ASE A5 brakes study guide, weighted by the test

Questions per area, tasks per area

The task lists are not the same size as the question counts. Electronic brake control has 11 tasks for 10 questions, so nearly every task can show up. Drum brakes have 12 tasks for 5, and hydraulics 29 for 19. Disc brakes sit in between with 16 tasks for 11.

A study order

1. Take a baseline. Run the practice test once with a timer: 75 min for 55 questions on test day. Note your score per area.
2. Hydraulics, power assist and parking brakes (19 questions). Master cylinder diagnosis and bench bleeding, line fabrication with double and ISO flares, metering, proportioning and pressure-differential valves, the four bleeding methods, brake fluids including silicone, vacuum boosters, hydro-boost, and electronic parking brakes. Area page
3. Disc brakes (11). Caliper slides and piston retraction, rotor runout with a dial indicator and thickness with a micrometer, machining limits, pad burnishing, and telling brake vibration from tire vibration. Area page
4. Electronic brake control (10). Scan tool, DMM and DSO tests, wheel speed, yaw and steering angle sensors, module set-up, ABS bleeding, and the effect of tire-size or ride-height changes. Area page
5. Drum brakes (5). Shoes, hardware and self-adjusters, drum measurement, wheel cylinders, preadjusting before the drum goes on, and wheel bearings. Area page
6. Retest and close the gap. Redo the practice test and spend the last days on the area that is still weakest.

Tasks that are easy to skip

These are in the 2026 task list, and a brakes book written around older cars can pass over them:

• Electronic brake servo and brake simulator (task A24): brake-by-wire pedal feel and diagnosis.
• Electronic parking brakes (A25, A28, A29): retracting the caliper piston to the maker’s procedure, and adjusting calipers with an integrated parking brake.
• ISO flares (A9): line fabrication with the right material and either a double or an ISO flare.
• Silicone fluid (A18): choosing, handling and storing the right fluid, silicone included.
• Vehicle modifications (D8): braking concerns from a change of wheel or tire size, curb height or final drive ratio, and from added electronics.
• Interrelated systems (D10): brake problems caused by failures in stability control, traction control or collision avoidance.
• Wheel bearings (B11–B12, C14–C15): no area of their own, but in both the drum and the disc task lists.

What the 10 sample questions test

The guide ends the A5 section with 10 sample questions (pp. 30–32). They are a small sample, but they show what the item writers like:

• Rotor measurement: three of the ten turn on rotor runout or the set-up that measures it, and a fourth asks what to do with a rotor below minimum thickness after machining (replace it).
• The master cylinder: it is the answer in two, a pedal that sinks slowly under steady pressure and drag that builds with each stop until the brakes lock.
• Two-technician items: two of them, both answered “neither”.
• ABS hardware: one blames a single front wheel that grabs under light pedal on the hydraulic control unit, not on a hose.
• Line repair: one wants double-flared steel tubing and rejects compression fittings and aluminum.

Read the samples for their style; our practice test and the area pages drill the same tasks with new questions.

Official material and test-day rules

The four areas, one page each

• Hydraulic, Power Assist, and Parking Brake Systems Diagnosis and Repair →43% of the exam
• Drum Brake Diagnosis and Repair →11% of the exam
• Disc Brake Diagnosis and Repair →24% of the exam
• Electronic Brake Control Systems: ABS, TCS, and ESC Diagnosis and Repair →22% of the exam