Your vehicles braking system will eventually wear down on you. When this happens, your brakes will not function at their full capacity, and in some cases may become dangerous. By reading this article, you should be able to gain some valuable tips to help avoid facing dangerous brake issues.

When should you have your vehicles brakes inspected? We here at www.GotEngines.com recommend you have your brakes inspected once a year or every 10,000 miles. Although once a year or every 10,000 miles is recommended, the wear on your brakes has a lot to do with things like how you stop your vehicles, if your “ride” your brakes, the age of your vehicle, the actual type of brakes you have, whether you live in Iowa with a bunch of hills or in Florida where the land is flat, if you drive on highway a lot or just in the city, and several other factors. Your mechanic or a qualified repair shop would most likely be able to give you a more precise idea of what your inspection schedule should be.

How to do an under the hood inspection First you want to check your brake fluid level in the master brake cylinder reservoir. If it’s getting a little low, make sure to top it off with a little more brake fluid. Be careful not to let get dust or dirt in the reservoir, this can cause problems with your brake system. If you need to put more than 2 ounces of fluid in the reservoir frequently, there is a very good chance you have a leak somewhere in your brake system.

Also, when checking the fluid levels, make sure the brake fluid is clear. If it is dark in any way, it’s probably time to have your brake fluid replaced.

Brake System warnings when driving your vehicle This may seem like common sense, but to make sure we hit all the main points, I want to mention an extreme warning…When the brake pedal gets noticeably loose or starts hitting the floor, there is a good chance there is a leak in the braking system or the brake fluid level is getting low and needs to be refilled.

If you feel vibrations on the brake pedal or the steering wheel…your brake pads, rotors, brake shoes, or drums most likely need to be either replaced or resurfaced.

If you hear metal to metal or a scrapping sound, you need to get your care into a good mechanic ASAP! Chances are your rotors are grinding, and left alone, this could cost you a fortune compared to just replacing your pads.

Note: A light squeal coming from your brakes is usually normal, especially when the car is cold or the brakes are new.

Inspecting your car from underneath Check the brake lines (these are metal and run all the way from front to back) and the rubber hoses delivering the brake fluid to the brake calipers. Make sure the brake lines and the rubber hoses are not damaged in any way and check to make sure they are not in the way of any moving parts or heat producing parts.

Disc Brake Inspection With disc brake systems you will notice wear on the brake pads, rotors (discs), calipers (more specifically the pistons inside of them)

Check the rotors and the brake pads, and make sure the piston inside the caliper is performing properly. If the brake pads and rotors don’t show a lot of wear, you’re most likely in the clear. If your brake pads are running pretty thin and have a lot of wear they should probably be replaced. As far as the rotors…if they have minimal wear they can be replaced or resurfaced, but if the rotors have excessesive wear should be definitely be replaced.

If you have some minimal scratches on your brake pads or rotors you’ve probably got some kind of dirt stuck between them. This usually isn’t a big problem. Just buy some brake cleaner and follow the directions. However, if the rotors have deep scratches or gouges, you should buy new ones or have them resurfaced.

Drum Brakes On drum brakes you’ll need to keep an eye on the brake shoes, drums, and wheel cylinders.

For inspection, you first want to take off the drum so you can see inside. Check to make sure inside of the drum doesn’t have any damage done to it. If you see any brake dust just buy some brake cleaner and follow the instructions. Some people buy the brake cleaner ahead of time knowing that their will be some residue to be wiped away.

If there are a lot of scratches in the drum, you should replace both drums. A problem in the wheel cylinder can cause leaking (brake fluid) from the sides (this is where the metal meets with the rubber).

Attention: Always take precaution when working on your brake system. Be very careful not to inhale any brake dust. To be safe, we recommend wearing some type of protection mask to make sure you don’t inhale anything harmful.

We recommend checking the radiator and catalytic converter while you are undertaking a brake job based on convenience.

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