My name is Cory Howard and I am the co-owner of Save More Automotive in Spokane, WA. Save More Automotive has been an auto repair shop in Spokane for over 20 years. Today I thought I would touch on a very important, probably the single most important system on your vehicle. The brake system. First of all you should have your brakes checked every time you bring your car to the shop to have it serviced. All the forward motion in the world is no good on a car if you can't bring that forward motion to a stop. I see it day in and day out, people will keep driving their vehicles to the point that they are scary and dangerous because they neglect to do the routine maintenance that should be performed like replacing your brake pads and rotors and in some cases calipers, wheel cylinders, master cylinder etc.
Here is a list of things to be checked in the braking system:
1. Check for any brake fluid leaks. This is important because a leak can mean a potential blow out which would likely sink your brake pedal to the floor and cause your vehicle not to stop. Modern system are what we call hydraulic which means the use the brake fluid to apply pressure to each wheel in order to stop the car. If the system can't build pressure the brakes can't do their job.
2. How does the pedal feel? A sinking brake pedal can be a sign of a leak either externally or internally in your master cylinder. Is the pedal extremely hard to push down? Most likely your brake booster is not working properly.
3. Pad/shoe thickness. You never want to let your brakes get to the point to where they are metal to metal. This means the pad material is completely worn through and you are using the pads back plate to squeeze your rotor or drum. That grinding sound you are hearing is metal on metal. You are going to need new pads and most likely new rotors or drums.
4. Do the brake calipers move freely? Alot of time if the slides on the caliper were not cleaned and lubed correctly you will have a caliper hanging up on one or both sides and will cause unwanted stopping at that wheel. This will cause uneven brake wear. This can also be cause by a bad caliper which would need to be replaced at this point.
If you check those things on a regular basis it can save you a lot of money by catching problems early before more parts are damaged. Sometimes we have to replace rotors that could have otherwise been resurfaced if the brakes hadn't gone metal to metal and ruined them.
Speaking of turning rotors! I've been asked several times. "Well can't my neighbor Bob just replace the pads? Why do the rotors need to be resurfaced?"
The reason you always want to resurface or replace your rotors when replacing pads is so you don't end up with excessive runout/warpage. Warpage will cause a brake pedal pulsation and in serious cases bad steering wheel vibration while braking. Resurfacing the rotors brings them back to a perfectly smooth and straight surface. If you just slap pads on them over time they will get worse and worse until they are no good.
Minimum Thinkness Explained: Everytime we do a brake job we measure the rotors thickness. Each car has a certain limit on how thin the rotors can be. When it's time to resurface them they need to stay above their minimum thickness specs otherwise they will over heat, warp, and in some severe cases even crack and brake. Once the rotors have been worn down past minimum thickness they need to be replaced to avoid brake failure.
Lubrication. Brake calipers have moving parts called slides. I often see brake jobs done incorrectly in the matter that none of the moving parts were lubed while putting new pads on. Every time you replace your brakes all moving service should be cleaned thoroughly and lubed with sil-glide or a comparable brake system lubrication grease. This keeps parts from rusting, pitting and sticking so your brake work properly. I also like to use disc brake quiet on all my pads. It comes in a spray paint style can. Usually red. Coat the entire back of the pads with it to keep your brakes from making that annoying squeal.
The different kinds of pads and their prices: Have you ever had a shop tell you that you have the option of the good pads or the cheap ones? Usually the good ones cost about twice as much and they are made from a ceramic materail. The ceramic pads last about twice to three times as long and I always recommend using ceramics. It will save you money in the long run. Your other option is usually a semi-metallic pad. They work just fine but like I said before they won't last as long and a lot of times are more prone to squeal in cold weather or when they are cold. Never used riveted pads! They may look just as thick as the semi-metallic and ceramics but the rivets that hold them together take up about half of the pad depth. When they wear out they usually cause major damage to rotors and ruin them. It's worth it to spend the extra few bucks and atleast get the semi-metallics.
How can I tell when it's time to replace my brake pads? Most brake pads have a wear indicator built onto them. This will cause a constant squealing sound to come from the worn out pad before they start grinding metal to metal. In my opinion, if you ever hear any sounds coming from your brakes, get them checked out. We do free brake inspections and so do many other shops. It's worth it to have the peace of mind that you're not going to have brake failure and cause an accident. Find a mechanic you trust and always bring you car to them to have the oil changed every 3000 miles so they can get a good look at your vehicle and let you know about any concerns they have.
If you have any questions about brake feel free to give me a call anytime at Save More Automotive. My name is Cory and our number is (509) 482-7283. Thanks for reading!
http://www.savemoreautomotive.com/
Save More Automotive is an auto repair shop in Coeur d'Alene, ID and Spokane, WA. We write this blog to help our customers and other around the web learn about car and truck maintenance and repair.
