HUGE problem with brakes! Please help!

A little while back (I may have piated about it) I had a scraping noise when I would brake and it would grind a little also. I replaced the pads (the rotors were fine).

My neighbor told me it was actually coming from the rear and it was the emergency brake "thing" (a spring or whatever, I know nothing about it). I haven't gotten it fixed yet and have been driving with it.

A week or 2 ago my step son borrowed the car and when I went to use it the next day, the scrape sound became a loud , grinding noise....and as I would come to a stop the brake s or car itself would shake and make this weird vibrating shaking noise.

Well LAST NIGHT.....I went to drive, went to go in reverse and stop and it sounded horrible, I drove forward......and when I went to brake it seemed to not want to brake. The normal foot pressure to brake was appkied but it kept going and I had to push down (which nornally the brake was never pushed that far down).

ANY IDEA WHAT TO DO?
I need gas bad but am somewhat afraid to drive it, but luckily it is through side roads. But still. You never know.

Please please help

oh, and now, as i just drove it forward and reverse to test it out. The red exclamation point for the brake came on (and no the emergency brake isn't engaged). But maybe it has something to do with the emergency brake kit I need to order. But I don't want to waste money if it is sonething else

And brake fluid is right at or slightly below the MIN line

The guy at AutoZone said it might be the Brake Booster???
I dont know what one would have to do with the other (emergency brake kit). He said the booster was in the front of the car , and the emergency brake thing is on my rear wheels.

The pedal (which normally has enough pressure to keep your foot half way. Now it goes to the floor pretty much). BUT the emergency brake thing stopped making noise and the grinding stopped???

You need to find someone knowledgable that you trust to look at it. For now, Add brake fluid and let us know if you can see a leak.

The first thing that I would look at is the pads on all four wheels, both inboard and outboard. If a caliper is hanging or a piston is stuck it will wear the pad out prematurely and cause a grinding/scraping noise. While checking that also look for any leakage on the calipers, you appear to be losing brake fluid somewhere. The e-brake is a drum/shoe type brake that is inside the rear rotors. These are notorious for being difficult to keep working properly, but generally would not make noise unless the e-brake is set, although there could be something broken that is causing the noise.

Your brake booster wouldn't cause the symptoms you're describing. If it has a problem then the brake pedal will be much harder to press. Most likely what the auto parts guy meant is the master cylinder. When changing pads on an older vehicle, it is possible to damage the piston seals by pressing the brake pedal too far when building the pressure back up in the system. Over the years a master cylinder can build up a ridge on the cylinder wall at the point where the brake is normally depressed to. If you push the pedal past that point, that ridge can damage the piston seal and you'll no longer be able to build up full brake pressure. If this is the case, then you'll either need to replace or rebuild the master cylinder. The warning light is likely due to low brake fluid level.

I would say to stop driving it. You run the chance of doing more damage each time you take it out. Find another vehicle and a gas can to get some gas.

And, as @George B suggested, find someone knowledgeable to look at it. Not the Zone....

Take it to a shop and ask for a free vehicle safety check. You'll have two or three guys in shirts with their name on it smile, take a long, last drag and crush their cigarette under their boot. Ask them to SHOW YOU IN PERSON what's wrong. Maybe even snap some pictures. After you get the estimate, leave like you stole your car.


Seriously though, you may have just put one of the pads in so that the brake pad indicator (squeaker tab) is hitting the rotor or the stainless pad retainer is tweeked and scraping on the rotor.

Call around and get some estimates on the problem once it's diagnosed.

I don't think he should drive it around anywhere especially since he doesn't seem very knowledgeable.

@jbluemke Do you want to take some photos of the back side of the rear wheels and at the master cylinder and post them for us to diagnose? If not, have it trailered to the dealership and let them make it whole again.

For those that come along long after this, y'all have to periodically inspect your parking brake system and it is good practice to have your brakes inspected during tire rotations. Some folks even go so far as to re lubricate their slide pins, clean up the brake dust and such.

Okay. Thank you guys. I'm going on vacation now (not in THAT truck. ) but I will snap some pics when I get home.

For for all of your help. Sorry I'm not so knowledgeable on this truck. I normally learn as I go on my vehicles but I never ran into this situation and this is my gf's car so it's hard to learn as you go when you just jump half way I the middle of something