The Signs Your Car Needs A Brake Repair Job | Gretna, LA
Your car’s brakes are like a good offensive line: you don’t notice them until they start having problems. Unfortunately, just like a good offensive line, age and wear will catch up to your brakes eventually. That’s why knowing the signs that you need brake repairs are so critical to the health and safety of your car.
When it comes to your brakes, what you don’t know can and will hurt you. If you miss the signs of problem brakes, you’re likely to cause a lot of damage to your car’s braking system. Skip the obvious signs, and by the time you bring your car in for auto repairs in Gretna, LA, you’re going to end up paying a lot more to fix and replace your brakes than you would if you’d caught the issue early.
Before you get to that point, it’s important to know the signs of braking issues. Learn what you need to look for here!
Squeaking or Squealing From Your Brakes
Modern brakes aren’t meant to make noise when you stop. In fact, modern cars are so quiet on almost anything that when there’s a noise from the car, it’s almost always a bad thing. Your braking system is no different, as your brake pads might have worn down to the point where the pad is making contact with the rotor.
That’s a worst-case scenario, but it’s not the only scenario in play here. Your pads are designed to squeal when anything is wrong with the brakes, so your brake repair job might be as simple as removing a foreign object that got lodged in your braking system. However, there isn’t any way to know without consulting a brake repair expert in Gretna, LA, and having them take a look. Because of that, you should take all squeals from your brakes seriously and consult an expert as soon as you hear any weird noise.
Grinding Noises When You Brake
If you’re hearing grinding noises from your braking system, that usually means metal-on-metal is occurring when you hit the brake pedal. That’s a real problem because when your brakes contact the calipers or rotors in a metal-on-metal situation, you’re slowly causing damage to the whole system. The longer it goes on, the more damage you’ll do, and you might end up having to replace the braking system entirely.
As you might expect, that can be very costly and knock your car out of commission until the job is complete. That’s why it’s so important to bring your car in for brake repair as soon as you hear a grinding sound. Hearing a grinding noise isn’t ever a good thing, but at least you can minimize the damage if you take your car in as soon as you hear something untoward. Whenever you hear grinding from your brakes, don’t wait for the problem to get worse.
Slower Response Times From Your Brakes
Your braking system depends on friction to bring the car to a complete stop. Unfortunately, the friction causes heat, and over time, hard braking can cause components of your braking system to melt down and no longer operate efficiently. When that happens, you won’t stop as quickly as you used to, and if you do that on the wrong road, you’re looking at a costly accident.
It’s important for you to understand just how long it should take for you to stop your car in any situation. If a stop feels like it’s taking an extra amount of time, it’s a good idea to talk to an expert about brake repair. It might just be your imagination, but it’s most likely a serious problem with your braking system that needs to be addressed. Consulting a brake repair expert is the surest and safest way to find out for certain.
The Car Vibrates When You Brake
Remember, the friction that your vehicle depends on to stop safely causes heat inside your brakes. That’s not just a problem for your car’s braking time; it can also cause your car to shake and vibrate when you hit the brake pedal.
Why might this take place? Your brake pads are held in place with resin, and resin can start to melt when it reaches sustained temperatures of around 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Usually, your brakes won’t get anywhere near that hot in ideal conditions, but as we know, not every stop is made in ideal conditions. That means that over time, the resin can melt slightly, forming a less-even film on the rotor. When that happens, the lack of uniformity means your car might start to shake when you brake.
If you’ve noticed vibrations when you hit the brakes, you should know that’s not normal. Before anything happens, it’s important to call in a brake repair expert.
Soft, Spongy Brakes
Any car expert will tell you that soft, spongy brakes are a sign that you need to consider brake repair right away. Why can spongy brakes cause problems for your car when you’re driving? Simple: spongy brakes are a sign that air has gotten into your braking system. Your car’s brakes depend on fluid, and when the proper amount of fluid isn’t present, your car can’t create enough hydraulic pressure for you to stop safely.
In a situation where you need to slam on your brakes, it’s even worse. That’s because hard braking requires even more hydraulic pressure to stop safely, and if your brakes feel soft when you hit the pedal, you’ll be nowhere close to the amount of pressure you need. If your pedals go all the way to the floor, you need to consider repairs immediately.
When something goes wrong with your brakes in Gretna, LA, it’s time to bring the car to Mr. Mechanic Auto Care. Trust our brake repair experts to make full repairs and get your vehicle back on the road with a safe, reliable braking system; contact our team today!
