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Replaced brakes, now I have issues

bigalpha

bigalpha

Moderator
Location
Tucson, AZ
I replaced the front rotors and pads. The parts I got were kind of used and the contact surfaces were slightly rusty.

I went ahead and put everything on and went for a test drive. The front passenger side looks good, i.e. the contact surfaces are shiny.

However, the front driver side isn't looking at good.

Also, when the brake pedal is pushed it is really spongy and it almost hits the floor and the Jeep doesn't really want to stop. Also, the Jeep pulls really hard to the right.

I pulled the tire and rechecked everything and there's nothing out of place. I'm thinking it just needs a little bit to clean up and get back to virgin gripping surface.

Is it broke or what?
 
Something's up with that left caliper- did you compress the caliper without opening the bleeder? Any brake problems before hand?
 
caliper or collapsed hose issue.
 
Well, if by brake problems you mean the fact that they were so worn they were grinding into the rotor itself? Then yes. But, it still stopped pretty good, even through the grinding and squealing.

I didn't open the bleeder valve, but I did take the cap off of the fluid reservoir. When I compressed teh caliper, it pushed some brake fluid back into the reservoir.

Think I jacked up that caliper somehow?
 
did you properly bleed the brakes? i know, but i gotta ask

also, you said the parts were used- what used parts exactly did you put on? if the calipers were used, did you check to see if the piston worked via compressed air? how old were the pads? did you "freshen" them up with a scotch bright or fine sandpaper? i would suggest using new pads
 
No, I didn't bleed the brakes at all. I didn't have the time to do that today. All I replaced were the pads and rotors. But they are waaaaay more spongey than they were before.
 
Sounds like it's time for a new driver side caliper & hose.
 
Luckily I have one. I was hoping it wouldn't come down to that.

When you remove the caliper and hose, will the hose leak when you unscrew it from the line at the body?
 
Also the brackets that the caliper mount to & the pads ride on have a tendency to wear grooves.
 
When you pushed the pistons back in, you may have gotten in to a rough area on the left piston. Pump the brakes up as hard as you can to try to get the piston back out on the left side. If you can't pump them up and make them hold, you have a leak somewhere (possibly, but not necessarily internal in the master). Obviously you also should bleed the brakes, but if you can't get the left side to work, you are probably wasting time. Also, rotors should be roughened up with sandpaper to break in the brake pads. All the brake fluid should be replaced through the whole system.
 
If you don't do the same thing on both sides, new rotors, pads, calipers, whatever, you will probably have pulling to one side, especially under wet or slippery conditions. 2 rebuilt calipers don't cost that much.
 
When I went for the test drive, I really gave them a thorough working out. I did the whole 'emergency stop test'.

When I did that, the pedal just slowly pushed to the floor. It's really really mushy. Is it a high possibility that I broke the caliper when I compressed it?
 
bigalpha said:
When I went for the test drive, I really gave them a thorough working out. I did the whole 'emergency stop test'.

When I did that, the pedal just slowly pushed to the floor. It's really really mushy. Is it a high possibility that I broke the caliper when I compressed it?
Click to expand...

I compress them back all the time without opening the bleeder. The excess fluid just goes up to the master. But if you can't pump them up and get them to hold off the floor, either the master is shot or you have a leak.
 
How is compressing the caliper going to mess up the MC?

I had to pump the pedal like 3-4 times after I installed the rotors/pads to get the pedal back to the normal height.

Now, the pedal comes up to normal height, but it's spongy. When I try to stop quickly, the pedal slowly pushes to the floor. If that caliper was bad, would that be a symptom?
 
What you're describing now sounds like a bad MC.

I blew the MC in my old Mazda compressing the caliper- got something into the MC, and destroyed the seals. Probably backflushed some rust/dirt/gunk into the reservoir. I wonder if you haven't done the same thing.
 
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