Bluesky4x4

First off, I didn't disconnect anything to allow air in they system. I pulled my calipers and rotors off. The rotors were turned and I cleaned the calipers and painted them (only visible parts). I reinstalled everything and put in new Ceramic pads up front and semi mettalic in the back.

Now when I hit the brakes it seems like when I come to a stop, the pedal travels further down than it's supposed to and I feel something like a little vibe. If I hit them again, it feels more normal. The nice thing is no more screaming from the pads (sounded worst than 20 babys crying before).

I can only come up with a few things:

The master cylinder or calipers didn't like the fluid push back from compressing the calipers, so maybe a bad seal on either?
The tapered piston on the calipers isn't set right so I am not getting correct contact from the pads (they are the way they were)?
I had to order a parts kit and the car sat for 3 days with the lid on the master cylinder off because I forgot to close it up; so possible water contamination in the fluid?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

GOSANE

Well, you could always pressure bleed the whole system. In other words pump some new fluid through and any trash or bubbles that may be present will be purged. My 02.$

Dave in Chicago

New pads and rotors need to be bedded in. I think this is the key issue. Follow the bed-in procedure for the ceramic pads that you installed, then let it all cool overnight. A quick bleed the next day should put you in brake-pedal heaven until those pads wear out.

Techno Duck

Just curious, what pads did you opt for? I am looking for something for street / autocross. Let me know your impressions once you get everything running right.

Marc Shaw

As Dave suggested, sounds like the pads need to be bed in. See this link.

Marc

austin944

You might also check the runout of the rotors. If the runout is too large the rotors will tend to knock the caliper pistons back into the bores as the rotors turn when the car is travelling. Then the next time you hit the brakes, there will be a lot of pedal travel as the pistons slide back to where they can actually press the pads against the rotors. Hit the brakes a second time soon afterwards and the brake pedal will have less travel because the pistons are mostly preloaded against the pads/rotors and haven't had a chance to get knocked back.

Bluesky4x4

Since I just drive it on the street, I went with Raybestos from Carquest. Their about 40 a set and should work fine for my driving.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try that procedure tomorrow and if I still have issues, run some fresh brake fluid through the system.