I have just taken my rear brakes apart and fitted new seals. They work now (they were jammed solid before) but the first time I apply the brakes the pedal goes down too far. If I pump it, the travels shortens and the brakes work normally. The pedal is solid when it gets to the end of its travel so it's unlikely to be air in the system. There's no tell-tale spongy feeling. The handbrake also comes up too far. They should self-adjust. Any suggestions to cure the problem?
brake pedal travel
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- #2
does the fact that nobody has replied mean that nobody has a clue what elementary mistake I've made here?
Alright Ian,
Saw the Trophy today for the first time in a while, nice sticker
Might be better posting over on cliosport, it's busier on there and you're more likely to get a reply
Did you change the fluid at the same time? Or at least run a bit of new stuff through to the rear?
Handbrake may need adjusting which is done under the car. Or you may have a broken cable or faulty caliper. The caliper has a separate mechanism for the handbrake.
Edit: Also found this: http://www.cliosport.net/forum/show...ake-pedal-travel-issue&highlight=pedal+travel
Saw the Trophy today for the first time in a while, nice sticker
Might be better posting over on cliosport, it's busier on there and you're more likely to get a reply
Did you change the fluid at the same time? Or at least run a bit of new stuff through to the rear?
Handbrake may need adjusting which is done under the car. Or you may have a broken cable or faulty caliper. The caliper has a separate mechanism for the handbrake.
Edit: Also found this: http://www.cliosport.net/forum/show...ake-pedal-travel-issue&highlight=pedal+travel
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Did you bleed brake the fluid? If so, it sounds like there is air in the system. When you say you pump the pedal till it goes hard, is the engine running as I would say that is what you usually get with the engine off. I've changed disks and pads all round on my Trophy a few years ago and I used about 3 litres of fluid to ensure there was no air in the system using an eezi-bleed device. Did you change the pads too?
The only other thing it may be are the rear pads fitted correctly. IE are the tabs on the rear of the pads seated into the piston groves.
Did you clamp off the pipes when working on the rears so no fluid could return to the master cylinder when you push the pistons back?
as this can sometimes invert the seals in the master cylinder giving a poor pedal.
Did you clamp off the pipes when working on the rears so no fluid could return to the master cylinder when you push the pistons back?
as this can sometimes invert the seals in the master cylinder giving a poor pedal.
Oooo oooo i know, i know! What happens is, if you wind back the piston so it's right back, then fit the pads so that when you put them back on to the disc, if there's a slight gap between pad, and disc, the automatic adjustment of this gap doesn't work briliantly, so you push the pedal and the piston has to take up the gap before it hits the disc. What you need to do is unwind the piston so it's closer to the disc, and the pads are just able to slide over the disc when fitting the calliper, and it should be fine
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- #9
Thanks stormduck. You may have a point there.
I've fitted new pads tonight and it's much, much better. I think it was a combination of factors: worn pads; not winding the piston out as you suggest to pre-adjust it; I'm not sure I ensured that the peg on the back of the pad was engaged with the slots on the piston; and now pedal feel is vastly improved I can detect a bit of sponginess in the pedal so it probably needs a final bleed to purge the last of the air from the rears brake lines.
Thanks everyone for your input on this.
I've fitted new pads tonight and it's much, much better. I think it was a combination of factors: worn pads; not winding the piston out as you suggest to pre-adjust it; I'm not sure I ensured that the peg on the back of the pad was engaged with the slots on the piston; and now pedal feel is vastly improved I can detect a bit of sponginess in the pedal so it probably needs a final bleed to purge the last of the air from the rears brake lines.
Thanks everyone for your input on this.
Join the gang, I didn't twig about the slots on the back of two of pads the first time round, so had funny wear on the pads. Mine was a nightmare coz i had everything off, and the brake fluid drained out of the abs pipework, trying to get it back in everywhere wasn't enjoyable!