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While refueling internal combustion vehicles is still more convenient on the go, there are other ways to make electric vehicles more popular. An electric car usually has cheaper maintenance costs besides using less gas and a quieter interior. Electric vehicles aren’t completely maintenance-free just because they have fewer parts that require maintenance. In addition, electric vehicle drivers may need to pay attention to issues that ICE owners don’t usually consider when servicing their brakes. In this article, Autosmartsz.com will give you useful information about electric vehicle brakes, and step-by-step instructions on hybrid car brakes maintenance.
Contents
What Is The Cause Of Frequent Hybrid Car Brakes Maintenance?
Regenerative Braking Shatters The Myth That Electric Vehicles Require Less Upkeep
While inherently not that simple, an electric powertrain requires fewer consumables than a gasoline-powered vehicle. Electric vehicles continue to use coolant, wipers, cabin air filters, and other components. However, it is not necessary to change spark plugs, change oil, and maintenance procedures related to the engine for electric cars. Regenerative braking is something pure ICE cars don’t have, but EVs and hybrids do.
Regenerative braking allows electric vehicles to recover energy that would otherwise be lost as heat and use it to recharge their batteries. In addition, some electric vehicles have a regen mode that is powerful enough to eliminate the need for a brake pedal.
You see, when a car is left idle for too long without proper protection the rubber components degrade, the fluid starts to corrode the metal and the brakes start to rust in place. Undoubtedly, some of these possible problems do not apply to electric vehicles. They still have physical brakes even though they have regenerative braking. Therefore, less use and hybrid car brakes maintenance also affect the braking system of electric vehicles.
Simply put, high-regen electric vehicles tend to use the brakes less often, which causes the brakes to wear out faster. Also, even though electric vehicles may not have oil, they still have brake fluid. Furthermore, brake fluid degrades even when it is not used to pump the brakes.
To Prevent Corrosion And Clogging Due To Disuse
Traditionally, auto maintenance schedules have been designed around parts that wear out. For hybrid car brakes maintenance, that usually means things like worn gaskets, thin rotors, and old fluid. So what happens when parts are used so infrequently that they don’t work? That means electric vehicle owners may have to do additional maintenance work when it comes to their brakes.
First, pay attention to your brake fluid change intervals, both in kilometers and months. Even when it is not in use, it still draws water from the atmosphere and degrades the quality. That’s why many electric vehicle brands’ maintenance schedules include regular brake fluid changes, usually every two years.
Second, your rotor and brake pads will start to rust unless you use carbon-ceramic brakes or other similar brakes made of non-ferrous metals. Even if a little surface rust is not important, you should not ignore it for a long time. But if the brakes on your tram are severely rusted, get brake cleaner and some elbow grease. But be sure to remove the wheel and cover any adjacent painted surfaces, advises The Drive. Use a non-flammable, chlorinated brake cleaner compound instead of WD-40, which is not a brake cleaner.
In addition, periodic caliper checks are part of hybrid car brakes maintenance. Not only to check for rust but also to make sure they haven’t rusted. To avoid this, Forbes suggests lubricating them regularly. Drive says any surface rust must first be removed before lubricating the caliper’s metal components with a high-viscosity silicone base oil. Please note that this method may require significant disassembly.
It’s important to remember that ICE car brakes can sometimes require this type of repair. Rust and grip are uncommon problems caused by more frequent use of the brake.
Hybrid Car Brakes Maintenance
Tools For Hybrid Car Brakes Maintenance
- ProDemand Mitchell 1
- Ratchet wrench
- Gauge for brake pads OTC 6596
- Security lenses
- Wire brush or Scotch Brite pad
- A die grinder or an air drill
- Scotch-Brite Roloc Brake Hub Cleaning Disc Kit, Model No. 3M 07547
- Indicator dial
- Vernier caliper or a micrometer
- Tool for bi-directional scanning
- Rotor lathe for brakes
Procedure Of Hybrid Car Brakes Maintenance
Step 1: Obtain vehicle-specific hybrid car brakes maintenance information and turn off the ABS self-test feature.
You should get precise hybrid car brakes maintenance information for the car, just as with any brake service. We will check into the specifics and specs as well as any TSBs that could apply to the vehicle using the Mitchell 1 ProDemand system. It is a good idea to verify TSBs and make sure you comprehend the safety protocols for each car you fix because a lot of the technology utilized in HEV braking systems is still very new.
Because you need to take the wheels and calipers off to examine the brakes thoroughly, hybrids are just like any other car. However, there is still one more step needed for most HEVs and many other late-model automobiles.
In many instances, brake fluid is supplied at a higher pressure than usual using the Antilock Brake System (ABS). The ABS system is built with a self-test feature that pressurizes the system to ensure there are no leaks and that it is operating correctly. Many manufacturers use the driver’s door opening to transmit a signal across the CAN bus to activate the ABS pump and begin the self-testing feature.
If the technician doesn’t switch off the self-test feature, this might develop into an issue. When a door is opened while a caliper is being serviced, excessive pressure will travel to the caliper and might cause it to activate. The caliper blowing the seal is the best-case situation; the worst-case scenario involves squeezing hands or fingers and seriously injuring the technician.
The hybrid car brakes maintenance literature also includes a warning about utilizing magnets around ABS speed sensors since the magnets can impair the speed sensor’s functionality. Because of this, it could be a good idea to check rotor run-out using your dial indicator with a clamp mount rather than a magnetic fix.
Step 2: Release system pressure and check brakes.
No TSB is known to exist for our customers’ problems, however, there are certain specific methods that must be followed to operate the brakes safely, according to the translated manual. Highlander’s service. These include disconnecting the relay from the Electronic Brake Control (EBC) system and using your sweeper to release pressure in the brake fluid accumulator.
