Loud, metal grinding noises when braking and poor brake performance Don’t save pennies where you absolutely should not. The price difference is small, and brake pads represent one of the more important safety components of your vehicle. The price difference between cheap and high-quality brake pads is not something you should really pay attention to. Make sure you always buy high-quality brake pads that are the right fit for your vehicle. Friction lining can also start chipping away which causes additional problems. Weird noises accompanied by poor braking performance and premature wear of brake padsĪnother set of reasons for weird noises, poor braking performance and premature wear of the brake pads is oftentimes incorrect assembly, mechanical overstressing and overheating, bad quality or use of non-compliant brake pads. Damaged brake pads will need replacement. Worn out brake discs or rotors can damage the surface of the brake pad, causing bad braking performance and weird noises. In some cases, this can also be caused by salt and dirt deposits on brake discs or brake pads during winter. Just kidding, this can also happen if foreign objects come in between the brake pad and the brake disc. If you just installed new brake pads but ignored the fact that you also have worn out brake discs, this one is for you. Poor braking performance with new brake pads and weird noises All of this leads to poor braking performance which is usually accompanied with weird noises and sounds. Overheating disintegrates the friction material and lining, it makes the surface of the brake pad “glassy” and porous. It can also happen during extreme driving conditions (excessive braking when going downhill for instance) and during continuous braking (brake pads have no time to cool off). Overheating can happen if your brake caliper/brake pistons get stuck and do not move back from the brake disc. Weird noises and poor braking performance on brake pads that have enough friction material are usually a consequence of overheating. Weird noises and poor braking performance Other symptoms of this can include squeaking when braking, lessened braking performance, and overheating of the braking system. When this happens, you will often experience grinding noises even when you are not braking as the detached friction material freely grinds upon the brake discs. This detachment of the friction lining can also happen if brake pads are of poor quality if they are poorly fitted or because of rusting between the carrier plate and the friction material. If your brake pads are old but not necessarily worn out, what can happen is that the friction material that comes into contact with the brake disc actually detaches from the carrier plate of the brake pad. Symptoms of worn out brake pads are in some ways also similar to symptoms of bad wheel bearings. Sometimes even fairly new brake pads can be causing trouble, even though most drivers think it is impossible since they are new. Most other websites will list the 5 generic symptoms of bad brake pads like grinding noises, squeaking noises, bad braking performance, etc… What we want to do is introduce symptoms and although we will be repeating some of those symptoms it is because there are different causes for those symptoms. Symptoms of bad brake pads (And reasons for those symptoms) This video perfectly shows how bad brake pads look and sound. If your vehicle has drum brakes, the minimum thickness of brake pads should not be lower than 1 mm.īad brake pads will also signal trouble through many of the symptoms of worn-out brake pads that we will cover as we continue. Anything less than that is considered dangerous and you should have your brake pads replaced. There should be at least 4 mm (almost ¼ inch) of lining on the brake bad. Inspect the brake pads, take pictures and get someone else’s opinion if you suspect that your brake pads are worn out. When you remove the wheels, you have a clear view of the brake system. Another good time to inspect brake pads is when you are rotating your wheels or when you are switching between summer and winter tires. If you see there is very little “meat” or friction lining on the brake pads, you should visit a mechanic to confirm your diagnosis. This will allow you to get a better view of the brake discs, calipers and brake pads. You can visually inspect the thickness of brake pads if you turn your wheel completely to the left or right. However, if you drive an older car, you will have to use your ears, eyes and other senses. This simple indicator will trigger a warning light or warning message on your dashboard once the thickness of the brake pad lining gets under the minimal value (usually 4mm). Modern or well, younger vehicles will usually come with electronic wear indicators.
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