Q. I have a 1993 Mercedes Benz 600 SEL, and a yellow light on the dash with a picture of a shock absorber came on. I looked it up in the owner’s manual and it said this light indicates a problem with the automatic suspension system. I went to my mechanic and he checked the rear two shocks (which were recently replaced) and said they were working fine. I dug a little deeper and found that a steering angle sensor is on the front two wheels, but my mechanic can’t find any information on it. The front shocks are standard shocks and not hydraulic-fluid supplied. Do you think the problem could be the sensor?

A. You will need to troubleshoot this problem component by component, using any fault codes present. The steering angle sensor is under the steering wheel. If the battery was replaced or disconnected, the system might need to be reset. Start with the engine running, then turn the steering wheel slowly all the way left, then all the way right, and then back to center. Perform this procedure a couple of times; this might reset the light. The other possible item is the acceleration sensor, located at the right front wheel. It could be damaged if the brakes were recently replaced.

Squeaky brakes

Q. I’ve never had squeaky brakes on any of my cars until I recently had the rear brake pads and rotors replaced on my 2005 Acura TL. Within a week, I started getting squeaking about half the time I hit my brakes. I took it back to the auto shop and they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. In the meantime, my girlfriend took her car to the same auto place to have her brakes checked (they felt “squishy”). They told her she needed new brakes and rotors. Within a week after replacement, she too had squeaky brakes. We took her car back and they determined that the rotors needed to be recut and polished. We picked up her car the next day, drove it for a few miles and heard no squeaks. We were happy until the next day, when the squeaks returned. What is going on here?

A. Brake squeak is generally caused by two things, brake pad vibration or brake pad composition. Some brake pads have a very hard composition that lasts a long time, but tends to be noisy. However, the most common cause of noise is brake pad vibration. If the replacement pads are not an exact fit or the pad shims and other hardware are worn, the brakes will squeak. I would continue to work with your repair shop and suggest using a different brand or even the factory brake pads.

Imports vs. domestic

Q. I read your monthly car reviews in AAA Horizons and you write more about imports than traditional American cars. Are the imports that much better than the American cars?

A.There are nearly twice as many import brands as domestic brands on the market today, so I tend to see more imports. Many of those imports, though, are manufactured in the United States and many of those domestic cars are manufactured outside of our borders. Are the imports better? There was a time in the not-so-distant past when many imports were much better than traditional domestic cars. In my opinion, this is no longer the case; I believe cars and trucks from General Motors, Ford and Chrysler meet and in some cases exceed the quality of many import brands.

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