Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with car and brakes

Lead Foot Equall/Not Equall Need Brake Job

Liver — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:35:49 -0800

Theoretical brake wear: Do brake pads wear out faster, slower, or at the same rate if you brake later and harder than normal? Let's say you have two drivers, Alice and Bill, each with their own identical car.

Let's say Alice is a professional race car driver and Bill is a normal vanilla defensive driver. Alice drives her regular car at legal speeds on the open road, but because of her professional skill and training, tends to brake much later and with greater foot pressure than Bill would making the same journey.

For instance, while traveling 60 MPH, they both see an approaching red light. Bill applies the break gradually and takes 1000 ft to come to a stop. Alice doesn't apply the break until she is closer to the light, and applies more foot pressure, coming to a stop in 500 ft.

Over the long run, does Alice need new brake pads before Bill, or do they both need new brake pads at roughly the same time?

I can see it going either way. Either Alice needs pads sooner because she brakes harder, applying more force to the pads, or Alice and Bill both wear pads at the same rate, because they are doing the same amount brake use, only with different short-term usage patterns.

Or maybe I'm missing something entirely and you can help me understand.

Extending the life of my car brakes.

SoulOnIce — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:51:13 -0800

If I want to extend the life of the brakes on my car, how should I drive the hill close to my house? My subdivision sits right off a semi-major street. Approaching it from the east, the road is pretty flat, but then there is a 30 degree decline that goes on for about 150 yards, then the road levels out for around 50 yards at which point you'd turn right into the subdivision. If I want to preserve the life of brakes on my car for as long as possible should I (1) coast down the hill to the bottom, then apply the brakes firmly until I get to a safe speed in order to turn into the subdivision or (2) apply the brakes as I go down the hill, let up a little when we hit level ground (maybe even apply the gas a little if I slowed down too much) then brake as normal to take the right turn?

I know there a lots of variables that can affect things, but just in general, what is the best approach?

For the love of the Subaru!

Cold Lurkey — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:50:54 -0800

Are there any preventative measures, leaving aside driving the car every day, that will prevent my brakes from rusting like mad? So the dear Subaru wagon has gone into the shop to get what, originally, I thought, was at least one rear brake caliper replaced... Actually, it's the whole rear brake shooting match (rotors, brakes, calipers) that needs to be replaced. The shop-guy barely contained his astonishment.
The formula, as I see it, that led to this fairly pricey repair is the following:
A 1993 Subaru, driven ~100 miles a month, sits idle on Chicago streets otherwise... pining... + most of its driving, and certainly all of its sitting time is during the winter, when all the road surfaces are extremely salted down and thus when she's not sitting, pining, she's careening through a corrosive bath, however joyously. All this sitting, plus corrosive moisture = completely rusted brakes.
Aside from driving the damn thing more regularly –which I'll try to do, but that's essentially a lifestyle issue– is there any other tip or best practice that you can recommend for to prevent this infernal corrosion? for this or for any other car?
–there is another car in the household but it is but a honda, and I care not for it like I do the Subaru. The honda also has the sitting issue, and has started to get the brake wubbies.

My brakes make a weird noise. What's the deal?

spaltavian — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:44:55 -0800

[Autofilter] My brakes make a grinding sound when I first start driving. After I use the brakes several times, usually after 5-10 minutes of driving (sometimes more), they're back to normal. In addition to the grinding sound, it's much harder to push down on the brake- this also disappears after using my brakes enough. What's up? Almost two months ago, I had my brakes serviced and looked at. I got new brake pads, replaced (some, not all) rotors, etc. I got all the work they recommended done. My brakes were better than ever, until this problem started (probably two weeks ago). Once my brakes stop grinding, they are just as good as when I first got the work done. I have no idea if that has anything to do with it.

I'm of course going to have my car looked at, (I'm sure I'm killing my car or something) but I want to know what to expect. I was guessing something regarding my brake fluid being the issue, but I know nothing about cars so that's probably stupid.

The car is a 2000 Mercury Sable with about 78,000 on it.

Can I drive with a malfunctioning ABS?

Dilemma — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:04:59 -0800

Is it dangerous and/or damaging to my car to drive with a malfunctioning ABS module? I have a 2000 VW Beetle. Several months ago my brake pedal started making "sproingy" noises and sort of jerking/kicking back when I braked at slow (10 mph) speeds. I took it to the dealership and they replaced one of the ABS wheel sensors, and told me that if the problem continued I would probably have to replace the whole ABS module. It's still doing it, but over the last couple of weeks it has been getting much worse and more regular. The brakes seem to be working fine, but it's unnerving and annoying to have my car making noises and jerking every time I come to a stop. With 75,000 miles on it, I'm reluctant to keep pouring money into my car, especially the ~$1,500 it will cost to replace the ABS. Is this something I can just ignore?

