EPB applies or releases is normal and means the system is working.

The Telluride also has Auto Hold, which keeps the vehicle stopped without your foot on the pedal and hands off to the EPB if a door opens or the vehicle sits for more than 10 minutes. ABS and Brake Assist round out the system. When ABS works during a hard stop you may hear a ticking sound and feel the pedal pulse, which is also normal.

The EPB matters for anyone doing their own rear brakes. The rear caliper pistons are driven by the parking brake motor, so they must be retracted through the EPB service mode with a scan tool or the documented procedure. Forcing the piston back with a C-clamp can damage the actuator.

Which Noises Are Normal and Which Are Not

Squeal: Wear Indicators, Hardware and Glazing

Kia's owner's manual is plain about this one: when the pads are worn, you will hear a high-pitched warning sound from the front or rear brakes, and it may come and go or happen every time you press the pedal. That sound is a small steel tab on the pad backing plate touching the rotor on purpose. Kia warns not to keep driving on worn pads, because the next stage is rotor damage and lost braking performance. Replace pads in axle pairs, both fronts or both rears together.

If you pull a wheel and the pads still have plenty of material, the squeal is usually a vibration problem, not a wear problem. Brembo's technical guidance points out that squeal is often caused by the poor condition of the parts around the pads rather than a defective pad. The common culprits:

• Anti-noise shims missing, damaged or reused. Brembo says to fit new shims correctly and never reuse old ones.
• Abutment clips and caliper springs that are worn, rusted or installed out of position.
• Dry contact points. The pad ears, the bracket abutments and the slide pins need a thin coat of brake-specific grease that will not attack the rubber boots.
• Rust and debris on the hub face or rotor surface that keeps the pad from contacting evenly.
• Overheated or glazed pads, often after heavy towing or long downhill runs in a loaded three-row SUV.

A fresh brake hardware kit with new clips and pins costs little and cures a lot of Telluride squeal without replacing pads.

Grinding: Worn Pads, Trapped Stones, or the Driveshaft Recall

A true brake grind is metal against metal. Once the friction material is gone, the steel backing plate cuts into the rotor, and at that point the rotors are usually damaged too. A stone or piece of debris caught between the rotor and the splash shield can make a similar scraping sound; removing it fixes the noise, and a light scuff on the rotor is usually not enough to require replacement.

Telluride owners should know about one more source. NHTSA recall 24V-214 (Kia campaign SC303) covers all 2020-2023 and certain 2024 Tellurides built from January 9, 2019 through October 19, 2023, a population of 427,407 vehicles. The intermediate shaft and right front driveshaft may not be fully engaged, and over time the splines can be damaged. Kia lists the warning signs as grinding noise and/or reduced motive power, and damaged splines can let the vehicle move while in Park if the parking brake is not set. The remedy is updated EPB software that automatically applies the parking brake in Park with the engine off, plus a replacement intermediate shaft if damage is found.

The practical takeaway: if the grinding happens while driving and not only while braking, or comes with a loss of power, run your VIN through the recall lookup and see a Kia dealer before replacing any brake parts. Until the recall work is done, Kia advises shifting to Park and applying the EPB every time you leave the vehicle.

Pulsation: Rotor Runout and Thickness Variation

A pedal that pulses or a steering wheel that shakes under braking is usually blamed on "warped rotors." What is actually happening is lateral runout, where the rotor wobbles as it turns, which over thousands of miles wears the rotor into uneven thickness. The thick and thin spots push the pads back and forth, and you feel it through the pedal.

Brembo's guidance gives the limits: a mounted disc should not run out more than 0.10 mm, and the wheel hub alone should not exceed 0.050 mm. A shop checks this with a dial indicator. Common causes are rust or scale left on the hub face when the rotor was installed, lug nuts tightened unevenly with an impact gun, and a worn wheel bearing. If a new rotor goes on a dirty hub, the pulsation comes back quickly, so clean the hub face to bare metal and torque the wheels in a star pattern to the factory specification with a torque wrench.

If the rotors are below minimum thickness or show deep grooves or hard spots, replace them. A matched set of replacement brake rotors with new pads is the cleanest fix.

The Fix and What to Replace Together

For a Telluride with worn pads, noise and a pulsation complaint, the lasting repair is pads, rotors and hardware on the same axle at the same time:

1. Replace the pads as an axle set. Ceramic brake pads are a good match for a family SUV: quiet, low dust and steady in daily driving.
2. Replace or measure the rotors. Fresh rotors paired with new pads avoid transferring old wear patterns.
3. Fit new clips, shims and slide-pin boots, cleaned and greased.
4. Inspect the caliper pistons, seals and boots. Brembo notes corroded pistons and sticking slides keep the brake from working properly.
5. Change the brake fluid if it is due; Brembo recommends a two-year interval, and your Kia maintenance schedule has the exact one for your vehicle.
6. Bed in the new pads with a series of gradual, moderate stops, and avoid hard panic stops for the first few hundred miles while the transfer layer builds.

For the rear axle, a complete kit keeps the parts matched. Our 2020-2022 Kia Telluride rear brake kit includes rotors and pads for this vehicle. You can also browse all brake pads and use the vehicle filter for the front axle.

How hard is the job?

Front pads and rotors on the Telluride are a standard bolt-on job for a capable DIYer with a jack, stands and a torque wrench. The rear is harder only because of the EPB: you need a scan tool or the service-mode procedure to retract the parking brake before the caliper will come off, and to reset it after. Skip that step and you risk damaging the rear caliper motor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do my Telluride brakes squeal even though the pads are new?

New-pad squeal almost always comes from hardware: reused shims, dry clips or slide pins, or pads that were not bedded in. Clean and grease the contact points, fit new shims, and complete a proper bed-in.

Is the clicking from the back of my Telluride when I park normal?

Yes. Kia states that a click or electric motor sound when the Electronic Parking Brake applies or releases is normal and means the EPB is working.

Is grinding on a Telluride always a brake problem?

No. Recall 24V-214 lists grinding noise and reduced power as warning signs of intermediate shaft damage on 2020-2024 Tellurides. If the grinding is not tied to the brake pedal, have the recall checked first.

Can I push the rear caliper pistons back with a C-clamp?

No. The rear calipers are driven by the EPB motor. Retract them through the EPB service mode with a scan tool or the factory procedure.

Do I need to replace rotors every time I replace pads?

Not always. If the rotors are above minimum thickness, smooth and within runout limits, they can stay. If you have a pulsation complaint or grooves, replace them with the pads.

Sources

1. NHTSA Part 573 Safety Recall Report 24V-214 - Telluride driveshaft recall population, grinding warning sign, EPB software remedy
2. Kia Owner's Manual - Disc brakes wear indicator - high-pitched wear warning sound, replace pads in pairs
3. Kia Telluride Features and Functions Guide - Electronic Parking Brake - EPB operation and normal click or motor sound
4. 2022 Kia Telluride Brake System owner information - Auto Hold behavior, ABS sounds, Brake Assist
5. Brembo - Noises and vibrations - runout limits, shims, springs, grease, fluid interval, bedding-in
6. Brake and Front End - Squeal, grind, clunk - wear indicators, debris grinding, lateral runout diagnosis