There are many topics to talk about cars and most people love mentioning the look, decorations, accessories, technology, and the most topics are power and speed. Anyway, few people talk about the “brake” system which is the first priority and more important than car engines. When the engine doesn’t work, it delays your journey or you won’t be able to travel. However, if your brake goes out, there’s a chance of an accident that may cause loss of assets and death. Therefore, drivers should pay attention to the brake and always check it. Repair or change a new one immediately if you find something wrong. 
 

The sign of brake problems 

Apart from checking your brake at the car center or garage during a regular checkup, drivers can also check the brake on their own. The main symptoms of the car are noises heard when braking, sink brake or you need to step on brake pedal deeper, shaky brake or car lost its balance, hard brake or it needs more force to break, brake fade or brake stuck or car didn’t stop when braking, and so on. 

Some symptoms are critical such as longer braking distance which means you need to step longer on the brake pedal or use more force. Some symptoms occur because of the wrong usage like brake fade caused by overuse of brake, especially when driving downhill and the brake is overloaded and then brake fluid boils, so you can’t be able to brake your car. 

For driving on flat ground, using brake quite often may not affect immediate damage of brake but brake can be gradually defective. A caution for regular driving is, don’t brake harshly or slam your brake too often; otherwise, your brake pads or brake disc will be damaged, and the life of your brake will be shortened. Your car may also be hit. A tip is to look at the far end while driving so you can see things beforehand and brake softly and earlier.

In case of emergency, a harsh and immediate break is needed. For the ABS system, the brake pedal will fight against your feet on and off while you’re making a harsh brake. Be reminded not to be panic and step off from breaking. Keep hitting your brake and controlling your car with the steering wheel in the safe direction. For old cars without an ABS system, when hitting a full brake, the steering wheel can’t control your car. You need to withdraw the weight of the brake pedal periodically to control your car. 

To prevent brake fade or brake failure when driving downhill, don’t hit the brake all the way down but use a low gear to build a brake engine which means the engine helps reduce car speed. Drivers will normally break the car on and off when the car is Overspeed. Remember, don’t slam on the brake. For automatic gear, hit the brake to lower the speed before going downhill and then use low gear. Select the gear position to match with a steep path as the gear level of each car varies.
 

In some car series, the letter “L” indicates low gear, while some have automatic transmission gears located on gear lever or paddle-shift installed on the steering wheel with + and – symbols; + means to add 1 gear up, and – means to reduce 1 gear down.

For hard brake problems, the defect of the brake booster and brake pump can be the cause so the repair is promptly needed. For shaky brake or the car lost its balance, you should check brake pads and brake disc as both items may not be compatible. Some tire brakes are slippery because the engine oil leaks or brake may get stuck because the car dust cover may be torn off. 

Check the level of brake fluid 

Many brake problems need help from car experts. If there’s anything wrong with your car, take it to repair right away. There’re some abnormalities you should learn and observe, especially problems that continually occur such as the wear and tear of engines or spare parts. That is a warning sign that you should check your car but you may not have to do anything for some symptoms. For example, brake noise caused by metal friction. You just need to change new brake pads because they’re worn out and scratch the brake discs. In some cases, brake pads are still thick but are worn out through their metal part, and you don’t need to change to new brake pads. That noise will stop once the metal part is corroded.

Another way to check the quality of brake pads is to open the car bonnet and look for a brake fluid pot with Min and Max indicator. Generally, brake fluid is in the middle level. If it’s lower than usual plus some symptoms like sink brake or brake make noises, we may assume that brake pads are highly worn out. After changing new brake pads, the brake fluid will return to the normal level.

 Grinding or not grinding brake disc

One of the problems often found when you want to change new brake pads is, to grind the brake discs according to technician advice.

The worn-out brake disc is a normal symptom but inconsistent worn out will affect the brake performance and your car may be shaky or stumbling. If that symptom occurs, your brake disc will need grinding. 

 
In the case that brake pads make noise because of metal friction, you don’t need to grind the brake disc. After a while, brake pads and a brake disc will be equally worn out, the noise and shake will be disappeared. Grinding a brake disc may not be costly but your brake disc will be thinner and its life will be shortened. 

Proper use of brake 

In addition to using brakes when driving downhill, the proper use of brakes while driving on normal roads will also increase safety. 
 

The most important thing is trying not to brake immediately even though you’re certain that your brake works well and your car can stop at safe distance. Be aware that the brake function of each car is different. Your car may be hit if the car experiences brake failure. 

Braking early at a good distance is to warn the car driving after you to lower its speed when they see your brake light.
 

Many people are wondering if we should break while driving along the curve. No, don’t do that as your car will lose its balance. We recommend that you slowly break to reduce your speed before reaching the curve. In a necessary case like an unexpected incident at the curve, you may touch the brake carefully to a lower speed. Don’t slam the brake too hard although the ABS system is available as it can cause a car breakdown.

Again, the brake is significantly connected to safety and we should have more concern and place first priority on the brake system. If you drive your car for a while and don’t want to visit the repair garage too often, or you are about to buy a new car, find a reliable car loan service at https://www.scb.co.th/en/personal-banking/loans/car-loans.html