No really, I want to skid.

Netzapper — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:17:20 -0800

RaceCarFilter: I'm speccing out my rally car. What do I do about brakes? I'm building a rally car from a turn of the century Toyota Celica, one of the cheap trims--not the turbo version. I've tracked down the perfect adjustable coilover suspension. Now, I need adjustable brakes. And to disable ABS.

I have literally no idea what part I'm looking for to accomplish this. A race-specific master cylinder? A complete new brake system? A widget that I must fabricate?

Ideally, I want to be able to adjust the brake bias (fore/rear) without tools, from somewhere under the hood (it must not be adjustable from the cockpit). Failing that, or if such a thing is more than a couple grand, I'd be content with being able to adjust it in the garage--even by swapping out parts, I guess.

Also, how do I disable ABS in the cheapest, most reversible way? Do I just pull the leads to the ABS computer or to the hydraulic actuators? Will it squawk when I plug it back in? If the ABS is on, will it play nice with my adjustable bias? (As a bonus to the Celica application, how would I kill ABS on a Subaru?)

How to free a stuck brake piston?

sergeant sandwich — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:28:57 -0800

Car-repair-filter: Any mechanics got a trick for freeing a stuck brake piston? So I decide to replace my brake pads this afternoon. I do 3 sets and everything's fine. When I get to the last wheel though, the pads are worn way down, and one of the two pistons on the caliper is funny looking. (I couldn't tell you how it was funny, it just looked odd, for some reason I can't put my finger on.)

Anyway I pull the old pads, grease the shims, slap the new ones in there, and get to the part where you have to push the pistons back into the caliper. The first one went in fine, but the funny-looking one only went in about halfway, and wouldn't go any further.

I tried using a C-clamp and some cardboard to push it in, and opening up the bleeder valve, but the thing still wouldn't budge. So, it's stuck, somehow, probably cocked sideways in its hole. I put the old pads back on (cause the new ones wouldn't fit in the half-open caliper), bled the lines and it drives fine.

I understand that I'm probably looking at doing a caliper rebuild (blahhh), but I'm wondering if there are any trick-up-the-sleeve kind of things that might allow me to free the piston without taking the damned thing apart. If it matters, this is a 1997 Toyota Supra, ABS, two-piston front discs. Thanks!

PT Cruiser owner regrets purchase, wants to improve the car he can't afford to dump

mccarty.tim — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:43:56 -0800

I'm an ignorant person when it comes to cars, so this is a pretty dumb question. I own a 2007 PT Cruiser which has no anti-lock brakes. It skids like crazy, and got me into a minor accident. Is there any way I can get add anti-lock breaks to it? My mom's friends told her that the best way to buy a car was to get an auction proxy, so we went to an auction lot to go car shopping. We were intending to get a compact Japanese car with decent milage. However, the proxy talked us into getting a 2007 PT Cruiser which was $9000 on the lot. I was no fan of the aesthetics of the Cruiser, but I did like the interior space and the fact that the proxy pitched it as being 28 MPG (A good but not great amount. Turns out he was mistaken, it gets 20). We rushed to bid on it, and the next day we got it, only to discover it was a cheap model with no antilock brakes. I don't blame the proxy for this, he was as surprised as we were, and I really don't think this is in the spirit of false advertising. It's just the nature of auctions, it's fast paced and you don't get to test drive the car, and I had no prior knowledge of how a PT Cruiser drives.

I'm no good at threshold braking and recently skidded into a guardrail because a guy behind me in a huge truck was tailgating me at a high speed. It was scary, and it took two weeks to get it repaired, but insurance paid for it, and I was okay. I now know I should have taken that turn slower, or let the guy in the pickup hit me.

The guy at the repair shop says the brakes are pristine, so I can't blame it on old brake pads. The mechanic did remark he got 3 PT Cruisers who got into the exact same type of wreck.

This brings me to my question. I would love to trade in the PT Cruiser for something that I can afford to buy gas for and with good enough brakes to handle the curvy roads in my town. However, it seems to be outside of my means to do so. Would it be possible to augment the car with an antilock braking system? Or if not, is there a good, safe way to learn how to threshold brake?

Thanks for your help, guys.

Pads Shriek Only AFTER The Brake Job

jimmyjimjim — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:23:23 -0800

I took my 04 Camry in for a brake job. Rotors were warped, pads were fine (they weren't making a sound). The mechanic replaced pads and rotors. I paid hundreds of dollars. Now, 200 miles after the work, my pads are shrieking. Can anyone think of why this might happen?

