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this car has 47K on it all original brakes components.
one priority was to avoid the cheapest components on the planet. thought about "upgrading" to slotted or drilled front rotors since better cooling is significant. then i read that they also accelerate pad wear so i dismissed the idea & decided on "as close to factory" as i could.
as dtownfb has stated the amount of info on brake parts is mind boggling and difficult for someone who doesn't deal with it a regular basis.
ended up making an appointment with a shop i trust (so far anyway, having only been there once with an abs problem, previous ride)
all parts raybestos. 1 left front caliper assy, 4 rotors (i've given up on turning rotors), & CERAMIC pads. he claims improved braking performance, quiet & less dust. we shall see. might be able to save the cost of caliper upon inspection original.
all this for a big chunk of change. hope i'm not getting reamed.
unrelated but needs to be said. theses edmunds forums are great!
dennis yooper
But in the mean time, you'll typically find fuses in a couple common locations in vehicles. Under the drivers side dash, up in the engine compartment on the left fenderwall, or when you open the drivers side door in a hidden panel on the left side of the dash. For non typical fuses and relays (which I would doubt in your case with a common fuse), they can also be hidden behind the driver and passenger kick panels.
If you read your owners manual, it will show you where the fuse boxes are.
You can also put a voltmeter across the connectors of your brake switch, that will confirm whether you have power to the circuit or not. Typically you would suspect a blown fuse for this situation, followed by a defective switch. If neither of those two things are the root cause of the problem, you will need to get yourself a copy of electrical schematics for your vehicle (or take it to the dealer to fix). You could have a relay which is also in the circuit, but that would be hard to pinpoint without a set of schematics.
But the biggest help may be AllData. Your local library, or a larger nearby metro library may have it available from its computers in the branches. Our local county (and beyond) library has huge numbers of databases availabe from our home computers, but because of cost per computer access, AllData is only on the branch libraries. But I went and used a USB drive to download the Internet Explorer web pages (complete) of each page I wanted to see at home. I also copied graphics and saved them individually on the USB. I also stuck in a floppy disk and saved to that, just in case... Most branches also would be set up to print out pages at a fee per page.
You can check the brake light circuits on AllData.
OR find the actual Helm manual for the Catera and buy one on Ebay (be careful that you know the appearance of the books and the number of volumes in each). You can check the original price on helminc.com: it's $135 which I believe includes shipping and no tax. I buy service manuals for all my new cars (anyone want a manual for '65 Mustang or 77 Cutlass, e.g.?
Good luck.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Is there some way to tell if this is true or an excuse to charge an unnecessary service?
Will visually inspecting the brake fluid color tell me if it needs to be flushed?
How about those brake fluid dip strips?
Is there some way to tell if this is true or an excuse to charge an unnecessary service?
If the fluid has never been changed, as was previously stated, it is probably true.
Will visually inspecting the brake fluid color tell me if it needs to be flushed?
Yes, if the brake fluid is discolored or dark, it probably needs flushed.
How about those brake fluid dip strips?
Yes, those do work and do give a pretty good indication of the condition of the brake fluid.
But here is a good article concerning brake fluid that may help you to understand.
Brake Fluid Flushing-What's Stopping You?
Perhaps the manufacturers who do not recommend fluid-replacment are trying to drum up buisness... they surely know the brake-system will corrode from the inside out.
If you have hydrolic clutch... dont forget to replace that fluid too.
Assuming this is truly necessary, I would suspect it is more a matter of wanting to have the car appear to be nearly maintenance free. Strangest to me is, as I mentioned, to have the same owners manual specify that it should be changed in if the car is in Mexico, but not if it is in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, etc.
I've never seen an owners manual that specifies changing power steering fluid either, but doing that every once in a while is apparently not a bad idea either. Our newer cars do not specify changing transmission fluid either. One specifies no change to coolant and the other has 10 years/120k mi for the first change.
