I went from a 4 to 5 lug swap over the winter on the summer car. Before the swap started, the brake pedal level was fine. I did the rear swap first. Afterwards, the pedal was still fine. Now I finished the fronts this evening.
The car will stop, but barely, and it goes to the floor. No leaks anywhere. The pads and rotors are new, the caliper is the same. I adjusted the drums but that didnt help at all. I also bled the brakes twice, but still nothing. Took a small drive and still no difference. The car will stop but the pedal feel is absolutley terrible.
I was thinking master cylinder, but how if it was fine just a month ago, same with brake lines, everything was fine a while ago.
I was looking at the surface of the rotor, its completely hot but it doesnt look like the surfaces are even.
NOTE** when the car is off and I pump the brakes, the pedal is very very hard =)
If you push the brakes really hard does the pedal get stiff in the middle and then drop to the floor within a couple seconds? If so, we just had this problem on my roommate’s civic, it was the master cylinder.
I’m guessing there is still air in the lines. If you had the whole brake system open, there’s gonna be a lot of air in the system.
I know it seems like a stupid question but you started at the pass rear, went to drivers rear next, then to pass front, and onto drivers front when you bled them right? Also you had the cap off the master right? (Again a noobish question and I apologize for bringing it up but you never know.)
did u bleed the master too along with the calipers? maybe try a vaccum bleeder, or gravity bleed all cailpers for a while and keep the rez filled. if that dont work probs the master
the brake lines were NEVER open, all i did was swap hubs, put the calipers up with a hanger and they sat for a few weeks, i didnt bleed the rears, ALSO the haynes manual said to leave the cap ON during bleeding, cause i was wondering what to do there
i have no idea what a carrier is
i did not bleed the master, jus the front discs, i am going to the try the gravity idea when i get home tonight
the brakes are physically bigger, but no matter what year neon you have, the calipers are the same, same with brake lines, same with master, same with wheel cylinder, etc, only thing that is different is the size of the pads and rotors because the 5 lug knuckle is larger
i took it out again this morning, what a little rocket of a car =) those rotas make a huge difference in weight!
Definitely sounds like air in the lines to me. Are you bleeding them correctly?
Start at the wheel farthest from the master.
Attach tubing to the bleeder. The tubing helps prevent air being drawn back in through the bleeder.
Crack open bleeder, have someone push pedal down smoothly to the floor, close bleeder, release brake pedal. Repeat until you see no air bubbles in the tubing. MAKE SURE THE BRAKE FLUID RESERVOIR NEVER GETS LOW. If it gets low, start over because you just introduced air at the start of the system and have to flush it all the way through.
Keep doing step 3 doing what ever wheel is farthest from the master. Chances are it will be Right Rear, Left Rear, Right Front, Left Front since the master is usually on the drivers side.
Using that method has never failed me. And yes, the tubing does make a difference.
You hung them by the rubber hoses? If so you possibly damaged a brake hose and during braking it is swelling up. Doubtful it is air in the lines if the system wasn’t opened. If you can put the car in the air, have it on a lift running while you hit the brake pedal and someone tries to move each wheel.
I’ve seen where the brake lines with fail internally. So the fluid will balloon internally inside the lines without physically leaking. Try new SS lines.
How far did you have to push the caliper piston back in to get the new pads to clear the new rotors?
Doing that without cracking open a bleeder isn’t a good idea. I know a lot of people do it (I’ve been guilty) but it risks damaging the master cylinder seals, which may very well be your problem.
On a car with ABS it’s even worse because you force contaminated fluid from the caliper back through the ABS system.
This is my thought, but how could the lines not be passing fluid if i bled them? When the gf pressed on the pedal that shit fucing sprayed outta the bleeder.
i only had to push them a tad because the brake pads that were on there were new, just too small for the new rotors, i didnt open the bleeder, but i took off the cap to the master to prevent any compressed fluids from blowing seals, its the way ive always done brakes, maybe on 25 cars over 5 years, and ive never had a problem =(
Carriers, the metal bracket that the calaper bolts to. There are sliders that allow the pads to push evenly on boh sides of the rotor. If they’re stuck, only the piston side will be pushing against the rotor and not both sides. You said the front brakes felt hot right? Make sure the sliders are free and allowing both pads to push on the rotor
ahh i know what those are now, actually the boot ripped off one of them, maybe they have something to do with it, but whats the chance both are fucked?
Do you have the proper caliper on the proper side? You didn’t accidently put the Right caliper on the Left side did you? That could cause air to stay trapped in the caliper no matter how many times you bleed it because the bleeder can be in the incorrect spot. It sounds like you have air trapped in the lines or the pushrod for the master is not properly adjusted.
the lines were never opened, calipers were never removed, nothing was ever ever taken apart, all i did was swap a knuckle which called for bigger pads and rotors, same caliper no matter what year neon size pads etc, but for some reason the pads are not making full contact with the rotor, swapped back to smaller pads and it stops much nicer =)
, everything was fine a while ago.