When my taillights are on, my brake lights don't work. How to fix?

k7lim — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 20:06:50 -0800

While my taillights are off, my brake lights work just fine. When they are on, my left one goes out. How can I fix this? I'm driving a mid 80's Volvo. My car uses the same bulb for taillight and brake-light. Basically, while my taillights are supposed to be on, and I step on the brakes, that entire bulb turns off (on the left side). Head/Tail lights switched OFF, foot ON the brake, brake light is illuminated. (as it should be)

Head/Tail lights switched ON, foot off the brake, tail light is illuminated. (as it should be)

Head/Tail lights switched ON, foot ON the brake, tail/brake light bulb is out. (broken!)

working on a car - on a gravel driveway

bigmusic — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:59:17 -0800

I want to do minor maintenance on my cars (oil changes, brake checks, and so on), but I don't have a garage to do it in or a concrete driveway. All I have is a gravel / dirt driveway to work on. I would like to jack up my cars (and put them on jack stands), but I'm not comfortable at all doing it on this kind of surface. How can I do this without putting myself in harms way? I've thought about using pieces of plywood to put the jack stands on and chocking the rear tires - would this work or is there a better way?

Gimme brakes

dancinglamb — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:33:18 -0800

Teach me the best way to drive to save my brakes I just had to replace the front brake pads -- for the second time -- on my beloved '05 Volvo XC90. It has just a hair over 37,000 miles on it. When I asked what the deal was in having to replace the pads again so recently (they were fully replaced at about 12-14k), the service guy commented that a lot of it has to do with 'how a person drives, where they drive, and what's in the car when they're driving'.

Any truth to this? For the record, I do mostly "Mom driving" (stop and go, 20-45pmh) around town, although it's not unusual for me to do longer runs on weekends on highways at higher ( consistent, 65-75mph) speeds. With regard to what's in the car, well, mostly, me, two little kids, sometimes a couple dogs, etc. It's not like I'm hauling anything truly interesting. It's a no-brainer that it's the stop and go nonsense that's killing me and my brakes. But at over $500 a pop, I need suggestions on how to make these babies last.

FixMyBrakesFilter

Alterscape — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 09:27:00 -0800

I need to find a reliable auto repair shop in Tempe/Phoenix AZ for some brake work. My brakes are making icky noises. I've previously done 90% of my car maintenance myself, but that was when I lived near my father and had ready access to a shop full of tools and several decades of accumulated experience. When we couldn't fix it, we'd take it to a small, locally-owned garage who's service people my father trusted.

I'm now 2100 miles away from there and I just want to fix the problem. I'm relatively certain I know what the problem is and how much it should cost (in terms of parts) to fix. However, I have exactly zero experience finding and selecting repair shops. Can I just call one of the national chains, or should I shop around and try to find a good local guy by ear? I can sort of talk the talk, but car work was a small enough part of my interests that I'm not 100% confident I could sort a con man from a legit guy and I've heard lots of horror stories.

If anyone in Tempe/Phoenix has recommendations, that'd be even better. The car is a 1990 Camry, and I suspect the work I'll need will be having the pads changed, one rotor milled or maybe replaced, and one set of calipers thoroughly lubricated.

New Beetle Needs Work + Brakes

kirkaracha — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:02:03 -0800

I'm looking for recommendations for Volkswagen service and brake service in San Francisco. I dropped my 1998 New Beetle off at the dealer a week ago yesterday, and they just now got back to me with an estimate of $1100 to replace the brakes. The one-week delay makes me want to go somewhere else (I take public transportation, so it wasn't a huge deal, but still), and $1100 seems steep for brakes.

The Car Talk site had good reviews of Advanced Audi Volkswagen, City Automotive, and Moss Motors, so it'd be great if anyone's used one of them.

squealing like a pig

typewriter — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 19:10:03 -0800

Car-filter: There is something squealy and squeeking on my automobile-type machine. Help clueless person. It is not the brakes. Or I don't think it is. Previously when I've had squeaky brakes (i.e. brake pads or whatever) the brakes squeaked when I pressed the pedal and actually used the brakes. This is not the case. Now, I get squealing/squeeking when accelerating! Occasionally, I think that the squealing might be happening when I release the brakes, but maybe my car is just messing with me. It has gotten worse over the last few weeks, and definitely seems worse after a ride on the highway. Taking it in tomorrow, but just wondering...brakes? Or something serious? Like, is the axle of the wheel gonna fall off on the way to the mechanic? Will I die? Should I definitely be taking this beast off the road?
(A '92 Acura Integra if that means anything.)

