Feel free to pass this on it might save someones life.

Everett

I have a Cad. Fleetwood, 8 Cylinder, 4-2 lit. has soft (swishhy) Brake pedal and both the brake and the antilock brake light comes one only when the brakes are applied–and does not stay on.

The brake fluid was low but the problem persists even after the fluid was full. There is no visible leakage anywhere that I can see..

Hey there

You could have a bad brake master cylinder, but you better get a mechanic to check it out first before you just replace it as a guess….its kinda a pricey guess. I would also pull the wheels off and check all the brake parts for brake fluid leaks or wear.

I have a question regarding noises coming from my car when braking.

I am a relatively new driver and I recently had a new power steering rack put into my car. Since then, I have noticed a clunking sound on the front left hand side of the car when I brake.

It doesn’t happen all the time, mostly when I have to brake suddenly or when I am braking & turning or going in/out of driveways and over speed bumps.

I am not too sure what it could be and have had a mechanic look at it but he said that all seems fine and it could just be my brake calipers? Should i seek a second opinion or is this a common thing??

Thanks

Cheyenne

Hi Cheyenne

I think I would get a second opinion, or at least get another mechanic to take a test drive with you and hear the noise you are considered with. If you were at my shop I would at least remove the TWO front wheels and recheck the brakes and the rack installation.

The brake caliper could be loose or the anti rattle clips on the brake pads could have broken or come loose causing the brake pads to move and make noise.

I don’t think you have a safety issue (at least not from what you mentioned in your email) but I would be concerned about a possible premature brake pad wear problem if left unattended.

Blessings,

Austin Davis

Replaced rotor and caliper on rear. ABS light is off at turn on. When you move a few feet forward the ABS light comes on. Also when you turn left or right after braking a grunting noise is emitted from the rear passenger side wheel housing. Please advise on both situations
Thanks Alan

Hey there Alan

I would first start with reading the ABS computer codes and see what codes are being stored in memory. I have seen MANY rear ABS sensor failures on Explorer type vehicles, so that would be a cheap “guess”.

I am not sure about your noise, if it was not there before you installed the pads and rotors, I would say you created it and should triple check your installation and the clearance/drag on the rear brakes against the rotor. You might have to true the new rotor if the pads are not smooth against the rotor surface.
Blessings,
Austin Davis

Reader Follow Up

Dear Austin
Thank you for all the help. I went ahead and talked with a local mechanic. He informed me that I have a limited slip differential in the 1999 Mountaineer.

This limited slip differential is lubricated with an additive prescribed by ford and synthetic gear oil 75W140. Long story short replace gear oil in rear differential and “NOISE AWAY”.
Sincerely
Alan

I have a 1998 Pontiac Grand Am SE with the 2.4L engine. I have replaced my brake rotors 3 or 4 times now and they start warping after about a month (2000 miles).

The set that was on the car lasted for about 6 months and now they don’t seen to last. The rotors that I have put on are Bendix. I have a torque wrench and have been torqueing the wheels to 100 foot pounds (steel wheels) and it keeps happening.

When I first got the car I rotated the tires and the brakes were fine for about 6 months, they seemed to go bad after I did a brake inspection at school (the wheels were torqued there too) and since then they have been a problem. I drive almost all highway miles (100 miles a day) so I am not sure why this is happening.

Any ideas of what I can check? Or maybe have checked?

Thanks

Scott

Hi there Scott,

Brake rotors warp because of excess heat that is placed on them that causes expansion then the rotor comes in contact with water that is on the road…which causes contraction. This expansion and contraction is what warps the rotor. I would rule out the possibility that the front brake calipers are too tight causing the brake pads to drag on the rotor as you drive.

I would also replace the brake pads with pads that have a vent or grove cut in them so the heat caused by normal braking can escape between the pads and the rotor surface. You can cut your own grove in the pad if you can not find any with groves already in them. You should also make sure you are using a vented rotor, if not see if you can buy vented rotors.

They will be made of two pieces of metal with a space/vent where the two pieces of metal meet….this will remove heat as well. Some high performance rotors will have holes in the rotor surface to remove more heat and improve braking.

