The Beginner’s Guide to a Car Brake Service

At Steve Sorensen Mechanical, our clients ask us a lot of good questions. But there tends to be three common themes – leaks, weird noises and brakes. And it is the third topic we are going to take a look at today. Specifically – a car brake service or an auto brake service.

A car brake service comes under the umbrella of vehicle maintenance services and can also be part of a good pre purchase inspection.

So let’s talk about the common brake jobs we do here at Sorensen’s:

 Replacing brake pads: This is a quick job and many people try this at home. The problem with just replacing the pads is that this can be only half of the problem. That squealing you hear when you put your foot on the brake can be caused by a combination of worm brake pads and rotors. So just replacing the pads might not fix the problem.

 Replacing brake pads and rotors: The brake pads are seated on the rotors and depending on how worn they are, they may also need to be replaced. But sometimes they are too worn and they just have to be replaced as part of your auto brake service.

If you leave it too long to replace your brakes, then they will eventually fail. Here are 5 signs you need a car brake service:

 Your brake light comes on! But quite often this is only for the front brakes – so if your back brakes are the problem you the break light won’t tell you this.

 You are taking longer to stop than usual.

 Your brake pads are less than 6mm thick – you might need to remove the tyre to see this. Check both the inside and the outside pads for wear.

 At first you will hear a high pitched squeal when you touch the brakes, but as they continue to wear you will hear a grinding sound.

 Your car pulls left or right when driving or braking. This could indicate a problem with the brake system, the tyres or your suspension. Best to have an auto brake service to find out for sure.

So give a call for all your pre purchase inspections and vehicle maintenance services or if you think you need a car brake service.

Please Call us on 07 3809 2711, fill in our online enquiry form or drop in for a chat at Unit 1/7 St Jude Court, Browns Plains, QLD 4118.