Many people have told me my brake pads are low...what exactly does it mean and what could happen if i drive it around? i wont be able to go to my mechanic until next friday...but i need to drive my car around! Thanks!

 

If you don't hear a squealing noise yet, then i think you will be okay for another week. Just try not to get into a situation where you have to jam your brakes really hard to stop. Try changing the brakes yourself. There is a write up on this in the DIY section. Its not hard at all. Good luck!

 

there's no squeaking noise. but the front left wheel feels hot from driving. it seems like it's coming from the brake...

 

also it seems like my car is braking the whole time im driving without actually pressing on the brake pedal...

 

are you sure you didn't drive with the parking brake on....how much low is it on the pads?

 

You may have a stuck caliper. Parking brakes are on the rear. Is the car pulling to the left? Jack up the car and try to spin the wheel to see if there is any drag.

 

yes the car is pulling to the left a bit...i think there's a bit drag as well. yea, i definitely didn't have the parking brake on when i was driving.

 

Change your front brakes and make sure that you grease all the proper pieces. And also make sure that you have the butterfly pins that go onto the brake pads.

 

Assuming this may not be familiar to you, a brake pad is a metal plate that has a high friction material bonded to it. The pad gets installed with the metal plate against a piston in the caliper. When you press on the brake pedal, brake fluid presses on the pad forcing it into the disk. It also ends up pressing on the caliper which pulls the pad on the other side of the disk into the disk. The friction material is what clamps and provides the braking action and it is meant to sacrifice itself as it works. If you have multiple piston calipers it means that there is a piston on both sides pressing on the pad. When someone says the pad is low, they are usually saying that there is very little of the friction material left. Once it is gone, the metal pad gets pushed into the disk which is where the squealing comes from. It also starts digging ruts in the disk. They might be able to be machined out but the pistons have limited travel so once the disk gets too thin, either from maching or wear, the pistons won't have enough travel to provide good braking and you need to replace the disks.

I don't know who told you the pads were low or how low they are but let's just hope you are OK for a week. I think it is purely foolish to let a pad wear to the point where it is even close to having the friction material gone. One other rare event is that if the car is old, the pistons in the calipers may be worn in the bores they travel in. When the pads are new and they are retracted, there isn't a problem. But as the pads wear, the pistons push further and further out. If they are worn, they can "****" in the bore in the caliper and actually get stuck. I wouldn't really worry about this, just info. Without more info, you should be OK to go till Friday.