I plan to change brake fluid every 3 years, even if not specified and even though one car says 2 years. We are in a cold dry climate for at least 1/2 the year, so I figure if VW thinks 2 years is adequate for places like FL, then we should be okay with at least 3 years.
I'm planing to do this even though 12 years with no change (other than whatever got changed in normal brake jobs) did not seem to cause any significant problems with our 1997 vehicle. I did have to replace one ABS sensor, but the cost of that was probaly less than changing fluid regularly would have been. I did recently have the brake fluid changed on that old vehicle, anyway.
Don't confuse not having problems with the system working properly.
Preventive maintenance is just that. Preventing problems from happening.
There have always been 2 schools of thought.
1) Fix it when it breaks.
2) Preventive Maintenance (PM) to keep it from breaking in the 1st place.
In reality, if you were to look at a graph of the cost of each of these approaches, there is a mddle-ground where the cost crosses over on the graph. It is this crossover-point where you get the most service-life for the least cost.
Obviously this is theoritical and there are many other variables which the graph does not take into account. (Like how long before you will be getting rid of the machine.)
I have seen both approaches applied to automobiles, some people do NOTHING to PM their car and often get stranded out on the road with all kinds of problems. Other people spend more than they need to keep their car PMd... they very rarely have problems but end up having less money.
Each person needs to understand their situation and apply what best suits their needs.
What could it be? Water? Air? The brake light goes on when going thru pedals. I thought that it was a wire shorting out after nothing happened as long as it was dry and the brakes were fine. Was this a warning?
Its a Mercedes truck body, disc brakes all around.
Write me at jeanofarc@yahoo.com if you've got an answer, thanks. I'll check back here too.
:confuse:
I'm assuming this isn't the dealership doing the repair, and they aren't using original equipment parts. They may have to go buy pads from the dealership.
A vehicle is a machine and it makes noise... if your car stops when you push on the brake pedal and does not pull to one side, consider it good and leave the dealer alone. I would never EVER want to be a service-manager who has to contend with customers who think that every little click or squeek is some kind of "problem". One must have the patience of a saint to deal with this day-in and day-out.
I have carefully re-read all of your appends incase there is something I am missing.... My above response was in-essence suggesting that you should STOP taking it back and relax with your family instead. (There is noting "wrong")
Details:
*)Rreciently-replaced brake pads may move around in their housing a bit and "click" as they hit the stops.
*) New rotors take time to becomed "seasoned". (A thin layer of the pad-material gets deposited on the surface of the rotor)
*)Your 'second' set of pads may be more 'agressive' and make grinding-type sound.
*)'agressive' pads tend to make creaky-squeeky sounds.
Bottom line : The behaviour you describe is not unusuall and no cause for alarm.
It sounds as if the mechanic has gone WAY BEYOND what many would do to try to make you happy. Even my attampt to calm you does not seem to be what you want to hear.
If you INSIST on taking it back because of the sounds... perhaps you need to spend more money for ceramic-based pads (Raybestos "Quiet-Stop" comes to mind) These pads are specifically designed to be very quiet. They come with "end shims" in the box that are intended to eliminate the 'slop' between the pad backing-plate and the housing. (This eliminates the "clicking" sounds)
Another way to reduce brake-noise is to use special backing-shims or "brake grease" between the pads and the calipers. This helps to reduce sqeeky brakes.
Does any of this help answer your question?
I too have a Subaru (2006 Baja with 60K miles) and the front brakes tend to make a faint click-click-click if I use very light pedal pressure at slow speeds. When I first heard this, I pulled the front wheels off and PMd the brakes (Preventive Maintenance).
I scrutenized all the brake-components, cleaned-up all the parts, filed off rust and lubricated sliding-surfaces. After all of this, the faint clicking was still there and I have almost come to *expect* it.
Your squeeking/squeeling may, or may not subside. I have already mentioned in my last append some remidies for squeeky brakes.
