Brake problems

m0squ1t0 · Apr 15, 2011

Brake job gone wrong

Yesterday a buddy and I changes out the rotors and pads on the front of my 01 GT Vert. While I was gone he checked the rears but didn't know how to do the rears, when he couldn't get the caliper back on, he opened the bleeder thinking it would help. After I got back we got the system back together and bled the system, after attempting to bleed the lines once he failed to mention the reservoir was empty, so I filled it and attempted to bleed them. After seven times the pedal still fills spongy, pushing the pedal down the first half does nothing. Well I went out this morning and found small puddles underneath my front tires, nothing under the back. Any help getting this fixed is greatly appreciated...

m0squ1t0 · Apr 15, 2011

Bump...someone?

Maxium · Apr 15, 2011

Few things.
1. The rear calipers are a "clocking" style piston. In order to push the piston back you need to rotate the piston using a special tool or just needle nose pliers.
2. Letting the reservoir get low introduced air into the system and you should definitely bleed the master cylinder. I use a pretty easy method of getting 2 (1 foot or longer) rubber hoses and attach them to the bleeder screws on the master cylinder. Feed the end of the two hoses back into the top of the master cylinder (where you pour the brake fluid). Open the bleeder valves using an open ended wrench, get into the driver's seat, and pump the brakes. After several pumps, close the bleeder valves and carefully take of the hoses.
3. About the fluid around your front tires. Are you sure everything is bolted up tight? The banjo bolts to the calipers require a copper washer that gets "crushed" when you seat them. Are you missing any of these? After you find the source of your leak, you should bleed the whole system.
4. I hate bleeding brakes.

m0squ1t0 · Apr 15, 2011

Maxium said:
Few things.
3. About the fluid around your front tires. Are you sure everything is bolted up tight? The banjo bolts to the calipers require a copper washer that gets "crushed" when you seat them. Are you missing any of these?

Pic of these?

I dropped the car off at my buddys house, he said he'll have his friend who runs a shop look at it. I'm at work right now, so when i get off at 9 tonight I'll drive by and see whats been done, or not done.

Maxium · Apr 15, 2011

1979-04 Mustang Brake Caliper Banjo Bolt Copper Washer by Ford at LRS - Same Day Shipping!

I had one leak on me and I found that I had two washers on the banjo bolt. I'm pretty sure your local auto store (Autozone, Pepboys, O'Reily, etc.) will have them. Good luck and give us and update.

tomustang · Apr 15, 2011

I don't see how replacing banjo bolts will fix his problem. OP said they changed the pads/brakes, they shouldn't have messed with the brake lines.. You could still replace them though

You will have to either buy "the Cube" for the rear brakes, or have fun with needle nose pliers. If you shop buddy has one that's cool but you need to do the rear brakes to get that air out. Remember to start bleeding the furthest away from the master cylinder

Please tell me your buddy didn't squeeze the rear pistons in, if he did you might have bad rears now

m0squ1t0 · Apr 15, 2011

tomustang said:
I don't see how replacing banjo bolts will fix his problem. OP said they changed the pads/brakes, they shouldn't have messed with the brake lines.. You could still replace them though

You will have to either buy "the Cube" for the rear brakes, or have fun with needle nose pliers. If you shop buddy has one that's cool but you need to do the rear brakes to get that air out. Remember to start bleeding the furthest away from the master cylinder

Well he did open the bleeders, but i didn't see anything like those washer while putting the caliper back on...

Maxium · Apr 15, 2011

tomustang said:
I don't see how replacing banjo bolts will fix his problem. OP said they changed the pads/brakes, they shouldn't have messed with the brake lines.. You could still replace them though

Right, I wasn't saying to replace the bolts. I was making a recommendation of checking the banjo bolt area for leaks (i.e. check for tightness and check for that copper washer). There are only a limited possibility of where the leaks can occur around the caliper. Assuming the caliper wasn't leaking from the piston before the replacement, I would think it wouldn't be likely it's leaking after. That leaves pretty much the bleeder screw (which would be an obvious culprit) or the banjo bolt area. Just wanted to clarify my suggestions.

