Brakes out, but no brakelight?
- Thread starter NViejeP
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greasefingers
New member
If you mean the rear brake lights do not light up then that is usually the limit switch the comes into physical contact with the brake pedal.
If you are talking about a warning light on the dashboard, due to bad brake pads, then this will not happen. The warning light will only come on if the fluid in the master cylinder reservoir is low. Many times if the pads are worn down a lot then the fluid level will also decrease enough to set this off. But would obviously depends on the fill level.
If you are talking about a warning light on the dashboard, due to bad brake pads, then this will not happen. The warning light will only come on if the fluid in the master cylinder reservoir is low. Many times if the pads are worn down a lot then the fluid level will also decrease enough to set this off. But would obviously depends on the fill level.
TechWrench
Senior Member
NViejeP said:
As mentioned above, the brake warning light on the dash is triggered by the fluid level in the master cylinder, if someone has 'topped' it off in the past, it may not register because of normal pad wear. If you have a problem with a caliper, and only one pad is wearing down to the metal, then there may not have been enough fluid drop in the master cylinder to trigger the warning lamp. It is also possible that the float in the master cylinder that measures fluid level has become 'stuck', and isn't reading the fluid level properly. In either case, I would check all the pads ASAP, if you do have a pad grinding on the rotor, it needs to be fixed.
I see. That would explain it becasue my brake light came on but I didn't think my brakes were out so I topped off the brake fluid.
Right now, I can feel grinding.
How safe is it for me to drive 3 miles to school with my brakes in these conditions if I can feel them grinding? Also, can it damage the metal therefore causing more money being spent into my brakes being changed?
Because I need to wait till I get paid to get my brakes changed and thats nto until a few days. Also, whats a good price for a brake pad change?
Right now, I can feel grinding.
How safe is it for me to drive 3 miles to school with my brakes in these conditions if I can feel them grinding? Also, can it damage the metal therefore causing more money being spent into my brakes being changed?
Because I need to wait till I get paid to get my brakes changed and thats nto until a few days. Also, whats a good price for a brake pad change?
TechWrench
Senior Member
NViejeP said:
I suppose it will probably be safe to drive for a short while. That is one good thing about the design of disk brakes, they will continue to try to work, even if there is no pad material left. But the metal on metal contact is not good for the rotors, and is not as efficient at stopping the vehicle. But, if you do have metal on metal contact, as indicated by the grinding noise, you are doing damage to the rotor. At the very least, they will have to be resurfaced, but more likely they will need to be replaced. What you should also be concerned with it why the pads are worn that badly in the first place. If it is only one pad out of all of them, you probably have a caliper problem to repair also.
Uneek
Super Moderator
TechWrench said:
:iagree: it's best to pull the wheels and take a look at your brakes. I just worked on the previous (5th) gen Camry where the pad completely wore away and it was using the brake pad backing plate for the friction material. Fortunately for the owner, the brake rotors had enough left for resurfacing. If it's sounding like a metal to metal grinding sound, I would recommend keeping the car parked.
The problem with that Camry was the wear indicators were not properly set from the factory. The wear indicator was never set far enough towards the pad to touch rotor and make the squeaking sounds to indicate little pad material left. So the owner just kept waiting for the brakes to squeak, which it never did and used the backing plate for brakes. Had he been rotating his tires and checking the brakes at regular intervals, this could've been averted. I got the replacement wear indicators and they are set INCORRECTLY too. I will have to reshape them with some pliers. I'll attach pics of them later.
I've been hearing a small squeek but it was never really that bad, and than all of a sudden, I wake up one morning and when I try to brake, I feel metal on metal.
I'm going to take it in Thursday I think, I'm pretty worried that there is damage. If there is damage, am I looking at a lot of moneys worth of damage? Or will it not be too bad?
Thanks
I'm going to take it in Thursday I think, I'm pretty worried that there is damage. If there is damage, am I looking at a lot of moneys worth of damage? Or will it not be too bad?
Thanks
TechWrench
Senior Member
NViejeP said:
The cost at a repair shop or dealer is going to depend on what damage they find and what they feel needs to be replaced. I do all my own brake work, and I have never gotten any estimates from a shop first, so I don't know what my brake work would have cost if I didn't do it myself. But, there are several threads about brake problems here, and I seem to recall some people reporting dealer estimates as high as $1,000.00 or more for brake work.
Uneek
Super Moderator
NViejeP said:
Depends how long you've been driving on it with the grinding sound, the extent of the damage to the rotors and if the rotors have their service life left (minimum thickness). If the rotors are slightly scored or gouged, you can have them resurfaced a considerable savings over replacement.
Pads aren't too expensive, they usually run ~$40 for the fronts, $50 on the rears. The wear sensors are $7 for the front set. Rotors are about $80 each. That's the most expensive part aside from the calipers, if you have frozen pistons. This is my cost through a buddy at the parts counter. Your cost will vary depending if you're going with OEM Toyota parts or aftermarket parts. Kragen charges $14 to resurface each rotor. You'll want to call ahead if you're using Kragen as not all locations have equipment to cut rotors and the employee who's trained to operate the equipment may or may not be in.
Good luck.