Can someone help me out with this? I'm a chick that owns a badass Mustang, beautiful paint job, Magnaflow exhaust, 5-speed...I don't let anyone touch it. My dad restored cars forever, I was an only child...you do the math. Suffice it to say I know about cars...that is, until I stopped for gas this morning (I live in the mountains), pulled my e-brake slightly as I always do and I noticed I felt an unfamiliar little "dink", that's the only way I can describe it. It was the tiniest of feelings through the hand brake, so I shrugged it off and got gas; then when I got back into the car to leave the station, I started the car, put it into gear and attempted to lower the hand brake...well, it had so much play in it that it was totally obvious that it was not going to release the brake. I pulled and pushed with the button IN...then I got out my tools and removed the center console to see if something had been tweaked in the top linkage. It was about 18 degrees this morning and I'm crawling around the underside of my car (sport suspension, not more than 8 inches clearance by rocker panels) in 4 inch heels. How lame am I??? I take phenomenal care of this car and what takes me out is the e-brake??!!! After saying a few "choice" words, I got a ride home to get my truck...so I'm at work, and my car is at the gas station back on the mountain, the manager will have it towed if I leave it there overnight and I can't afford a tow right now. Ugh. I have a floor jack and jack stands at home that I got for my birthday, I do not think that the lines are frozen because I made it 6 miles from my house to the station without the e-brake issue so there should be no way that it would freeze all of a sudden upon stopping for literally 5 seconds.
I'm going to jack up the read end and see what I can see on the rear calipers where the cables attach...worst case scenario...is there anyway to disable the e-brake system so that I can drive my car home and work on it in the garage??? Any help you guys could offer would be really great.
Thanks,
Mustang Sunne
From your description, it sure sounds as if Ebrake cable either snapped or popped out from one end. If this is the case, then the Ebrake is NOT currently enguaged (reguardless the position of the handle) You can verify this when you have rear-wheels off the ground (in neutral)... If the wheels spin by hand (relativly) freely, then the Ebrake is not enguaged.
It is safe to drive like this, but obviously dont use the Ebrake and get it checked out soon.
Let us know how this works out...
As for rotors, as long as you stay away from the cheepest ones you should be OK. Look for brand-names such as Bendix, Raybestos, Zimmerman, ATE.
If you call a local autoparts store, they will always offer several "grades" of pads and rotors. Just tell them what you have for a vehicle and ask them what they have available.
The MAIN thing to keep in mind is that you DO NOT want to get "high performance" or "racing" pads.... these kind of pads need to be warmed-up before they start to work. On the road, if a moose jumps out in front of you, you will not have time to "warm up" the pads before you want to stop.
It is best to go with a "mild upgrade" from OEM pads and use QUALITY rotors. Once your new rotors are seasoned and the pads are broken-in, your brakes will be very good for many years to come.
Personally, I like Zimmerman rotors and ATE pads.... some of the best German-steel available for rotor-material!
My problem is when I am coming to a complete stop and I brake, the peddle begins to go down, the truck keeps moving slowly, the brakes push down a little further, then I come to a complete stop. It's almost like the peddle goes down, you can feel the brakes being applied, then it feels like the brake crunches and goes down a little further coming to a complete stop. Also when I am turning and braking, sometimes there is a weird grind noise coming from my front rotors.
I took the truck into the shop, they bled the brake line, adjusted my rear drum brakes, and even put on two new tie rods. They told me they saw NO leaks and everything was ok. After I drove it away, the problem still occurs.
My thoughts are it might be the a bad master cylinder, or ball joints, but I am not sure why it does this. ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED PLEASE!!! I WANT TO GET THIS PROBLEM FIXED!
You could have a bad wheel bearing, which is causing the hub to not run centered. When you apply the brakes, it tries to grab the rotor (which is off centered since attached to the hub), but only when you press the brake hard can enough pressure be put on the rotor to center it. This could also explain why you get a grinding noise at times.
