"soft" brake feel
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5th Wheeling
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 44
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From: nashville tn
"soft" brake feel
I just changed the rotors and pads on my wifes 03 escape and now the pedel feels kinda soft. no fade and it does stop, just feels softer like air in lines or somthing. I didnt open the lines and the master cylinder is full.I used after market stuff from O'rileys. Anyone else haqve this happen? any tips ? Thanks.
Hotshot
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 12,679
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From: BC, Canada
When you say that you just replaced them how long ago was that? New brakes sometimes take a day or 2 to seat in properly before they feel as good as they should.
I'm not familiar with the brands of parts that O'Reiley's carries but some cheap aftermarket brake pads have very poor stopping power.
I'm not familiar with the brands of parts that O'Reiley's carries but some cheap aftermarket brake pads have very poor stopping power.
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5th Wheeling
Joined: Jun 2004
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From: nashville tn
Would I have to bleed even if the system didnt get opened? How would air get in there?My buddy said his car does the same thing, needs to be bled even though no fittings or anything else have been opened.Thanks.
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2003
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When you compressed your calipers you force the old fluid back up into the system. Also you want to bleed them every so often just to get new fluid in the system. Over time water accumulates in the fluid through the permeable parts i.e. rubber hoses, & condensation, & etc. The water gets into the control body for your ABS and causes pits on those little parts, eventual failure of the ABS.
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5th Wheeling
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 44
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From: nashville tn
I understand you need to bleed when you open the system, but how would forcing the pistons back into the bore introduce air in to a sealed system?I have done many pad changes by pushing the piston back into the caliper and not needed to bleed.Are you saying the water or any other fluid that could accumulate in the system would cause this soft pedal?Why would it only show after the piston has been pushed into the caliper?I feel that bleeding is in order,I just would like to know how this air or whatever it is got in there.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 14,413
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From: Sarnia, Ontario, CANADA!
I, as a rule when changing pads, ALWAYS open the bleeder screw on the caliper then push the piston back in. This does two things: 1) makes it easier to push the piston back in (and it is easier on the system) and 2) gets rid of old fluid that gets hot and contaminated.
If I were you I would just bleed the whole system again. Start at the right rear, then left rear, the front right then finally front left. Do it in that order. I would be willing to bet when bleeding that you would see bubbles.
Good luck!
-Matt
If I were you I would just bleed the whole system again. Start at the right rear, then left rear, the front right then finally front left. Do it in that order. I would be willing to bet when bleeding that you would see bubbles.
Good luck!
-Matt
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Senior User
Joined: Feb 2003
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Consider the mechanics of the master cylinder. You may not have air in the system but the way you reverse pressure from the pads to the MC will eventually start to cause the seals to reverse also cause the MC to present the soft pedal feel. Bleeding with new fluid past these seals helps seat them again. This process gets real complicated and is one of the first areas that investigators look at when there are brake failures, then they move to the pitting in the ABS components. We are talking about microscopic size failures in the hydraulic system, not something that can be readily seen with the naked eye.
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5th Wheeling
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 44
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From: nashville tn
Ok that does make sense, pushing the piston back un-seated some seals and now with the new pads the piston wont move far enough to let the right amount of flow to re-seat the seals. Am I getting it right? Thanks.
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