My sister's car rear brakes are bad. She is having them replaced soon. She said tonight that her brakes are feeling loose. Is this just because of the bad rear brakes? tHANKS

Could be the rear emergency brake shoes. The hold-down pins or adjustments could be loose. You will get a shift in caliper angle if the slide pins are worn; the caliper will kind of rock enough for the pads to touch any rust build up on rotor edge.

Hi Terry,
Please check out this Link : http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/featured/books_and_manuals/1461465620.html
Here you will find the details regarding your Car and how you can check and repair the breaks without taking it to a mechanic.
I hope this helps.....

what about the rear brakes ?? have they been checked

Several possibilities. Try stopping the car with the parking brake and see if you notice as much shimmy. While loose tie rod ends can cause problems, it sounds more like the rotors may need resurfacing. A worn wheel bearing could cause a problem. Jack the car up so the wheels are off the ground and see if you can move the wheel back and forth. Loose tie rod ends would also show up with this test.

Are you sure it is the emergency brakes?Or is it a caliper stuck,because it is bad,or the caliper brake hose is stopped up?Jack the wheels up,one at a time,and try to see if they will turn by hand.This will tell you if it is front,or rear.If it is the emergency brake,then the cable from the front,to the bake,is most likely the problem,it is rusted ,and frayed,and stuck,you will have to disconnect it at the rear,from the brakes.If this helps,let us know,If it is the calipers,in the front,the wheels will not turn by hand.Brake loose the caliper bleed screw,and if the caliper turns the wheel loose,then the brake hose is bad,if it does not ,then the caliper is bad on that wheel.

Try taking it to Autozone or O'reillys and ask if they can scan the ABS computer. It is a separate plug and different than the motor computer.
You probably have a loose piece of brake material in the rear brakes. The warnings have really worked although I have looked at some bad brakes and do not know how the car can figure it out. The traction control is lighting up because both rear wheels are not turning freely with the brake problem.

Most likely you will need rear brake work soon.

if you are able and be safe by chocking the wheels, lay on your back and look on the inside of the back wheels and this will tell you a little more of what you are dealing with. If you heard a bang then your cable has either come loose at eh back hubs or your cable has snapped loose from the handbrake underneath. This better probably be checked as soon as possible because you may be only using your front brakes to stop now, because your parking brake is tied in with your rear brakes.

does it still brake when the pedal goes to the floor. my guess is it is leaking fluid out of the rear brake cylinder. the rear brake cylinders are in side the drums so you may not notice a leak there.i would take off both rear wheels and take the drums off and see if there is a leak out of the seal on the brake cylinder. that is a fairly common problem with all drum brakes and the cylinders are only about 12 bucks at napa.

this could be a warped brake disc.. when you brake do you feel the brake peddle go up and down under your foot??? if you do then this is the problem..Hope this helps

could be a bad outer tie rod end or lower ball joint on the front suspension, to check jack up wheel (suspension supported) grasp tire and move back and forth, if you feel loosness you have a worn component. if there is no looseness then you have either an bad wheel bearing (excessive runnout) or defective rotors

did you replace All discs front and rear? if not , replace the ones that you previously didnt