6 Signs Your Buick or GMC Needs Brake Repair

When a road accident occurs in the US because of a vehicle defect, brakes are to blame 22% of the time. Drivers in Waipahu, HI, face the very same risk if they neglect their brakes. To ensure that you never experience the scary prospect of brake failure, it’s important to notice signs of brake trouble early on and head straight to your nearest GMC dealer for brake repair without delay.

6 Signs Your Buick or GMC Needs Brake Repair

Screeching Brake Pads

Every time you use our brakes, the brake pads are pressed against the rotor, generating friction that slows and stops your car. When used, the upper friction layer on each brake pad wears down a little more. Eventually, worn-out brake pads need to be replaced.

You’re likely to be warned of a worn-down pad by a high-pitched screeching sound. As unpleasant as this noise may be, it’s actually purposefully created by the brake pad designers. When a pad is almost finished, a tiny metal tab is uncovered that scrapes against the rotor, generating the screeching sound. When you hear this noise, ask a trusted technician at your local GMC dealership to inspect and replace the worn-out pad.

Metallic Grinding Sounds

If you ever hear a heavier metallic grinding sound while braking, you might have a more serious problem to resolve. One common cause of grinding noises is when the friction layer on a brake pad has worn away altogether. This means the pad’s metal plate is scraping directly against the rotor disc.

Not only might reduce your car’s stopping power, but it can also rapidly damage the rotor. This would mean a more expensive brake repair job than simply replacing a brake pad. So if you hear grinding sounds when you press the brake pedal, don’t hesitate to get the problem fixed.

Vibrating Brake Pedal

As durable as brake rotor discs are, they also wear down over time. An aging rotor can sometimes become scored by a brake pad or warped out of shape by overheating. If this occurs, the misshapen rotor may generate rhythmic vibrations that you can feel through the brake pedal or even through the steering wheel.

If a damaged rotor isn’t excessively worn down, it can sometimes be repaired with a resurfacing process. However, overly thin or badly warped rotors will often have to go.

Car Tugging to One Side

Has your car started veering to one side when you brake? This issue might be caused by a range of underlying problems. Firstly, most brake faults develop on one side of a car rather than evenly on both sides. This naturally decreases the stopping power on that side of the vehicle, which results in a slight pull in the opposite direction: the side of the car that now has stronger brakes.

Aside from brake-related problems like worn-out brake pads, brake fluid leaks, brake fluid contamination, and caliper faults, tugging to one side might also be caused by other car parts malfunctioning. Bad wheel alignment, worn suspension components, uneven tire pressure, faulty steering linkage, or another other factor might be to blame. It’s best to have a local Waipahu, HI technician diagnose and fix the fault.

Diminished Stopping Power

Needless to say, one of the worst brake problems to experience is an unexpected loss of stopping power, especially if you need to brake suddenly in an emergency. The often winding mountainous roads near Waipahu, HI make any reduction in brake force particularly dangerous. If your brake pedal ever fails to slow your car down as it should, pull over safely as soon as you can.

Suddenly diminished stopping power is often called brake fade. One common cause of brake fade is overheating brakes, which can sometimes occur when brakes are used without pause for prolonged periods, such as when driving in heavy traffic, towing or carrying excessively heavy loads, or traversing very steep or winding mountainous roads. After experiencing brake fade, if your brakes are damaged or less effective, you’ll need to get brake repair at your nearest GMC dealer.

Spongy Brake Pedal

Another serious brake problem is leaking brake fluid. Brake fluid fills the brake lines and provides lubrication to various moving parts of your car’s braking system. Brake fluid also maintains hydraulic pressure within the brake lines that allows force to be transferred from your foot on the pedal to the calipers on each wheel. If any of your brake lines ever spring a leak, air will seep into the brake line and the hydraulic pressure will be reduced.

This loss of hydraulic pressure means your brake pedal can no longer effectively signal the connected caliper to apply the brakes. If this ever occurs, the brake pedal might feel slightly spongy underfoot. Pull over and look under your car for puddles of a transparent, yellow-tinted liquid. A technician will need to locate and repair a brake fluid leak, which might originate from a worn seal, caliper, master cylinder, or wheel cylinder.

Get Brake Servicing at Your GMC Dealer in Waipahu, HI

While drivers should keep an eye out for potential brake problems, routine preventative maintenance makes it far less likely that you’ll ever experience brake trouble in the first place. It’s advisable to visit a GMC dealer for brake servicing every 18,000 miles. Consider doing so even more frequently if you regularly drive under brake-heavy conditions, such as commuting into the rush hour traffic of nearby Honolulu or towing trailers into the mountains to the north of Waipahu, HI.

While servicing your brakes, the technician will check all the brake lines under the hood and beneath your car. They’ll raise the vehicle to remove the wheels and each braking component. They’ll carefully check each caliper, rotor, and pad for signs of wear and tear and let you know how much longer each part is likely to last.

Visit Cutter Buick GMC today to have your car’s brakes examined and repaired by experienced professionals. We’re a trusted local dealership offering a large inventory of new and used vehicles alongside top-notch vehicle maintenance to the drivers of Waipahu, HI, and all of Oahu.