Brake failure causes a staggering 300,000 road accidents each year in the US. It’s a scary prospect that brakes can sometimes fail. But drivers who look out for early warning signs of brake trouble rarely have serious problems. If you identify any of the following four phenomena, promptly visit your local Honda dealer for brake repair.
4 Signs Your Honda Needs a Brake Repair
Vibrations When Braking
Your rotor discs play a critical role in the braking mechanism. Rotors are metal discs connected to your wheels. When you press the brake pedal, the calipers clamp brake pads onto your rotors, slowing and stopping your car. Rotor discs are usually made of iron or steel, and higher-end rotors are often made of high-carbon iron or ceramic.
When a rotor becomes damaged, you’ll feel rhythmic vibrations of pulses through your brake pedal and also your steering wheel. These vibrations come from the brake pads running over an uneven rotor surface. Rotors can be damaged by overworn brake pads or extended periods of overheating. A damaged rotor can sometimes be restored with a resurfacing process, but it will more often need to be replaced.
Squealing or Grinding When Braking
Brake pads, which clamp onto the rotors, inevitably wear down over time. Brake pads have an upper friction layer made of semi-metallic, ceramic, or even organic material. This friction layer wears away a fraction each time you press on the brake pedal. When the friction layer wears dangerously thin, modern brake pads are designed to emit a high-pitched squealing sound to alert you.
So if you ever hear squealing while braking, don’t delay in having the noisy brake pad replaced. On average, brake pads last 30,000 to 40,000 miles. This varies depending on how heavy your vehicle is and how brake-heavy your driving style is too.
Burning Smells When Braking
Overheating through overuse is the most common way that braking mechanisms undergo serious damage. If you’re driving in heavy stop-and-go traffic every day or navigating mountainous roads with long steep downhill stretches while carrying a heavy load, then your brakes are at greater risk of overheating.
You might detect a burning smell if your rotors and brake pads start to overheat. It’s best to pull over and allow your brakes to rest for a while, after which the burning smell will hopefully disappear. If it persists, have a technician take a look.
Infrequent Servicing at Your Local Honda Dealer
The safest and surest way to keep your brakes healthy is with regular brake servicing. You should ideally have your brakes serviced every 12,000 miles. This works out to once a year for most drivers. But many Honda drivers have their brakes checked every six months.
If you realize you haven’t had your brakes checked for more than a year, have them inspected at once. This is advisable even if you can’t yet detect signs of brake trouble. When it comes to your brakes, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Have your brakes inspected and repaired by experienced technicians today at Tony Honda. We’re a locally trusted dealership that’s been providing the local drivers of Hawaii with exceptional vehicles and service for 45 years.
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