Signs That The Brakes On Your Vehicle May Need Service Or Repair

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Understanding Auto Service Tasks

Hello, my name is Davey Jerome. Welcome to my site about auto service. When I was a young boy, the first task I learned to perform on my dad’s truck was an oil change. I delighted in letting the old oil flow out into the drain pan and removing the old filter. Adding the new filter and oil seemed to rejuvenate that old truck and ready it for another day of work on the farm. I will use this site to explore the process of performing automotive services on your own. I hope you can use the information on my site to learn about this important task.

Signs That The Brakes On Your Vehicle May Need Service Or Repair

9 January 2023
 Categories: , Blog

Brake repair and service should be part of your regular maintenance routine to ensure the brakes work correctly. Some things can occur even with regular service, and when you experience them, you should take the vehicle in for inspection and repair. 

Brake Fade

An early sign of brake wear, brake fade occurs as you use your brakes in traffic or are on and off the brakes a lot. The brakes can begin to heat up, and the brake pads provide less grip on the rotors. The result is a car or truck that takes longer to stop and if the problem persists, the vehicle can exhibit unpredictable braking.  

In most cases, the brake fade is easily fixed with new brake pads, and a bake repair shop can inspect the rest of the system while making repairs. This is also a good time to upgrade the brake pads to semi-metallic pads that provide more grip or ceramic pads that are resistant to heat glazing and will stand up to stop-and-go traffic or heavy breaking better than OE brake pads. 

Brake Chatter Or Shake

When you apply the brakes, and the vehicle starts to shake and a chattering noise comes from the brakes, you need to take the car in for brake repair. Break chatter typically occurs when the brake rotors are out of round or worn badly and can damage the brake pads and reduce brake performance. 

The brake pads and rotors need to work together, and if the brakes are chattering or vibrating, the pads are not making good contact with the rotors. If you depress the pedal hard, you may be able to stop the vibration, but you will also apply the brakes so hard that you may come to an abrupt stop. 

The brake repair shop may be able to turn the rotors on a lathe to true them up, but they will not know until they remove them and inspect the damage. Often new brake rotors and pads are the best solutions to brake chatter, and upgrading your brake parts may help prevent further issues in the future. 

Brake Noise

The brakes on your car may begin to make a noise as they wear, and any scraping when the brakes are applied should be a sign to take the vehicle to a brake repair shop. Often the noise is caused by heavy pad wear or movement in the brake caliper when applying the brakes.

If the brake pads wear far enough, the wear indicator tab on the brake pads will begin to scrape on the surface of the rotor to let you know you need brake repair, and if you ignore it, damage can occur to the rotor.