|
Brake Services
|
| |
|
|
When do your brakes need service?
|
|
| |
|
Well, they should be serviced before they won't stop your vehicle anymore, that's for sure!
| |
|
|
About Your Braking System:
|
|
| |
|
Today's braking systems are composed of a number of parts that all work together to ensure that your vehicle stops properly.
"The parts that make up your vehicle's brake system wear down over time and eventually need to be replaced. The most common brake repair is to replace your brake pads (or shoes)."
| |
Most brake systems work this way: when you depress the brake pedal, you are telling the master cylinder to compress brake fluid, which in turn sends hydraulic pressure through brake lines to each set of brakes at the wheels, and that activates your vehicle's brake pads (or shoes). These pads (or shoes) then make contact with spinning rotors (or drums), slowing down or stopping the vehicle. There are more complicated systems that use sensors to activate the braking system, but the effect (stopping the vehicle) is the same.
So, how often you need to get brake service depends on the type of driving you do! City drivers need it more often than someone who does most of their driving on an interstate.
The parts that make up your vehicle's brake system wear down over time and eventually need to be replaced. The most common brake repair is to replace your brake pads (or shoes). Regardless of what they are made of, brake pads wear each time you depress the brake pedal, that's how the create the friction that stops the vehicle.If your brake pads are allowed to wear down too much without regular replacement, the metal backing that holds the pads will make contact with the brake's metal rotors (or drums), which can produce not only a safety issue of braking effectiveness, but a situation where the increased wear on the rotors/drums means they need to be replaced as a result of the prolonged contact of metal parts without the pad as a buffer.
| |
|
|
When is it time for brake service?
|
|
|
| |
|
There are several warning signs that your vehicle's braking system can give you
before it reaches the point of 1) potential failure or 2) additional repair.
Using your senses of sight and touch, as well as the best indicator, listening, may alert you to a looming problem. Some common questions you should be asking yourself when you look over your vehicle's brake system:
- Does your brake system's warning light come on when you are driving?
- (Whether you are braking or not) Does your vehicle steer or pull to one side when braking?
- Do you hear a grinding or squealing sound when you push the brake pedal?
- Do you feel a "pulsing" or does your pedal feel "Spongy" when it is depressed?
|
These are common signs, but not the only ones, that suggest a possible brake system problem you should take action on. Any other sights, sounds or sensations in the brake system that seem out of the ordinary, or you haven't noticed before, should also be taken into consideration. Remember, brakes that work might be wearing themselves down, so it's doubtful any brake problem will get better if left alone, and this is your primary safety system on the vehicle!
|
|
Our technicians at Heather Cannon Honda are trained to service today's complex brake systems, and work on more than just Hondas. They inspect your vehicle's braking system, and can let you know that it working the way it's designed to, or they will diagnose the problem or problems, and give you suggestions and an estimate for repair.
|
|
|
