Repair a Brake Pedal That Pulses When Stopping

All cars come standard with braking systems in order to slow down or stop the cars from moving. The force applied by the foot on the brake pedal is multiplied many times greater to the car brakes to slow down or stop the car in two ways that is via mechanical advantage or via hydraulic force multiplication.

What if one day when you are stopping your car, you notice that the car operates as if you are pressing and then releasing the brake and you feel that the brake pedal is pushing back your foot.

The main reason that can cause this problem is that the disc brake rotor has already gone out of shape or also known as warped disc brake rotors due to sudden cooling of the rotors, accumulation of resin from the interior of the brake pads, over tightening of the lug nuts and also abuse of the brakes.

Normally, this problem can be solved by cutting the rotor but please be informed that not all brake rotors can be safely cut especially the vented disc brake rotors because there are limitations on the amount of metal that can be removed from the brake rotor or the brake drum.

You can determine by yourself whether your car has warped disc brake rotors by firstly depressing the brake pedal slowly at ten miles per hour on a deserted street. Then continue again a little faster. If the brake system is in normal condition, you can feel that the pressure is even on the brake pedal.

Actually you can feel the brake pedal moving under your foot if the brake pedal pulses. You can feel the pulsation even more if you drive faster and you can even feel the vibration through the steering wheel in severe cases. This problem normally can be solved by cutting the brake rotors or just simply replace the brake rotors.

Cars that come with drums can also have this problem. Not all cars have disc brakes all around because some cars are fitted with brake drums at the rear. If the drum is not perfectly round in shape and instead it is oval, the brake pedal can also pulse. This problem can also be solved by cutting the brake drums or simply replaced with new brake drums.

Please be aware and ensure that the cutting of the rotors and the replacement of the rotors should be done by an experience automobile mechanic.