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Hi everyone!!!
Welcome to The Auto Warrior.

This page is your source of information about cars,
how they operate and driving/maintenance tips.

Have you ever had the experience of
asking a mechanic a question and
they answer you in a way
that you don't understand,
or they 'talk' down to you?
I hope to take the mystery out of auto mechanics
by giving you information
that is understandable to women.
Not that I expect anyone to become
their own backyard mechanic,
but when you need to have your car fixed/maintained,
you will have a handle on what
and why something needs to be done.
For instance,
when the mechanic says "You need a brake job",
what exactly does a brake job mean.
So here goes,
I will try to explain without too much technical detail,
what a brake job is,
and the questions to ask
before you say "okay, do it".

The braking system
is the foremost safety system on the car,
without them, of course you know,
we could not stop the car.

There are four main parts to the braking system:

1.
The Hydraulic system,
also known as the Master Cylinder.
It is a reservior which not
only holds the brake fluid, but controls the pressure of it.

2.
Brake Lines,
each wheel has its own line from the Master Cylinder.

3.
Wheel Cylinder,
each wheel has its own wheel cylinder
which operates the brake pads/shoes of that wheel.

4.
Rotors/Drums,
the front wheel usually has rotors,
and the rear wheel has drums.

However,
some vehicles have rotors on all four wheels.
It doesn't matter which your vehicle has,
they perform the same function,
they provide the brake pads/shoes
something to use to stop the vehicle with.
The drums use brake shoes,
the rotors use pads.
Functionality it is the same.

How to tell if you need
to have work done on your braking system:

1.
When you put your foot on the brake
does it have an uneven pulsating feeling?
If it does,
then there are two possible problems:

a. Master cylinder is not operating properly,
or rotors are warped.
Warped rotors come from driving through
cold water or snow when rotors are hot.
Rotors become very hot when using the brakes
and the cold water will warp them.

b. The Master cylinder's Metering Valve is sticking.
Sometimes this can be fixed,
most times it cannot.
The master cylinder will need to be replaced.
No choice in this.

2.
When you put your foot on the brake,
does the pedal go down slowly?
If it does,
then you have a leak in your brake lines
or wheel cylinders.

The braking system has two systems,
one for the front wheels,
one for the back wheels and
of course the emergency brake.
Each brake line and wheel cylinder needs to be checked for leaks,
and this also must be replaced.
However, ONLY the defective parts
need to be replaced,
NOT ALL FOUR.

3.
When you put on your brakes,
and they seem to grab,
or make the vehicle go to the left or right...
this is a symptom of a stuck wheel cylinder, usually.
There are repair kits that replace
the operating parts of the wheel cylinder.
Only rarely do wheel cylinders need to be completely replaced.
Sometimes however,
mechanics don't want to spend the time to repair,
they want to replace.
This is a judgement call on your part.
Replacement may be cheaper,
considering the time factor.
Make sure you get a price for each way of doing it.
Also, call around to different places and get prices.
They will tell you, it all depends.....
and try not to give you a price.
Insist on a price.

4.
When you put on the brake
do you get a squeal or grating sound?

Usually this means that your
brake pads/shoes need to be replaced.
If you have them replaced when you start to hear that sound,
you will save yourself some money.
Why?
Because the squeal is built into the system
to alert you that your pads or shoes
are getting low on surface material.
The grating sound, is not good....
this means, that the surface material is all used up,
and the metal backing of your brakes are rubbing on the rotors or drums.
This will put grooves from
the rivits that hold the surface material to the metal backing on your rotors or drums.
If this happens,
you will either have to have your rotors/drums turned down,
or replaced.
Rotors and drums after being turned down,
get thinner,
and it is a law that they can only be so thin.
If they can't be turned down,
you will have to have them replaced.

So,
save yourself some money,
and replace your brakes
BEFORE
they ruin your rotors or drums.

Last but not least,
is your emergency brake.
It is purely mechanical in nature,
and uses a cable.
I know you know where it is.
However, if you do not use it,
you will lose it, and have to have it replaced.
Use it often,
even if you don't need it....
using it will keep it in working condition.
Also,
whenever you have your vehicle in the garage,
no matter for what,
ask the mechanic to check your emergency brake
to make sure it is operating properly.
This will keep it operating properly,
and you won't have to replace a 'frozen' cable.
cables only 'freeze' when they are not used,
because they rust.
If you do have to have it replaced,
a new cable will stretch,
and should be tightened slightly,
until all the stretch is taken out.
This usually takes awhile
to get the stretch out of it
.

I hope this has helped you understand
the braking system in your vehicle.
If you have more questions,
please send them to me, Ens of Jess.
If I don't have the answer,
I will find the answer,
if I can, if not.....
I will tell you.

I have many friends that are mechanics,
and I myself used to fix my own vehicle
when I was young enough to crawl around,
as well as was Office Manager in a garage.

The best question to ask is WHY?
And always ask them to "show me".

The Auto Warrior ********

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