Don't think a ball joint could cause any of the symptoms, the whole hub would just be out of alignment causing abnormal tire wear, but wouldn't have any effect on the brakes.
You might have bad calipers which are binding. Your symptoms don't quite line up with the typical failures. Normally when a caliper start to goes, the bore gets some rust or corrosion on it, and the cylinder binds. The hydraulic fluid can put lots of pressure on it and is able to push it out applying the brakes, but because it binds it doesn't normally 'float' back. You end up wearing out brake pads prematurely and rotor can get hot/warped.
If there WAS binding of the caliper, then when you put the brakes on the cylinder would maybe not come out smoothly, requiring you to really step on the brakes harder before they apply. If that happened though, if it took that hard to put the brakes on, they certainly wouldn't float back off, so your brakes should be on all the time. If your rotors are overheating and you smell brake heat, then you may indeed have binding calipers.
Are you certain you put the correct brake pads on? If you have incorrect brake parts they could bind, and/or grind against the hub/wheel as it was turning.
With the symptoms you mention, a bad wheel bearing seems like the best match to those symptoms.
Anyhow, a couple potential things to think about....
If the caliper is not sliding freely on its pins, the inside pad could be making disk contact first, but the outside does not until the brake pressure increases to the point that it breaks the stiction or whatever might be causing the caliper to hang up.
I do not think it is related to the tie rod ends, or ball joints, at least not with the miles you have on the truck.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Drum brakes with spring-loaded wedge type of adjuster will adjust when parking-brake is applied.
The "star wheel" adjuster only works if you actually USE it occasionally. If you allow the shoes to wear down too much, the automatic feature will not work as expected. In this case, the "star wheel" adjuster needs to be MANUALLY tweaked on both sides of the axle to bring them back into sync with each other.
Second, no info about what car this pertains to. This info probably isn't needed for brake problems, but information about the vehicle should be given. Especially the age and milage on the vehicle.
Third, the brake fluid went somewhere. There's a leak.
Fourth, if air has gotten into the ABS 'pump', this pump cannot be bleed with the old fashioned bleeding procedures of opening a wheel bleeder and pumping the brakes. A shop, with electronic tool must be used - the tool will be able to cycle the ABS pump which will purge the air out of the ABS circuit. Otherwise, you are never going to get the air out of the system.
It looks to me like this car needs to be taken to a knowledgable brake mechanic. Driving with 'booster didnt work braked hard' isn't a safe thing to be doing.
Find the proper bleeding sequence when the lines and ABS have air in the lines, you may need a service manual for your vehicle....or take it to a brake shop where they know how to do it for you.
You have any idea how hard it is to read your post?
This isn't phone texting,
Am I correct in my reading that you are losing brake fluid and you found some fluid in the brake booster? If so, then it is likely the master cylinder is leaking out the back seal.
You disconnected and plugged the booster? Why?
Are you meaning the vacuum hose or do you mean the master cylinder brake lines?
We need information we can read, slowly for us old mechanics. We can't keep up with the new language very well.
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History: I had all my brakes done at Midas last May. They started grinding and Midas's "warranty" sucked so I decided to do it myself. I replaced the front rotors and pads (which was cheaper than Midas's warranty price). Midas had broke the reservoir extension tube on my MC so I replaced that also. My brakes felt spongy so I bled the brake lines per mfg instructions. While on my second go around, I stripped the bleeder nut screw on the passenger rear so I replaced the wheel cylinder and bled the brakes again. They are still spongy. The brake pedal will become really tight while I am bleeding them but the moment I turn the van on, the brake pedal goes to the floor. I am not leaking fluid anywhere. I bled the brake lines so much that I have gone through 2 large bottles of fluid.
My question,
I have pressure until the van is turned on. There is no air in the lines. Could this loss of pressure be from either bad calipers or the remaining wheel cylinder or a bad master cylinder?
Thanks in advance.
Tina