Basic Brake System
Of all the systems that make up your car, the brake system might just be the most important. Years ago, it was also one of the simplest. Over the years as improvements have been made, the system that has evolved isn't so simple anymore. Your brakes work as hard or harder than any other part of the car.
Brakes operate on a simple hydraulic principle. When you depress your brake pedal, your car transmits the force from your foot to its brakes through a fluid. Since the actual brakes require a much greater force than you could apply with your leg, your car must also multiply the force of your foot. Now this is how the force from your foot gets to the four corners of the car. If we add a lever to magnify the force applied to the first (master) cylinder, and maybe even a power booster unit to increase that force even more, all we have to do next is figure a way to use that force to slow down the wheels. Since the wheels are attached to the car, slowing them down will slow the car.
Let's bolt a disc (Brake rotor) to the wheel, so that it rotates whenever the wheel does. We'll mount it in such a way that the edge of it is between the caliper piston and the caliper that we have bolted to the axle of the car. So that when the piston moves out, the disc is pinched between it and the other side of the caliper. Actually we're not quite done. As we have the system now, the disc and the caliper would wear out rather quickly (not to mention making horrible grinding/scraping noises). We need to put something between them to protect the surfaces. Let's call this part the "Brake Pads".
Brake pads have two main parts, the steel backing, and the actual friction material. The backing is only there to support the friction material, which does the actual work of stopping the car. The friction material does it's job by converting the energy of motion to heat energy. This is done by the magic of friction. The friction between the pad and the disc slows down the disc, and creates heat. This heat is transferred to the pad and the disc and then (at some fixed rate) dissipated to the surrounding air. How fast that heat is radiated is determined by a simple formula, depends on mainly two factors, the temperature of the air around the parts, and the flow of air past them. 99% of the time, this cooling is more than enough to keep the brakes cool enough to work just fine.
OK, now we have our simple brake system. Let's see what can go wrong...
Air In The System
This is usually caused by air getting into the brake fluid area, usually from the master cylinder. As the brake pads wear, the caliper pistons ride farther out of the caliper, allowing more fluid to remain in the calipers. Over time this can add up to almost as much fluid as there is in the master cylinder reservoir. If neglected, this will allow the master cylinder to pump some air into the brake lines. Air is very compressable, whereas brake fluid is not, as long as there is a solid stream of brake fluid between the master cylinder piston and the caliper piston, the brake pedal will be nice and firm. If there is air in the system, the pedal will feel spongy and will go down almost all the way to the floor, maybe all the way, depending on how much air is in the system. The standard way of dealing with air in the brake system is to perform an operation called "bleeding the brakes".
Hard Brake Pedal
Can be caused by bad power booster, (or loss of vacuum to the booster) seized caliper pistons, seized caliper slides, pinched brake lines, and (rarely) problems with the pedal linkage under the dash.
Brake Squeal
This is a high pitched squealing noise, often heard when you are going slow and are not applying the brakes. If it goes away as you apply the brakes, it could be coming from the brake wear sensors. (Also called 'squealers' by mechanics.) They are small bits of spring steel that are attached to the brake pads in such a way that when the pads are about 75% worn out, the sensors start to rub on the rotors, making the noise. GM invented them, and they are one of the best ideas anyone has ever had in the automotive industry. The sound is so scary that you usually go to a mechanic before any major damage is done to your rotors, and before your braking power is compromised, saving you money and maybe your life.
Grinding Noise
Although this is one of the nastiest sounds you will ever hear, it often is the easiest to repair. The first thing you must do is learn what is making the noise. Figure out which wheel it is, then, after safely raising and supporting the car, take off the wheel & tire. Hopefully you will see a simple disc brake system, with a rotor, a caliper, and brake pads. Identify the various components. Gently rotate the brake rotor back and forth until you can identify the source of the noise. Sometimes it is just a small stone, trapped between the brake rotor and the air deflector. The faces of the rotor should be smooth and clean. If you see large scaly rusted places on the friction surfaces of the rotor you should replace them. Most of the time new ones cost less than you would guess. If your pads are worn out (less than 3/16 of an inch of friction material left) and you catch it in time, all you have to do is install new brake pads. If the surface of the rotor is damaged, you will have to resurface or replace it.
Brake Pedal Pulsation
There are a lot of things that can cause this, from out-of-adjustment wheel bearings to rotors that are bent, brake drums that are out-of-round, rusty spots on the rotors that have a different surface smoothness. To determine whether the pulsation is coming from the front or the rear wheels, check to see if you can feel the pulsation in the steering wheel when the pedal is pulsating. If you can, the problem is coming from the front wheels.
Brake Pull
Mostly this one comes from either a caliper piston seized or caliper slides seized. This one is dangerous! If your car tries to turn when you apply the brakes you could veer into oncoming traffic. What often happens with this one is this: the caliper piston on one side starts to seize, the other one now applies first, car veers away from bad part. Driver learns to compensate by steering opposite to the pull every time he brakes. A panic situation comes along, driver nails the brakes, steers away from the expected pull, but because the piston was only partially seized, it works just fine when the brakes are applied with vigor. There is no pull this time. It is easy to lose control of your car in situations like this, if your car pulls to one side or the other when you brake, fix it (or get it fixed) before you hurt somebody. Replace calipers and pads and service the caliper slides.
Brake Grabbing
When you just barely touch the brake pedal and one or more wheels locks up and skids. This one most commonly comes from contaminated friction material on one or more brakes.
Pedal Goes To The Floor
Gotta be the scariest of them all. If you're lucky, a quick pump on the pedal will get you some braking action. On most newer cars, there will be some braking just before the pedal reaches the floor. Stop driving and check your fluid level. It might just need to be topped up to temporarily get you some braking action to get you home. Regardless, you must find out what caused it and fix it before you drive any further.
