Brakes are among the most critical components in a vehicle. In order to ensure everyone’s safety, you need to make sure the brakes are always in the perfect working condition. Brake related issues aren’t always due to wear and tear. There is a lot that can go wrong and cause the problem. Not knowing the reasons for car brake problems causes anxiety and panic.
To resolve all these concerns, we have compiled a list of common car brake problems and solutions. Let’s delve into the details.
Common Car Brake Problems and Solutions
The five most common types of car brake problems include:
- Soft brake pedal
- Car pulling to one side
- Shaking steering wheel when the brakes are applied
- Brake pedal pulsing up and down
- The entire car shakes when brakes are applied
Soft Brake Pedal Problem
Soft brake pedals are a major car brake issue. To identify if your car brake pedal has gone soft, step on the brake pedal and if it feels squishy, like you’ve stepped on a plum, and it does not stop on the way down unless you pump it – you are experiencing a soft brake pedal problem.
If the car brake pedal sinks down to the floor with very little or no resistance, it also means you have a soft brake pedal problem. This problem is not to be ignored, as soon as you realise your car’s brakes experience a soft brake pedal issue, stop driving immediately.
If you continue driving a car without a brake you can face a massive altercation.
The car brake pedal often gets soft or sinks to the floor, because of a braking system, most commonly this happens when the master cylinder leaks internally or externally.
The first thing to do here is to check your brake fluid. Go through the owner’s manual to see how.
There is an internal problem if the brake fluid reservoir is full with no signs of leaks. That said, you can’t identify this by just looking at the master cylinder. On the other hand, there is an external problem if you see brake fluid leaking on the carpet under the car dash.
Solution to soft brake pedal issues: Brake pedals are important components of your cars. In order to make sure they work properly, you must replace the faulty master cylinder with a new one.
Car Pulling to One Side
Other car brake issues include driving a car that pulls towards one side is extremely dangerous. This braking issue can be because of problems with tyres but usually it is a result of a frozen calliper.
Gradually, over a passage of time, a calliper can freeze. This process usually goes unnoticed. But to identify if this is a brake problem your car is facing, check if the calliper piston is stuck in its bore. If so, your car has a frozen calliper issue.
What happens after this usually is that the dust boot responsible to protect the piston from debris and water elements gets torn, as a result, water and debris penetrates the metal in the calliper, making it rusty and corroded. Moreover, when the piston gets stuck, the fluid pressure can’t push it back into the bore easily, as a result the pressure on the pads becomes uneven and the car pulls towards one side.
Solution to car pulling on one side: To fix this brake problem you will need to replace the calliper.
Steering Wheel Shakes
Another common car brake problem is that the steering wheel shakes when brakes are applied. This happens because of warped brake rotors. Brake rotors are smooth and flat surfaces on to which the brake pads are pressed down to reduce or halt the car’s movement.
However, continuous pressure on brake rotors without proper maintenance causes them to bend. When that happens, the brake pads don’t have a smooth surface to press against, causing your car steering wheel to shake. Read on for more details on bad brake pads.
Solution to steering wheel shakes: To fix this problem you should get the brake rotors replaced as soon as possible.
Brake Pedal Pulsation
If the brake pulses up and down each time you apply car brakes, it is because of warped brake motors. With the passage of time, brake rotors face the heating and cooling process several times and eventually lose their shape. If you drive on highways or prefer driving on high speeds, you will face this issue several times in your car’s lifetime.
Solution to the brake pedal pulsation problem: The fix for this brake problem, you can either try resurfacing the rotors, given they are still thick enough or you can replace them.
Entire Car Shakes When Brakes Are Applied
If your car shakes when the brakes are applied, it could be because of a problem in the rear brakes. When troubleshooting brake problems, always remember that shaking because of a problem in the car’s front end will be felt in the steering wheel and shaking in the rear usually affects the entire car.
To identify if there is a problem with the rear brakes, test them in isolation. You can test the car’s drum brakes in the rear by slightly applying the brake while driving, this is because the parking brake makes use of the rear drum brakes. You can conduct this test if the emergency brake handle is near the centre console and it is the one which is pulled or lifted up with your hands.
That said, do not pull the emergency brake up at high speeds, this can result in locking up the rear brakes, causing an uncontrollable car spin.
Be careful and do the test in some remote location with no traffic nearby. Push and hold the release button on the end of the emergency brake handle (this prevents the emergency brake from locking), in the meantime, pull up the handle just enough to feel the rear brakes grasp slightly.
If the reason behind the brake pulsation is your rear drums, you will feel the pulsation and the car will shake when the emergency brake is applied.
Solution to the entire car shaking problem: To fix this issue, you can either resurface the rear drums or replace them. Measure the drums to determine if they can be resurfaced or not.
Note: This process may not be effective for car makes that use a separate emergency brake, which is not connected to the rear rotor and calliper. With this type of rear braking system, it is not possible to isolate the rear brakes.
Those were some of the most common brake problems, once identified, try to fix them as soon as possible, because driving a car with brake problems is extremely dangerous.
Besides, if you feel your car faces brake issues and other car problems frequently, it may be because of your car’s age. Buying a used car for sale in the UAE makes a lot of sense in this scenario.
Stay tuned to your favourite auto blog for more on everything about cars.
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