Brake Problems? Answers to 5 Common Brake Problems with a car

Brake problems can be daunting if you don't know what's causing it. Fear of the unknown will eat you alive and anxiety levels will rise, questions like; will my brakes fail? Are they safe? Can I drive my car? Should I drive my car? These are just of the few thoughts rolling around in your mind as a brake problems arise. My goal here is to educate the driver who knows very little about a cars braking system, and possibly help a technician who is having trouble diagnosing a brake issue and what can be done to fix it.

I will cover 5 of the most common brake problems I run into on a daily basis and shed some light on the repair. I have an article on Brake Noises as well so check it out if you don't find what your looking for here.

A brake pulsation or steering wheel shake when your brakes are applied is a very common brake issue on all makes and models. If you’re driving at highway speeds and you apply your brakes, the steering wheel shakes.

This is usually caused by a few different things like; the front rotors being warped, (to put it in layman terms) hot spots on your rotors caused by excessive heat or pad impressions, which is caused by your car sitting for any length of time without moving. Moisture from rain or high humidity causes your rotors to rust, except where the pads sit. This is called a pad impression and will cause a brake pulsation.

This brake pulsation can be fixed very easily by having your rotors resurfaced or just replacing your rotors. In order to resurface your rotors, the rotors need to be thick enough, every rotor has a minimum spec, and the spec is usually stamped on the rotor near the hub where the lug nuts are. The rotor needs to be measured at the thinnest point with a micrometer or vernier caliper to determine if can be resurfaced or not.

Click the link for more information on How to Replace brake Pads

If your whole car shakes when your brakes are applied, it could be just your rear brakes. If you have rear drum brakes, and you need to determine if your rear brakes are the problem, all you need to do is to isolate them. One way to isolate your rear drum brakes is to apply the parking brake slightly while driving. (Note; I don’t recommend pulling up on the emergency brake handle at high speeds, it can cause your rear brakes to lock up and send the vehicle into a spin causing death or serious injury!)

If you emergency brake handle is near the center console and it is the style that you pull up with your hand, you’re in luck. Test drive your car in a remote location with no traffic at a speed of about 30 mph, push and hold the release button on the end of the emergency brake handle, (this is so the emergency brake does not lock into place and can be released easily) pull up on the handle just enough to feel the rear brakes grab slightly. If your rear drums are the cause of the brake pulsation, you will feel it at this time, and the car will shake when the emergency brake is applied. If this is your problem, then the fix is to resurface the rear drums or replace them. Again, you will have to measure the drums to determine if they are salvageable or not.

If you have rear disc brakes, this procedure may not work because some makes and models have a separate emergency brake. In other words, it does not use the rear rotor and caliper for the emergency brake, they will usually use the inside of the rear rotors where there is a drum with a separate braking system. If that didn’t confuse you, you’re doing all right. If you have this type of rear braking system, it is almost impossible to isolate the rear brakes.

A soft brake pedal is not something to pass off as a minor brake issue. If your car has a soft brake pedal or a brake pedal that sinks to the floor, you have a dangerous situation and your car should NOT be driven! When the brake pedal gets soft or sinks to the floor, the most common problem is the master cylinder leaking internally or externally, or you could just have a leak in the braking system.

The first thing you should do is check your brake fluid, if the brake fluid reservoir is full and there are no signs of leaks, the problem is usually an internal problem that you can’t identify just by looking at the master cylinder. A master cylinder will fail in two ways, one is internal and the other is external. If you have an external leak, it will be visible and it will leak inside your car, usually you can see it drip down on the carpet just over your brake pedal. Grab a flashlight and check for a leak under your dash near the brake pedal.

The only fix I recommend for a faulty master cylinder is to replace it with a new one. I wouldn’t waste your time trying to rebuild it, you will only risk time, and time is very valuable. The master cylinder is a very vital component in your car; leave it to the pro’s to rebuild them. You wouldn’t pack your own parachute on your first jump? Would you?

If every time you apply you brakes, your brake pedal pulses up and down, the problem is usually caused by the rotors being warped or out of true. As rotors age, they go through the heating and cooling process thousands of times. It’s inevitable for them to lose their shape or trueness. If you do a lot of highway driving and you happen to be hard on your brakes, you will probably run into this problem many times in the life of your car.

The fix for this brake problem is very simple but will cost a few bucks. Your mechanic will recommend resurfacing the rotors if the rotors have enough thick enough, or recommend replacing the rotors if they are too thin. If you do either of these processes, and your brake pads are more than half worn, it’s worth it to just replace the pads at the same time for the peace of mind it will give you.

A car that pulls to one side can be annoying and dangerous. This braking problem can be cause by a few different things. The most common cause of pulling when braking is a frozen caliper. There a several different ways a caliper could freeze up, and the process is slow and can go unnoticed for a long period of time.

One way a caliper can freeze up is by the piston being stuck in its bore. If the piston on the caliper is stuck, and you cannot push it back into its bore easily, this will cause a pull because the fluid cannot move the piston freely causing uneven pressure at the pads, if this is the case, you will need to replace the caliper. Usually the dust boot that protects the piston from the elements is torn and water and debris will penetrate the metal in the caliper and cause rust and corrosion.

Another way the caliper can freeze up is if the caliper slide pins lose lubrication, if they are not maintained properly or possibly get bent during a brake job or a car accident. If the slide pins are bent and they don’t move freely, this would cause the caliper to bind and will limit the amount of pressure to the pads, if this sounds like your problem, then the slide pins need to be cleaned and lubricated or replaced. You can buy overhaul kit for calipers but they are hard to find and your caliper may not be worth bringing back to life. Buying a new caliper may cost you extra money up front but you will make up the cost with the time you save. Been there, done that!

A faulty proportioning valve or master cylinder could cause a pull to one side when braking. This would be very unusual but it does happen from time to time. Most braking system work on a diagonal braking design for safety reasons, In other words the LF and RR brakes work together and the RF and LR work together, if there happens to be a leak in one part of the system it will only effect one front brake and one rear brake. If that’s the case, replace the faulty part and be done with it.

Bad front tires or broken belts in a front tire could also cause a pull when braking. If your tires already cause a pull while driving, chances are, this will become amplified when braking. The tires contact surface when braking expands, thus putting more pressure on the bad tire and causing the pull to worsen. Replacing your tires will fix this, or you could try rotating your front tires to the rear of the vehicle. Rotating your front tires to the rear could actually kill two birds with one stone.

If you need to change your tires, I highly recommend checking out my article on Should I buy discount tires or spend the money?

Hopefully this information will help you determine if you mechanic is telling the truth and also help you avoid unnecessary up-sell. When you are in a crisis situation like a brake problem, some mechanics will take the opportunity to take advantage of the customer and over sell the work that really needs to be done. There are only about 9 evil mechanics in the world, they just move around a lot!

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