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Red Barton and the Sky Pirates is an exciting 3rd person arcade combat flight shooter reminiscent of games like Star Fox back on the classic N64 and the legendary “After Burner' arcade. It is set in an imaginative and original cartoon style steampunk world with superb hand-drawn illustration quality in-game graphics.

Brake servicing is one of those routine maintenance chores you just cannot ignore. Brake parts have a life span and they do need to be regularly serviced and sometimes replaced to work properly.

Fortunately, your car or truck usually gives you some clear signals that your brakes are due. Sometimes they’re harmless noises that don’t require repairs or have simple fixes. Other times not.

Your brakes are one of the most important safety components in your vehicle. So if you notice any of the following common warning signs of brake issues, it’s time to get a professional to check your car, truck or SUV pronto. You’ll drive safer and head off more expensive damage.

1. Brake Light On

When one of the red or yellow brake indicators on your dashboard lights up it may mean you’re just due for an inspection. It could also be your vehicle’s smart electronics alerting you to a problem.

An engaged parking brake could also cause the light to go on. Be sure it’s fully released to confirm that’s not the issue. (And read up on what all your dashboard brake lights mean.)

2. Squealing, Squeaking or Grinding Noises

Hearing a Metallic Squeal While You’re in Motion?

If you start hearing a high-pitched noise that stops when you apply the brakes that’s likely the sound of the brake pad wear indicators. They’re made of steel so they make this sound when they start contacting the rotor.

They’re letting you know that your pads are worn out and need to be replaced before you get rotor damage, which can be an expensive fix.

Grinding Sound When Brakes Are Applied?

Grinding that you also feel in the pedal could mean a number of things. There could just be some gravel or a rock caught in the caliper unit, easily remedied.

But you may have gone too long without brake servicing. The brake pads may be worn through, and you’re hearing metal on metal that could be creating grooves in the brake rotor. Not good.

Grinding could also be an indicator of lack of lubrication in vehicles with rear drum brakes. The brake shoe (the component that presses on the rotor to slow the vehicle) could be scraping on metal contact points like the backing plate, due to rust.

If you hear any of these sounds, get your brakes looked at right away to head off more expensive problems.

3. Wobbling, Vibration or Scraping When Braking

Shaking in the steering wheel or vibration when you apply the brakes may be the result of an uneven rotor.

Brake rotors are big discs that sit inside of the wheels. When you hit the brake pedal, the brake pads hug the rotors, slowing them and your vehicle. You want rotors to be smooth and completely even in thickness.

Over time and thousands of wheel revolutions, it’s normal for the rotor surface to get slight variations. Rust can also sometimes develop. During brake servicing, the face of the rotor is often trued (smoothed and evened out) to correct these flaws.

This work has to be done exactly to your vehicle’s specifications. The tiniest differences in disc thickness — we’re talking thousandths of an inch, about three sheets of paper in width — can cause a wobbly feeling when you brake.

An uneven rotor surface may also cause the rotor to hit one of the brake pads as it spins, causing some of the pad material to transfer onto the rotor in that spot. Then you’ll feel shaking when braking, as the pad hits that bump in the rotor.

Another possible cause of rough braking is the brake caliper not releasing properly. The job of a brake caliper is to squeeze the brake pads against your brake rotors, which slows your vehicle down. It’s the motion of the piston inside the caliper unit that causes this contact.

Due to wear from heat or road debris, the piston can get sticky. It may not retract the pads back into the full “off” position when you let up on the brake pedal.

A fourth cause of bumpy braking could be damage to your brake components from improper wheel lug nut installation. (The lug nuts are the big bolts that clamp your tire and wheel onto the hub of your car.)

Any time tires are removed, it’s crucial for the lug nuts to be put back on in the right order, evenly, at just the right tightness (torque). It has to be done in a star pattern, with just the right pressure. If not, you’ll get uneven, premature rotor wear and be back for service sooner rather than later.

4. Leaking Fluid

If you’re experiencing a soft brake pedal, have a service technician look for fluid leaking from the master cylinder or elsewhere in the brake system.

The master cylinder is the unit that creates the power for your brakes. It has a reservoir like the one for your wiper fluid that contains brake fluid.

When you apply the brakes, this fluid is pushed through thin piping, creating hydraulic pressure. If fluid is leaking from this system, there may not be enough power to force the brake pads to clamp hard to the rotors.

