Brake maintainence - How do you know when its time?

Keeping tabs on your car is important. Doing so will prevent expensive breakdowns and repairs. Being able to recognize signs that indicate either a problem or an upcoming issue with your brakes can keep you, and your car, out of harm’s way. Here are five signs that indicate that you need brake service.

1. Loud screeching noise when you hit the brakes

We’ve all heard ‘that’ noise from a car before. It’s like chewing on tinfoil. You put your foot on the brakes at the traffic lights and as you come to a stop the ‘nails-on-a-chalkboard’ style screech that comes out of your brakes feels like it’s going to vibrate the fillings out of your teeth. So what’s going on here? Your brakes are made up of two primary components the Brake Pad and the Brake Rotor (also known as a Disc).  When you apply pressure to the break pedal the pads press against the rotor which causes friction on the wheels and slows your car down. Brake pads are typically made of specialised metals or ceramic fibres that are softer than the metal of the brake rotors. The purpose of having two different softness’s in the brake materials is so that the absorbs more of the heat and friction created when you’re slowing down rather than the rotor and stops the chance of the brakes welding together at high temperatures or in an emergency braking situation. So because of this brake pads wear down over time.

So why do they screech? Believe it or not they’re doing that on purpose. Your bakes have a specially designed indicator built in that’s designed to make that screeching so that you know that your pads are getting before they’re completely worn out, leaving you with no brakes at all. Depending on your car and the type of driving you do most brake pads need to be change every 40,000 - 100,000km.

2.  Poor responsiveness when braking.

If you’ve noticed that when you’re pressing on the brake pedal that it’s not responding well, or it’s taking longer and longer to slow your car down when you hit the brakes, that’s a fairly sure sign of a leak somewhere in your braking system. Your brakes rely on a hydraulic fluid system that performs the action of pressing your brake pads against the rotors as we described above. When there’s a leak in the system, you won’t get good braking performance, and the brake pedal will often feel “soft” or won’t respond well to your input.

This could be caused by an air leak in the brake hose, or by a loss of hydraulic brake fluid. Either way, you’ll want to get your brakes serviced immediately. If you’re experiencing this issue you may want to consider not driving your car at all until you can have it seen to and you should possibly even consider getting it towed, rather than driving it to a service centre. Reduced brake responsiveness can be extremely dangerous, especially when driving at high speeds. Without brake pressure you may experience a complete loss of brakes all together meaning you will not be able to slow your car down at all.

3.  Vehicle is pulling to one side while braking

There are two things that could cause this when braking. The first is misaligned tyres, and the second is foreign material in your brake fluid. If your car has misaligned tyres the brake pads may wear at different rates. If this occurs, when you apply your brakes one wheel may slow down far quicker than another meaning causing your car to “pull” to one side.  This can be avoided by having your car’s wheels aligned, balanced and rotated regularly to avoid misalignment in the first place. Similarly to misaligned tyres, foreign material in your brake fluid can cause your car to pull to one side under braking. When water, rust or other unwanted materials enter your brake fluid it can cause clogs or air pockets in your brake fluid reducing the efficiency of the hydraulic fluid in your car to brake evenly from one side of the car to the other. In either of these instances its important to have the issue dealt with sooner rather than later to avoid a safety problem.

4.  Loud metal grinding noises when braking

If when you apply your brakes, you’re hearing a loud metal on metal grinding noise coming from your brakes, its important you stop driving your car immediately. This noise typically indicates that your brake pads have worn out completely and there is nothing left on them to help slow your car down. Not having this issue seen to can lead to causing damage to your brake rotors which can be expensive to fix or may require a complete replacement of the rotor if it is damaged beyond repair. Or in a worst case scenario having no pads left to brake your car effectively might lead to a dangerous situation if you had to brake hard in an emergency.

5.  Your car vibrates when you apply the brakes

If your car is vibrating excessively when during braking this could be a sign of warped brake rotors. Warped rotors can be caused by extensive periods of uninterrupted heavy braking (like long steep descents down a mountain). The heat created by this kind of braking can cause the rotors to warp slightly as they heat up or cool rapidly. This can result in the brake pads making uneven contact with the rotors which over time can warp them permanently. Once the rotors are warped the brake pad will struggle to get a solid even hold on the rotor causing it to “bump” over the warped surface and cause vibration. The good news is if you have a vibration in your brakes seen to sooner rather than later the maintenance cost can be much lower as you can smooth out the “bumps” in the rotors using a process known as machining. However if left too long, the rotors can become so warped that the machining process cannot remove these bumps and the only option is an expensive replacement of the damaged rotors.

If you’re seeing any of the above signs in your car when braking don’t take the risk. Book your car in to be seen immediately to ensure the safety of your vehicle and you or your family when you’re on the road.