Blessings,

Austin Davis

Hi there
A 2006 model with 21,000 miles????

I think I would get a second opinion from another shop. I would NOT expect your rear brakes to need replacing at this mileage interval unless something was wrong. The rear brakes should last about 50,000 miles…maybe more if you drive mostly highway miles.

Even the front brakes…..I am surprised that you need new brakes in the front (front brakes do all the stopping power so they wear out twice as fast as the rear brakes) at this mileage as well, something does not sound right to me. I am suspicious.

I would expect you to pay about $500-600 depending on the labor rates of the shop…this is a very easy repair! I would however suggest you use genuine Lexus pads just to reduce noise issues related to cheap non Lexus pads. I hope the new pads last longer than these did though.

If you truly do need all 4 wheel brakes replaced I would be highly suspect of a two footed driver…resting one foot on the brake while the car is in motion.

You ran though those brakes twice as fast as would be expected. This MIGHT be a warranty issue…..I would definitely push them to look into this if you are certain you are not a two footed driver…something is wrong and will surely happen again.

Keep me posted will you?

Blessings,

Austin Davis

Hello, I have a 1997 Nissan pickup and whenever I seem to turn to the right the driver side front brake makes a squalling sound. Its starting to bug me now. When I put the brakes on the sound seems to go away.

Like the site!

Hey there,

You are probably due for a brake job. I don’t know why turning the wheel has anything to do with the noise it could just be coincidental. There are small “wear indicators” that are attached to the brake pad itself and is designed to give off a high pitched squeal when the brake pads wear down to the indicator level.

When you step on the brake, you basically force the wear indicator into the brake rotor so it can not vibrate and make the squeal noise. So, get a brake inspection before you do damage to the brake rotor….that is the part the brake pads grab onto to stop the vehicle.

Blessings,

Austin Davis

The Chevron station is pricey but I know the owner and his workers very well. I picked up the car and paid the fees. I was leaving for a long trip on the next day and heard a high pitch squeal when I put on my brakes. Since the brake check box had been checked as “okay–no problem” I was upset.

I took the car right back and was told the mechanic was a day old and had not done the work. New brake parts were put in. Well, I have a high pitch squeal, a tremulous brake pedal, and now a grinding sound when I slowly put on the brake from an almost stopped position.

I took the car back for the 4th time today. The mechanic tells me the noise is because of rubber “grommets” that are used to attach something to an A-frame. Yes, I have no idea if I have these words right! He said nothing can be done about these except maybe some WD-40. Huh? Is he giving me the run-around? Is my car safe to drive?

Help! a tired teacher…Deb

Hi there teacher Deb,

So they DID replace the front brake pads, correct?

My concern would be that they installed the wrong type of brake pad. Toyota vehicles can be super sensitive to non Toyota brand brake pads, so if they installed an after market pad, which I bet they did….I would first replace those pads with genuine Toyota brake pads and see what happens.

The grinding and high pitched squeal is probably due to the non Toyota pads, but I do not understand the “tremendous brake pedal” complaint you mentioned. This could be due to the wrong TYPE of brake pad being installed.

Some vehicles require a semi metallic brake pad, and some use a softer “organic” (a softer pad does not contain metallic shavings) brake pad material. If you install a semi metallic brake pad on a vehicle designed for organic or non semi metallic brake pads you will have a grinding noise and lack of stopping power complaint.

So in summary, try Toyota brake pads first before you do anything. I would also recommend they resurface the front brake rotors as well to make them smooth again.

This is done by removing a small amount of material from the brake rotor with a brake lathe machine, and is part of a brake job anyway so make sure they did that. I don’t think you have anything wrong with your bushings or needing WD-40…since you did not have these complaints before the brake work.

Here is an article I wrote about this issue Brake Service

Blessings,

Austin Davis

The car have now 83000km on but it has been replaced like 8 times already. Surely there must be something else wrong, I have once almost crashed due to steering wheel vibration and nearly lost control, seems like Peugeot is not to interested but just replace it every time.