5. Spongy or Soft Brake Pedal

If you notice a difference in the resistance in the brake pedal — it feels “softer,” or sinks all the way to the floor mat when you press on it — it’s a sign you need immediate service. There could be air or moisture in the braking system or a problem with the master cylinder. Generally, in autos with power brakes the pedal should stop 1 to 1 ½ inches from the floor. If you have manual brakes, the pedal should stop more than 3 inches from the floor.

6. Car Pulling to One Side When Braking

This could be caused by a brake hose gone bad or a caliper problem. One brake caliper may be applying more or all the pressure during braking, resulting in unbalanced stopping.

7. Burning Smell While Driving

A sharp, chemical odor after repeated hard braking on steep roads is a sign of overheated brakes or clutch. Pull over immediately in a safe place, check your parking brake to make sure it’s fully released and allow the brakes to cool. If you don’t, you risk heating up the brake fluid to boiling, which can cause brake failure.

If there’s any smoke coming from a wheel, it may be a stuck brake caliper and possibly unsafe to continue driving on without repairs.

8. Bouncing Up and Down When You Stop Short

If your vehicle rocks or bounces with sharp braking, it’s probably not a brake problem at all. Your shock absorbers may need to be replaced.

Not every brake noise or symptom is going to cost you. It could be a harmless squeak from certain types of material in brake pads. There may be dust or moisture somewhere in the braking system that isn’t causing damage. You may just need to add new brake fluid.

But you need to be sure.

Brake parts wear out over time. Self-diagnosing symptoms or delaying brake servicing could put you and your passengers at unnecessary risk. And like with a lot of automotive issues, if there is a problem, the longer you put it off the more you risk big repair bills.

Brake problems far from home are a real inconvenience. Get a free brake check before your next road trip. Find the closest Les Schwab Tires and come on by.

Q. I read your article about Dish talking to the financial analysts. Did they say anything about Sinclair and the regional sports channels they own? Dish hasn’t had a deal with them for a year now and we want our channels back!! — Dave, Scottsdale, Arizona

Dave, you’re right. Dish has been without the 21 Fox-branded Regional Sports Networks (owned by Sinclair Broadcasting) since July 2019 due to a carriage dispute between the two companies. The RSNs have the in-market rights to air the games of MLB, NHL and NBA teams so their loss is particularly irksome now for Dish sports fans.

Dish last week held a conference call with financial analysts following the release of the company’s second quarter report. Normally, during the quarterly analyst call, the analysts quiz the executives on the most important issues facing the company at the time.

However, despite the importance of the RSNs to Dish, there was little discussion about the dispute during the conference call. And what was said offered little insight into when or if the Dish-Sinclair fee fight will be settled.

For instance, Rich Greenfield, an analyst with LightShed, asked Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen whether he thought programming rates in general should be reduced because so many programmers are selling their channels directly to the consumer via streaming.

While Sinclair does not offer their RSNs directly to consumers via a separate streaming package, the Dish chief used the question anyway to diminish the importance of regional sports networks. Ergen said Dish has saved money by not paying Sinclair during the last year, and he added that many Dish subscribers don’t watch the channels anyway.

“Our cash flow has been a little better than I think we had projected because of loss of regional sports, the loss of customers who’ve been rejected, because we knew that many of our customers don’t watch regional sports. So there are other categories where they’re approaching regional sports status where those costs are going up beyond what the value is in terms of customers watching those and those will all be, we’ll have to negotiate through that,” Ergen said.

Ergen did not mention Sinclair specifically, but that’s who he was likely referring to, considering Sinclair is the largest owner of RSNs in the nation. Plus, Dish and Sinclair are presumed to be currently negotiating a wide-ranging carriage agreement that could include the RSNs and Sinclair’s 100+ local network affiliates. (It’s unclear when Dish’s current agreement for the local stations expires, but Ergen suggested last February that it would be sometime this year. He also said then that the negotiations for the local stations could help lead to a deal for the RSNs.)

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The analysts did not ask further questions regarding Sinclair, or regional sports in general, so we have only Ergen’s vague remarks to ponder. More frustrating, Sinclair last week also held a conference call with financial analysts, but the analysts did not ask a single question about Dish, or carriage deals.

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The TV Answer Man will continue to monitor this situation, and report back here if and when we get more information.

Until then, happy viewing, and stay safe!

Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvpredictions.com. Please include your first name and hometown in your message.

— Phillip Swann
@swanniontv