You must also drain some liquid from the reservoir to keep the level at the “min” mark before collapsing the caliper to change the gasket. Also, you should know that ABS has capacitors that provide power to the backup battery in the event of a power failure. Therefore, you should wait five to ten minutes for the capacitors to drain to ensure the system is completely free of power. You can safely remove the caliper once the system is down and test the system the same way you would with any other car.
Checking rotor operations that may cause excessive vibration, noise or wear should be part of any brake inspection. Runs out under 0.001″ on both sides and the front brake performs well within cushion and rotor wear specs.
The next task is to check the rear brake. Only 0.001″ of the total run-out on the rear left is seen using the dial indicator on the inside and outside of the rotor surface. The inside and outside surfaces of the right rear rotor are measured times. 0.003″ and 0.004 respectively.
To ensure that the rotor can be resurfaced and to determine the position of the high and low points in relation to each other, it is necessary to measure both the inner and outer surfaces. If there is enough material on the rotor to safely re-surface it, it will depend on the run-out quantity and the connection between the high and low points. The OTC 6596 Brake Pad Gauge is one of the tools we’ve found to be the simplest to use to measure brake pad wear. Use it to measure the thickness of the leading and bottom edges of each pad relative to its baseplate or studs.
The caliper sliders can also rust and corrode, causing them to slide unevenly and causing uneven wear on the brake pads.
Step 3: Changing mechanical parts
Need to change the caliper. To remove corrosion and rust without damaging components, clean the sliders, pins, and brackets first with a mild abrasive, such as a wire brush or a green Scotch Brite pad.
Take care not to damage the hose or hose when removing the stopper from the caliper. To prevent the brake hose from leaking fluid, many technicians use extra clamps or hose clamps. DO NOT do this as the faucet may be destroyed.
Don’t forget to clean the rotor mounting surface and also the wheel hub face. As it allows for an all-around cleaning around the wheel studs and allows the rotor to lie perpendicular to the hub shaft, we use the 3M Scotch-Brite Roloc Brake Hub Cleaning Disc Kit, which can be attached to the drill. air or a grinder, to do this job.
According to the torque specification and rotation order specified by the manufacturer, install the rotors and tighten the lug nuts (we usually install the “acorn” upside down to make sure we don’t damage the lug nuts. lug screws). With your dial indicator, you must assess the full run of the rotor on both the inner and outer surfaces. The thickness of the rotor must also be measured with micrometers or a digital Vernier caliper.
You can assess whether there is enough rotor material to use your brake lathe to surface the rotor after you have determined the overall run (non-parallel) and the thickness of the rotor. Set up the dial indicator on the caliper holder and confirm that running out of the rotor is within spec. If not, then turn the rotor on the hub after marking the overhead rotor.
Measure the rotor again using the dial indicator. The rotor is bent if the high point remains in the same area. If it moves, it is because the shaft or shaft is bent or the mounting face may be contaminated. Warping can create vibrations that lead to uneven and possibly accelerated cushion wear. Make sure that the brake rotor is within specification after surface mounting using a car brake lathe or a car stationary lathe.
Install spacers and calipers with new hardware and recommended lubricant on the sliders and pins after the rotor has been mounted and verified for good alignment. To ensure that the mounting nuts fit snugly but are not so tight that they begin to bend, tighten them to the recommended torque specification using a torque wrench. You should remove the wheels at this stage and keep the nuts holding the rotors in place as you need to bleed the system.
Step 4: Scan the system to bleed it.
Most hybrid device manufacturers advise against the use of a vacuum, but manual bleeding or the use of a pressure aspirator with the appropriate adapters are also acceptable techniques. A scan tool must be used with any bleeding technique to bleed the system appropriately.
A two-way sweep is recommended to ensure that all air has been removed from the system, that all ABS ducts are activated and that brake fluid is allowed to flow through the entire system, although several manual bleeding methods can be done without one. Obtain information from your vehicle-specific repair information source and follow the manufacturer’s recommended methods by bleeding and reactivating the system in the proper sequence.
We will be using the Toyota TechStream Scan Tool to perform the entire bleed and reactivation procedure on the Highlander. Using any aftermarket scanning tool with bidirectional capability is just as effective as using the factory scan tool, as is the case with most “positive” testing and procedures. The majority of active, or bidirectional, actions performed by any scan engine take advantage of the software’s programming to trigger actions in the module you’re working on.
After repairing your brake, bleed the system by following these steps:
- Unless otherwise specified, use DOT 3 brake fluid only.
- Fill the reservoir to ensure that the liquid level is between the “minimum” and “maximum” lines during bleeding.
- While using the scan tool, make sure that EBC is turned off.
- Depress the handbrake and move the gear lever to “P” (Park).
- With the ignition “off”, connect the scan engine to the DLC.
- Start the scan tool and “turn on” the ignition (DO NOT start the engine).
Select one of the following menus:
- Diagnose
- OBD / MOBD
- ABS / TRAC / VSC
- ECB Utility: Invalid ECB. This disables electronic brake control, preventing air from entering the actuator while the pump is running, making it more difficult to bleed the system.
You are now prepared to begin the bleeding process. Enter the menus listed below using the scan tool:
- Diagnose
- OBD / MOBD
- ABS / TRAC / VSC
Bleeding if only installing or hybrid car brakes maintenance before or after, select “Normal”.
Brake in the following order: rear left, rear right, front left, and front right, as specified in your repair manual. Repeat the process until all air has been removed from the system.
Conclusion
When you own an electric vehicle, hybrid car brake maintenance is a necessity and should be done regularly to ensure your safety and prolong the life of the vehicle. Information related to hybrid car brakes maintenance has been provided in detail in this article. Please read carefully and take care of your friend on your roads properly.