I believe there is something else wrong and it had been confirmed by there technicians that it warps, but why and why so frequently?

I have not went into any water, washed the car when it was hot, it did not rain, I made a point of eliminating these and it still happened again, please can you help?

Kind Regards
Jaco

Hey there Jaco,

There must be excessive heat building up in the front brakes from somewhere. A few items I would check/try would be:

1. Check the front brake calipers to make sure they are not sticking causing the brake pads to stay engaged on the rotor

2.Try a different brand of front brake pads. They do make some high performance brake pads that have grooves cut in them to help remove the heat build up between the rotor and the brake pad. You might want to see if these pads are available for your vehicle. Your local auto parts store should be able to order them for you.

3.They make high performance brake rotors as well that have small holes in them so the heat caused by friction can escape easier.

4.Make sure you are not driving two footed…one foot resting on the brake pedal.

5. Make sure Peugeot is REPLACING the rotors not just machining (truing) your rotors. Each time a rotor is trued, or machined a thin layer of the metal is shaved off to make the rotor surface smooth again. This makes the rotor thinner and more likely to warp easier.

6. Don’t use brake dust shields. They make metal shields you can install behind the front wheel to help keep the brake dust from sticking to the outside of the wheel. They keep your wheels clean looking but they do not allow heat to escape from the rotor, so the rotor can overheat and warp easily.

Hope this helps

Blessings,

Austin Davis

Thanks I had been in touch with you with regards to my brake issue. I have learnt to adjust my driving based on my capabilities of my brake.

I was away for 2 months (May, June) — and my 2003 Honda Civic was in my parking lot. When I returned back, everything seems to be fine, but for the last 1 month (July, till now) — whenever I try to stop my car applying brakes, I get a mild repetitive “thud thud thud” noise that slows as the car stops.

I don’t know if it is coming from the front or rear of the card. This happens all the time whenever I apply brakes to stop the car. Could you please throw some insight in this?

The car has 53,000 miles on it right now.

Thanks,
Vic

Yo Vic,

This is most likely caused by your front brake rotors are out of round just slightly and need to be resurfaced or replaced. The front brake pads are pulsating in and out because the brake rotor has a small high spot on it causing the brake pads to pulsate. You can probably feel this pulsation in the brake pedal or in the steering wheel as well…usually.

I would inspect the front brake rotors and front brake pads and at least resurface the front brake rotors.

You can rule out the rear brakes as the culprit by stopping the car just using the hand brake. In a deserted parking lot with no other vehicles behind you, at 30 MPH, slowly pull up on the hand brake (hold the release button down with your thumb to make a slow and gradual stop) until the vehicle stops. The hand brake only utilizes the rear brakes so if you do not hear the noise, the problem is likely to be caused by the front brakes.

Blessings,

Austin Davis

Reader Follow Up

Hello Austin,

Thanks for your quick response. Got three questions.

1. What happens if I do not know that the rotors need to be resurfaced, and continue to drive? will it become a bigger problem down the line?
Austin- It will only get worse and might contribute to premature brake pad wear

2. I aligned my wheels when the car had 45,000 miles on Aug 2006. I replaced all tires in Feb 2007, now the car has 55,000 miles on it. Should I need to align it again? How often should I perform wheel alignment as a thumb rule?

Austin – Hard question to answer, personally I do an alignment anytime there are new tires installed…just to make sure an out of aligned vehicle does not void your tire warranty or cause premature tire wear.

Depending on where you live, me in Houston…you could probably get an alignment every month with all our pot holes! Once a year should be fine for the average driver doing 12K miles a year. It won’t hurt to align more often

3. How do I know when to replace shocks and struts? Do they contribute to tread wear?

Austin – They do not contribute to tire wear unless they are bent due to a collision or major impact with a pot hole, when the ride of the vehicle becomes bouncy or you don’t feel the tight response from the steering during cornering or braking, it might be time for replacement.

They are a great sales item…..so don’t get “sold” into replacing them unless you feel the vehicle RIDE performance is not what it once was. With 55K I would not expect them to need replacement

Thanks
Vic
Not a problem
Austin