Your Chevy has numerous safety features to provide a comfortable, stress-free driving experience. With all these features, the most important is your brakes. Without effective brakes, you lose almost all control over your car and this can easily lead to an accident. Your Chevy dealer cares about your safety and if you need a brake repair we can fix it for you.
Brake Light Comes On
You have two brake lights, one for the handbrake and the other for your ABS. These lights should come on when you start your engine and then go off. If either of these lights comes on and stays on, you have a brake problem. The main reason for the handbrake light coming on is forgetting to release the handbrake. If you drive with the handbrake on, you can damage your brake pads and rotors.
The ABS light represents your anti-lock braking system, and it’s designed to keep your wheels from locking if you brake suddenly. It gives you extra control over your braking in difficult conditions. If your ABS fails, your brakes will work but braking will become challenging. We advise that you have the ABS checked by our technicians so we can find and repair the problem.
Pulling to One Side
The weird sensation of your car pulling to one side is caused by one of your front brakes working normally and the other doesn’t work. This problem is caused by either a jammed caliper or a damaged brake hose. When you use the brakes, brake fluid is forced into the brake hoses. The fluid exerts a hydraulic pressure to push the calipers against the wheel rotors and stop your car.
The most common damage to a caliper is a seized caliper pin. This prevents the caliper from pushing against the rotor and stopping the attached wheel. A damaged brake hose prevents brake fluid from exerting pressure to push the caliper against the rotor. Both of these situations mean one of your wheels doesn’t have a brake, and your car will veer toward the side of your car that has a working brake.
Grinding Sounds
A grinding sound from your wheels is caused by a worn brake pad. The calipers have brake pads attached to them. The friction material on the brake pads helps to stop the rotors quicker. As you use your brakes, the friction material gradually starts to wear off. When the material has worn off completely the metal of the brake pad will be in direct contact with the metal rotors when you brake.
The grinding sound means the brake pads are gouging into the rotors. We can replace the brake pads but we also need to check the rotors. Depending on the damage, the rotors may be repairable or they might have to be replaced.
If you have any problems with your brakes, call our service department ASAP at Mike Kelly Chevrolet and we’ll fix them for you.
Image via Pixabay