Category Archives: Brakes

You Can Examine Your Brakes

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  • You Can Examine Your BrakesWord Count:
    385 

    Summary:
    You can make sure your vehicle’s brakes are working great and providing the protection you need by examining them yourself or having a professional car brake service examine them for you.
    Keywords:
    Akebono brakes, EBC brakes, brake parts, car parts, brake job, install brakes, calipers, tires
    Article Body:
    Regular brake inspections and car brake repair services with the help of professional brake services are an essential part of good automotive maintenance that can save you money and keep your car from wrapping itself around the first tree out of your driveway. Make sure that your brakes and rotors are receiving the proper maintenance by following the steps outlined. Your safety as well as that of your passengers, pedestrians, and other drivers is at stake.

    <b>1. Time for a free inspection.</b> Many local brake shops as well as national brake repair chains offer customers free brake inspections at no obligation to you. The inspection typically includes the following steps:

    <li> Check your vehicle’s brake pads and shoes for signs of wear;

    <li> Fill and/or replace hydraulic fluids;

    <li> Examine rotor/drum wear and calipers;

    <li> Examine the anti-lock brake system [if you have one]

    An annual check up of your brakes is wise, but do it more often if you drive well above the national average [about 15,000 miles per year] or if you do heavy stop and go driving.

    <b>2. Awareness is the key.</b> Most brake system problems can be avoided if motorists would pay attention to certain signs of pending problems including:

    <li>Your brake warning light comes on.

    <li>Your brake pedal is either squishy, difficult to push down, or you must pump the brakes to get them to work correctly.

    <li>Your brakes grind continuously and you hear a loud metallic racket when you push down on them.

    <li>Your car pulls to one side when you push down on the brakes, instead of stopping in a straight line.

    <li>Your car jerks to a halt when you push down on the brakes.

    <li>One or more wheels are strikingly hot even after a brief trip.

    <li>You observe fluid leaks in the vicinity of any wheel or in the engine section near the master cylinder.

    If you are an at home mechanic, you can complete your own inspections and fit your vehicle with top notch replacement parts including brake pads and calipers. You can save on parts by purchasing them from a reputable online wholesaler such as <b>Pit Stop Auto Parts</b> who can offer to you top quality parts at sensible prices, typically much lower than what your dealer or an auto parts store would charge you.

    Take care of your vehicle and it will take car of you especially in an emergency situation where a properly working brake system is an absolute must.

     

When to Replace Brake Pads

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When to Replace Brake Pads

Word Count:
368

Summary:
Worn brake pads can adversely impact your ability to bring your car to a halt. This can be especially dangerous in an emergency situation when adequately working brakes are a must to help you stop your car promptly. There are some telltale signs of pending brake problems; do you know what they are? Awareness of a problem is the key to avoiding potential harmful consequences; let’s examine some well known warning signs.
Keywords:
Brembo brakes, EBC brakes, brake pads, brake parts, car parts, master cylinder, auto parts, tires
Article Body:
Worn brake pads can adversely impact your ability to bring your car to a halt. This can be especially dangerous in an emergency situation when adequately working brakes are a must to help you stop your car promptly. There are some telltale signs of pending brake problems; do you know what they are? Awareness of a problem is the key to avoiding potential harmful consequences; let’s examine some well known warning signs.

Signs of pending brake trouble include the following:

  • Squealing brakes
  • Pulling of the car from one side to the other
  • Wheel grabs
  • Brake pedal pumping
  • Sudden and hard brake pedal
  • Spongy brake pedals
  • Grinding of the brakes

While some of these problems may necessitate you replacing other brake components, an inspection of your brake pads should reveal that they are worn and are in need of immediate replacement.

Your next course of action depends on your expertise, your time, and on your wallet. Most auto repair mechanic offer a free brake inspection and this can be a wonderful opportunity to have someone else inspect your system to confirm your findings.

Ask your Mechanic for Hire for a complete diagnosis of your brake system and an estimate on what parts and repairs will cost you. A good garage will give you a print out showing a fairly close estimate of what your costs will be. Throw in your local taxes and the price quoted should be within 95% of the final cost, barring an unforeseen additional problem being detected [for example, brake master cylinder failure].

If you feel reasonably confident that you can do the work yourself, you stand to save yourself plenty of money, at least in labor costs. You can save money with parts, too, by shopping around; the highest prices you pay will likely be through your dealer’s parts department. Prices at a national auto parts supply store should be lower, while prices through an online wholesaler should be about the lowest available as they purchase directly from the manufacturer.

If you decide to purchase online, only obtain parts from a reputable dealer selling parts from trusted manufacturers. Be careful of those sites selling generic parts from overseas merchants. Make sure that you can return what you purchase, if needed, to address in based in the U.S.

 

When Should You Replace Your Brake Pads?

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It might be hard to realize when you should replace your break pads. But there are some signs that can indicate that you need to change them. It is not a good idea to ignore it; it can cause more trouble in the long run.

Here are the most common signs of something wrong with your breaks: squealing brakes, spongy brake pedals, grinding of the brakes, wheel garbs, the car pulling from one side to the other, break pedal pumping. Be sure to notice if there are any signs of these when you are driving.

Once you notice any of these problems you should then have your car inspected, which should reveal that your brakes are worn and need to get replaced. If that is the case, it can be a little easy on you.

The next step would depend on how much knowledge, time and money you have to invest. If you look around you can probably find a garage that will offer free brake inspections, which can help you determine what exactly is wrong with your breaks.

You can ask an auto repair mechanic for a complete diagnosis of your brake system. They will also give an estimate of how much it will cost you and what parts need to be repaired.

If you feel confident enough to do the job yourself, you can save quite a bit of money. You can not only save money on the labor but on the parts as well. You should shop around to get a good deal on part. A good place to check out would be the internet. Shopping online can give you more selections and save you a lot of money.

In the end all that matters is that you have your breaks fixed, so you can get on the road again.

Stop Your Brakes from Squealing

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Most people would rather have a vehicle that would provide utmost quietness when driving. Of course, that would mean that they would not hear the hum of the machine underneath the hood or the sound of pebbles, dirt, or sand underneath the tires. Even the sound of the wind could prove to be annoying for some people. And when drivers and passengers could hear the car brakes squealing each time the brake pedal is depressed, it could mean getting a headache for some people.

When brakes squeal, it could be the start of something that could prove to be damaging to your car. One of the reasons why this happen is that the brake pads bearing excessive wear. However, it could also be that there are some deposits on the brake pads like carbon metallic. The solution to this would be to actually replace the brake pad itself. However, there are other reasons why this happened and it would be a wise move to first find out what could be the cause with the help of automotive repair experts.

If the material your brake pad is something that is not suited to the whole brake system of your Mazda, or for any other vehicle for that matter, the squealing would not stop. Try finding the right kind of brake pad that would make the noise stop.

Other reasons could also be misaligned calipers, loose calipers, pads that are not the correct size, glazed rotors, glazed pads, and warped rotors. It would be best to try to ask for assistance from a professional auto maintenance expert or from your trusted auto repair mechanic. That way, the problem could be assessed by these experts. If there are even more complex reasons as per the root of the squealing problem, they could be able to know and take care of it for you.

If there is a need for replacement of brake pads or any Mazda parts for your vehicle, there are online stores that offer quality parts that are also low-priced. Auto Parts Go is one of these and it actually holds thousands of Mazda parts for various Mazda makes and their collection include Mazda 323 auto parts, GLC parts and Mazda Tribute auto parts to name a few.