Is the brake pedal on your car feeling a little spongy these days? At a red light, is your brake pedal going all the way to the floor? There’s a good chance your brake lines have air in them. This is what you should do.
A hydraulic braking system, like the one found in most cars and trucks, uses brake fluid to make pressure. This is how most cars and trucks brake. As soon as you step on the brake pedal, the whole system starts to work together. But have you ever wondered why your brake fluid level goes down over time? The fluid isn’t going away by itself. There is, in fact, a very practical reason why this happens. As your brake pads wear down over a few thousand miles of use, the distance your brake pads have to travel to make contact with your rotors gets longer and longer. hydraulic pistons move back and forth slowly to keep the brake pads and rotors in line with each other as they wear down. You can see how the system needs more brake fluid as time goes on. It’s only a small distance, but when you think about how many brake pads there are and how each set wears down a little more each time you hit the brake pedal, it’s easy to see. It’s likely that you already know that your brake fluid level drops as your brake pads wear down. Right? But that’s where a common problem with the brakes starts.
The master cylinder has a sealed, airtight reservoir on top of it where the brake fluid is kept safe and clean. There is a gap in the brake fluid when the level goes down, so air moves in to fill it in Air-tight: Wait a minute, did we just say that? There’s a good chance that air will get into the reservoir over time, and it will eventually get into your brake lines. Every time you open the cap to check the level of your brake fluid, you’re letting air in. When the fluid level is right, air isn’t a big deal. However, the more worn your brake pads are, the bigger the void gets. This is why it is so important to keep the fluid level where it needs to be.
It can also be caused by water, which can cause brake problems. Water can cause air to build up in your brake lines. Why is that? Well, brake fluid is hygroscopic, which means it takes in and stores water. When the fluid has taken in as much water as it can, it becomes saturated. Brake fluid is designed to have a very high boiling point. However, if you brake a lot, like on a trip through the mountains, you can easily cause the brake fluid to heat up to this temperature or even higher. Because there is a lot of water in the brake fluid, it boils when it gets hot. This makes steam as a byproduct. Once this steam is compressed, it turns into water. There is a lot of air in your brake lines because the water and air separate.
You don’t want a spongy brake pedal, but there’s no need to worry about it. You probably don’t need to do a full brake overhaul. What you need to do, like with other brake problems, is deal with it right away. Brakes are one of the most important safety features on your car. With a bad brake system, you’re putting your own safety and the safety of other drivers at risk, of course. So, what can you do next? You can be sure that your brakes will work well after you bleed them. This simple procedure will get rid of any air in the lines and make your brake pedal work again. To do this at home in your garage, you can either do it yourself or go to a nearby car service. Then, while you’re at it, you might as well change your fluid as well, too. Brake fluid, as we said, becomes saturated and can break down over time, so go ahead and change it while you can. Brakes should be strong and work well with new brake pads, new brake fluid, and brake lines that have been bled.
