Effects of low brake fluid?
03-20-2008, 09:42 AM
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Baltimore, MD
Posts: 496
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Effects of low brake fluid?
I recently had my brake pads replaced and brake fluid flushed on my 86 turbo. I did not change the rotors as the shop said they seemed to be fine.
The old pads that were on the car were VERY noisy, squealing like a pig when coming to a stop. The new pads don't have nearly the stopping power of the old ones. When I REALLY step on the brake pedal they seem to be strong enough. The new pads now have about 500 miles on them with no improvement. Could it be that they didn't put enoughbrake fluid into it?
Any other ideas? I don't know what the old pads were, but the new ones are Hawk HP2's I believe.
Any other thoughts?
The old pads that were on the car were VERY noisy, squealing like a pig when coming to a stop. The new pads don't have nearly the stopping power of the old ones. When I REALLY step on the brake pedal they seem to be strong enough. The new pads now have about 500 miles on them with no improvement. Could it be that they didn't put enoughbrake fluid into it?
Any other ideas? I don't know what the old pads were, but the new ones are Hawk HP2's I believe.
Any other thoughts?
03-20-2008, 10:03 AM
#2
Racer
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Tallinn, Estonia
Posts: 498
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Is the brake pedal firm on spongy? If you have to pump the brakes to add stopping power there is air in the system. If the pedal is firm but car does not stop like before the difference is from pads.
03-20-2008, 10:31 AM
#3
Rennlist Member
03-20-2008, 11:28 AM
#4
Drifting
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Michigan
Posts: 2,023
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
If that happens you could have air in your clutch line as well since the clutch master cylinder hose is annoyingly high on the brake reservoir. I'm working on making a seperate bottle just for the clutch but not much room there.
03-20-2008, 12:14 PM
#7
Rennlist Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Santa Clara, Ca
Posts: 1,206
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I don't think low fluid is your problem here. The first indicator of low brake fluid would be your clutch pedal and not spongy brake. If you look at the Master Cylinder the line that feeds the clutch slave is the first affected with low brake fluid.
It seems the new pads is your problem. Anytime you install new pads and not resurface or replace the rotor you have uneven mating surfaces between the new pad and rotor. What you need to do is break in the pad to the rotor. You can do this by driving the car to around 50mph and brake really hard several times. maybe 10 times or so untill you have full mating surface between the new pad and rotor. This should improve your braking.
It seems the new pads is your problem. Anytime you install new pads and not resurface or replace the rotor you have uneven mating surfaces between the new pad and rotor. What you need to do is break in the pad to the rotor. You can do this by driving the car to around 50mph and brake really hard several times. maybe 10 times or so untill you have full mating surface between the new pad and rotor. This should improve your braking.
Trending Topics
03-20-2008, 12:54 PM
#9
Racer
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Baltimore, MD
Posts: 496
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I don't think low fluid is your problem here. The first indicator of low brake fluid would be your clutch pedal and not spongy brake. If you look at the Master Cylinder the line that feeds the clutch slave is the first affected with low brake fluid.
It seems the new pads is your problem. Anytime you install new pads and not resurface or replace the rotor you have uneven mating surfaces between the new pad and rotor. What you need to do is break in the pad to the rotor. You can do this by driving the car to around 50mph and brake really hard several times. maybe 10 times or so untill you have full mating surface between the new pad and rotor. This should improve your braking.
It seems the new pads is your problem. Anytime you install new pads and not resurface or replace the rotor you have uneven mating surfaces between the new pad and rotor. What you need to do is break in the pad to the rotor. You can do this by driving the car to around 50mph and brake really hard several times. maybe 10 times or so untill you have full mating surface between the new pad and rotor. This should improve your braking.
I will check the brake fluid and the hoses into the master cylinder. I just can't believe these pads that I heard so many good things about are this weak.
Chuck
03-20-2008, 01:56 PM
#11
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
I agree with cas951. I've done that a few times where I put in new pads and forget to break them in. Even hundreds of miles later it doesn't stop like it used to.
And when changing pads from old to new, the caliper pistons are pushed back into their bores, which pushes fluid back into the reservoir. I.e. there's a surplus of fluid. Thus it's unlikely there was a lack of fluid, to cause air in the system. But I had it happen once where I pushed the piston in too fast and busted a piston seal!
And when changing pads from old to new, the caliper pistons are pushed back into their bores, which pushes fluid back into the reservoir. I.e. there's a surplus of fluid. Thus it's unlikely there was a lack of fluid, to cause air in the system. But I had it happen once where I pushed the piston in too fast and busted a piston seal!
03-20-2008, 02:09 PM
#12
Rennlist Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Santa Clara, Ca
Posts: 1,206
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
.
And when changing pads from old to new, the caliper pistons are pushed back into their bores, which pushes fluid back into the reservoir. I.e. there's a surplus of fluid. Thus it's unlikely there was a lack of fluid, to cause air in the system. But I had it happen once where I pushed the piston in too fast and busted a piston seal!
And when changing pads from old to new, the caliper pistons are pushed back into their bores, which pushes fluid back into the reservoir. I.e. there's a surplus of fluid. Thus it's unlikely there was a lack of fluid, to cause air in the system. But I had it happen once where I pushed the piston in too fast and busted a piston seal!
03-20-2008, 07:57 PM
#13
Three Wheelin'
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: San Francisco, CA Porsche: '92 968 Blk/Cashmere
Posts: 1,699
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
How did you bed the pad? Sounds like you might have glazed them. As you move to a more aggressive pad, they become more sensitive to the bedding process. BTW, there is no such pad called a hawk hp2.
03-20-2008, 11:17 PM
#14