Maxium · Apr 15, 2011

m0squ1t0 said:
Well he did open the bleeders, but i didn't see anything like those washer while putting the caliper back on...

The bleeder screws don't have the washers, the washers are in between the brake line and caliper itself.

m0squ1t0 · Apr 15, 2011

Should I bleed the brakes in a certain order?

Maxium · Apr 15, 2011

m0squ1t0 said:
Should I bleed the brakes in a certain order?

Yes:
Rear Passenger
Rear Driver
Front Passenger
Front Driver
Then I would bleed your master cylinder with the method I posted earlier.
Hope this helps.

tomustang · Apr 15, 2011

Maxium] Just wanted to clarify my suggestions.[/QUOTE] :cheers: [QUOTE=m0squ1t0 said:
Should I bleed the brakes in a certain order?

I mentioned that in my earlier post

Remember to start bleeding the furthest away from the master cylinder

That means passenger rear then driver rear, passenger front then driver front, then MC

m0squ1t0 · Apr 15, 2011

Maxium said:
Yes:
Rear Passenger
Rear Driver
Front Passenger
Front Driver
Then I would bleed your master cylinder with the method I posted earlier.
Hope this helps.

tomustang said:
I mentioned that in my earlier post

That means passenger rear then driver rear, passenger front then driver front, then MC

Thanks, I'm still a noob and double check everything. Sort of a measure twice cut once kind of thing. I'll be bleeding it Sunday, if all goes well that'll be the end of it, if not I'll get it looked at..I'll keep the updates coming.

m0squ1t0 · Apr 15, 2011

Okay, so i went to get it from my buddy's house, since lives a minute from me. On my way home I decided to see if anything had changed (magic lol). Anyway they're the same but, there didn't seem to be any puddles. I did however notice what appeared to be a drip mark on the RR tire, this is where I think my RR caliper may be locked up. Could that be causing the problem? I noticed when I press the brakes hard the brake light comes on. What does this development mean? Thanks guys any and all help appreciated.

joshjwc9 · Apr 15, 2011

The brakes could be dragging, but there may be more air in the system that hasn't bled out it already.

Is that particular brake abnormally hot after turning off the car for 15 minutes? Usually that or a metal grounding sound usually give it away. If it sounds like a low speed lathe is the dead give away too.

Your brake light is coming on for the lack of fluid in the system. In additionally could be the air pockets of an unbled system.

m0squ1t0 · Apr 16, 2011

Yup I heard some metallic grinding sound. So.... Im looking at replacing that caliper and rebleeding? Could the faulty caliper cause the spongy feel, do I need to replace both rears?

joshjwc9 · Apr 16, 2011

You can get away with replacing the caliper bracket and slide pins instead of the whole caliper. The downside is, is that you may need to replace the pads in the rear too. Do that, then rebleed the whole system in the correct order, keeping the master cylinder full and they should be good.

m0squ1t0 · Apr 16, 2011

joshjwc9 said:
You can get away with replacing the caliper bracket and slide pins instead of the whole caliper. The downside is, is that you may need to replace the pads in the rear too. Do that, then rebleed the whole system in the correct order, keeping the master cylinder full and they should be good.

When I last looked the rears had plenty of meat left on the pads, or is there another reason I would have to replace them?

Lets hope that fixes it. I'm having to drive the wife's Aveo and it's not the same at all.

Will parts houses like AutoZone, etc sell me just one caliper or do they only sell in pairs? I called and asked pricing and they made no mention of being sold that way.

m0squ1t0 · Apr 16, 2011

GDawg · Apr 16, 2011

m0squ1t0 said:
Will parts houses like AutoZone, etc sell me just one caliper or do they only sell in pairs? I called and asked pricing and they made no mention of being sold that way.

Pads are sold in sets for both wheels. Calipers and Rotors are sold individually.

Brake problems

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