What may indicate a problem with your brakes

Do you know that even a very minor problem with the brake system can make a vehicle unsafe to drive? For example, a cracked brake hose or rusty brake line can cause brakes to fail unexpectedly.
Obviously, buying a used car, it's very important to check brakes performance, especially if the car was parked for a long time. Of course, the only way to check the car properly is to have it inspected by a professional mechanic. This guide is NOT intended to substitute an inspection by a mechanic. To help you be safe, we described few simple tips that may help you to discover a possible problem with brakes.

Brake fluid level

Few symptoms indicating a brake problem

We cannot list all possible symptoms, if you suspect you have a problem with your brakes have a car inspected as soon as possible. Below are just a few most common symptoms that indicate a brake system problem:
- brake warning lights comes on while driving
- brake fluid level is low
- ABS warning light comes on while driving
- the vehicle pulls to one side during braking
- the brake pedal pulsates and (or) the vehicle vibrates during braking (mostly you can feel it from the steering wheel)
- the brake pedal is too hard or too spongy
- the brake pedal goes down too far
- any kind of noise while braking (e.g screeching, squeaking, grinding)
- the brakes drag (the car does not roll freely)
- smell of burnt brakes

Parking brake operation

Many people who drive automatic transmission vehicles rarely use parking brake. This may cause parking brake mechanism and cables to seize up. To check, try to set the parking brake - it should prevent vehicle from rolling. Once released, the vehicle should roll freely.

Regular mechanical inspection

For your safety, I recommend to have your car inspected regularly, at least once a year, by a qualified mechanic in a garage. I mean not just visual inspection by one of the fast lube places, but by a professional mechanic that can lift your car and check major components such as brakes, suspension, etc., while having your tires rotated, for example. This is because many components (e.g ball joints), can not be inspected visually.

If you are looking for more detailed technical information

If you want to find more technical information about you car such as all kind of diagrams (transmission diagram, engine diagrams, vacuum line diagram, electrical diagram, etc.) repair information, specification, fluids type, maintenance schedule, component location, service bulletins and so on, there is a website which for a small fee allows you to browse all such an information for almost any car model on-line. To learn more visit this page: Where to find technical information about your car