My father passed away from mesothelioma about a year ago. We believe his asbestos exposure came from brake dust. It is a horrible disease, and I would tell you to avoid it, except that asbestos is fricken everywhere!Originally Posted by t2p
As for the half-brakes, I have to tell you a story about my 1981 Dodge Aries K-car. Wow. It was a total piece of crap, but it was a perfect first car for a high school kid. After a while, the brakes started failing on it. The first stab of the peddle wouldn't do anything. The second would finally take hold and you'd slow down. This was obviously a Bad Thing, so we read the old Haynes manual and followed the troubleshooting guide.
First step? Does the brake warning light work? Well, sure it does. Stupid question. Next!!
We drained, purged, adjusted, etc. Finally, we pulled off the wheels and found that half the brakes were brand new, and half had nothing left.
It turns out that half the brake system failed, and the warning light bothered the previous owner so much that he disconnected the sensor.
Moral of the story: If you find that half your brakes are worn -- especially on the diagonal (left front and right rear) check the master cylinder. When it detects a fault in the brakes, a valve will isolate half the brakes so that you still have half a system. It SHOULD turn on a warning light, too.
Should...
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