Car Repair Advice: Shopping for Brake pads & Rotors

sirion — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 13:09:51 -0800

Car Repair Advice: '99 Infiniti I30. Needs new front & rear brake pads, rotors, struts, rear shocks, and drive belts. Mostly looking for advice on how to intelligently shop around for repairs, and mostly for brake-related repairs. Lot's o repairs, not all that much money.

First on the list, and I'll be happy with just advice on this front:
*Brakes are at 3.5/2mm front and rear, respectively. (How thick are 100% pads?)
*Front and rear rotors are "way out of spec, we can't turn them"
*In terms of my usage, my front pads were replaced 6000 miles ago ("Premium organic pads" from Pep Boys)

Questions: The dealer wants $460 per axel to do the brakes. I imagine I can do significantly better with some place like Pep Boys. The dealer claimed that they do shoddy work at Pep Boys, and don't turn their rotors(eh?). Last time I brought it to a local place (The Brake Stop, I think it was called), they gave me all sorts of options on which brake pads I wanted, etc.

Educate me on how to shop around and get quotes on comparable services (For example, spending 25% less for brakes that last half as long doesn't seem clever). Are different pads really different? Etc, etc..

----

The rest:

I'm likely selling this car in 6-12 months. My car is at ~90,000 miles. Which of these services should I get before I sell it, either for my own safety, or as an investment in the selling price of the car? If I should replace these, give me similar advice to the advice above on shopping around intelligently:

Struts: My car's vibrating when I brake, and dealer said that its because the struts are old, but that he wouldn't replace them if he were getting rid of the car soon.

Rear Shocks: These have been leaking for 30,000 miles, I think, and I keep ignoring it because the dealer said that the only real downside is that my car will be more bouncy. I can live with bouncy, if that's true.

Belts: He said they looked a bit cracked and old. I think they were replaced once in the last 30000 miles.

What the hell's going on with my car?

Vervain — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 10:59:42 -0800

CarRepairFilter: Help me figure out what's going on with my usually well-behaved car, and what, if anything, it might have to do with a letter I got from Acura back in January... Basically, it looks like Acura made a deal with the EPA because the onboard computer in some of the '95-'97 models is not CA-emission-compatible. As a result, they're replacing (for free) the spark plugs, ignition wires, distributor cap/rotor on qualified cars with 75,000-150,000 miles.

As for my car: it's a '96 Integra, with about 140,000 miles. I'd say I put less than 10,000 miles a year on it, since I don't have much of a commute. I've been searching for a new mechanic for awhile, since the place I'd been going to went downhill fast. As a result, the car hasn't really been looked at in about a year.

There's definitely something up with the brakes, and I think the old mechanics might've had something to do with that; last time I was in, they made some comment about the back brakes being "20% on one side, and (less) on the other". For the record, their fix might've evened it out, but it also made the brakes very spongy. Right now they're very grabby, almost pulsing, and there's a ticking noise from the back brakes when I'm slowing down. This goes away when I apply more pressure to the brake pedal.

In addition to that, I think the clutch may be starting to go. But I could be wrong--this is my first standard-transmission vehicle, so I don't know what to look for. Over the past few days, the engine has been running rougher for a few seconds after upshifting, eventually kicking into a smoother ride. But it's only while accelerating; downshifting seems to be just as peachy as ever.

Long story short, I know I've neglected the poor thing and that I'm going to be dropping some money on car repairs in addition to the free fixes the letter mentions, but that's about all I know. (I'm not mechanically inclined.) Can you give me an idea of what might be going on, so I know what to ask about when I take it in?

Grinding noise from wheels

Saucy Intruder — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 10:17:33 -0800

The front wheels are making a grinding noise when I move the steering wheel to the left ('98 Accord.) Happens even when the brakes aren't being pressed. Can anyone provide a Bill Frist-style remote diagnosis, and will I regret it if I don't bring it in to the shop for two more days?

Scary Car Noise

atlatl — Fri, 19 Nov 2004 13:00:53 -0800

ScaryCarNoiseFilter: I have a 99 Civic, 50K miles. I'm a new 2nd owner. Today it started making an odd noise as I was coming off the Interstate: a rattle from the front passenger wheel-area which increased in volume as I braked. And it increases in intensity when I brake while going around curves.

It is an intermittent sound; mostly when turning while braking, and or braking @ higher speeds (75+). Also, there is no steering vibration associated with the sound. Any suggestions? A friend suggested CV Boot or CV Joints.
Is that spendy to fix? (it seemed like a good buy at the time!)