brakes

[Smallpotatoes]

Tonight on the way home from work, the brake warning light went on three times shortly after I took my foot off the breaks. In May, I had new pads and rotors installed.
I know the miles is more important than the time and it's been about 18,000 miles, but one might think they'd last longer than seven months.
What is it about old cars that causes parts to wear down faster than they normally would last?

 

[sportschick]

Brad Renfro injects heroin into the brake lines.

 

[BYH]

That ****'ll kill you, you know.

 

[sportschick]

In all seriousness, I don't know where you live, but if they use a lot of salt or chemicals on your roads, your brakes will wear out more quickly.

And I'd check your brake fluid for black tar

 

[dooley_womack1]

Just say no to brakes.

And black tar is Ryan Sonner's way of telling people flannel sucks.

 

[slappy4428]

Tonight on the way home from work, the brake warning light went on three times shortly after I took my foot off the breaks. In May, I had new pads and rotors installed.
I know the miles is more important than the time and it's been about 18,000 miles, but one might think they'd last longer than seven months.
What is it about old cars that causes parts to wear down faster than they normally would last?

I'd be more worried about putting 18,K miles on the car in seven months. Where the **** are you driving?

 

[Smallpotatoes]

Tonight on the way home from work, the brake warning light went on three times shortly after I took my foot off the breaks. In May, I had new pads and rotors installed.
I know the miles is more important than the time and it's been about 18,000 miles, but one might think they'd last longer than seven months.
What is it about old cars that causes parts to wear down faster than they normally would last?

I'd be more worried about putting 18,K miles on the car in seven months. Where the **** are you driving?

Work, games, an occasional trip to Connecticut or New Hampshire.

 

[BYH]

He was also Brad Renfro's designated driver.

 

[spnited]

Get your receipt and whatever warranty you have, go back to the place that did the brakes, talk to them. They are responsibile for the work they did, not us.

Is this really that hard?

 

[crusoes]

Get the system checked by a mechanic you trust. And if you live in New England, and they salt a lot, make sure you get your car washed, especially underneath, at least once a month.

 

[slappy4428]

Tonight on the way home from work, the brake warning light went on three times shortly after I took my foot off the breaks. In May, I had new pads and rotors installed.
I know the miles is more important than the time and it's been about 18,000 miles, but one might think they'd last longer than seven months.
What is it about old cars that causes parts to wear down faster than they normally would last?

I'd be more worried about putting 18,K miles on the car in seven months. Where the **** are you driving?

Work, games, an occasional trip to Connecticut or New Hampshire.

From where, Montana?

 

[Smallpotatoes]

Tonight on the way home from work, the brake warning light went on three times shortly after I took my foot off the breaks. In May, I had new pads and rotors installed.
I know the miles is more important than the time and it's been about 18,000 miles, but one might think they'd last longer than seven months.
What is it about old cars that causes parts to wear down faster than they normally would last?

I'd be more worried about putting 18,K miles on the car in seven months. Where the **** are you driving?

Work, games, an occasional trip to Connecticut or New Hampshire.

From where, Montana?

Massachusetts. It's about 20 miles to work each way.

 

[old_tony]

The brake warning light could be more than just the pads. If you're low on fluid it could engage the light. Also, the master cylinder could need replacing. The last time my brake light went on, that's what it was. That was a few cars ago.

No way should you need new pads and rotors after 18K miles.

My Toyota has 172K miles on it and I've only had the front pads and rotors done once (either two years or one year ago, I don't remember which). Now a great percentage of those miles were highway miles. But I've always been easy on my brakes. I always own manual transmission and I most often let the engine slow me down quite a bit before I use the brakes.

At times I play a little game to see if I can get off the freeway at 70 mph and reach a full stop by the stoplight at the top of the uphill ramp without braking. I've done it a few times.

Some folks figure I should have gone through a clutch or two, but I'm also still on the first clutch. And on another thread I've already discussed how I'm still only on the second set of tires. That vehicle is why I'll always buy Toyota.

 

[Jeremy Goodwin]

Kurtis Blows knows what you should do...

 

[Smallpotatoes]

Slappy has a point however. I really do need to find a way to cut back on driving. Otherwise I'm going to be saying "Didn't I just get that fixed a few months ago?" a lot.

 

[Football_Bat]

If your pads are worn, you will begin to hear a godawful screech. That is the sensor on the pad rubbing the rotor. That means you have a couple thousand miles before you start grinding metal on metal and it's time to do the pads, buddy.

A brake light coming on will not signify worn pads or shoes. Like Tony said, it's either low fluid or a master/slave cylinder. And brakes don't lose fluid in a normal course of events. Check your driveway.

I've worked on my own brake pads and rotors since I was a kid. Anything more, though, and I've got to take it in.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

If your pads are worn, you will begin to hear a godawful screech. That is the sensor on the pad rubbing the rotor. That means you have a couple thousand miles before you start grinding metal on metal and it's time to do the pads, buddy.

A brake light coming on will not signify worn pads or shoes. Like Tony said, it's either low fluid or a master/slave cylinder. And brakes don't lose fluid in a normal course of events. Check your driveway.

I've worked on my own brake pads and rotors since I was a kid. Anything more, though, and I've got to take it in.

If it is the pads and/or rotors, you would be able to feel it through the brake pedal when you use it. If anything, this sounds fluid/master cylinder/slave cylinder related.

There's also a possibility that the sensor is false-alarming, i.e., nothing is wrong. Winter weather can play games on the sensors that trip those dash lights.

Just don't stop pursuing this issue. 8)

 

[spnited]

Again, smallpo, why would you not take it back to the guys who did the brake work and find out WTF is wrong and what they can do to fix it?

 

[Sam Mills 51]

S-P's advice is probably the best first step ... especially if the place where you had the brakes serviced came across as reputable. A place worth its salt (not of the road-clearing variety) would, at worst, tell you in detail what is not right.

 

[expendable]

My first check would be to look at the brake fluid and see if its low. It could be as simple as the cap getting knocked off the last time you checked or had the oil replaced. If that's the case, be careful to read what type of fluid to buy "Dot 3" or "Dot 4" etc. It should be on the cap or in the owner's manual.