Soft brake pedal

[Oakley12]

Hi all, I have just fitted new discs and pads on a family members car and they felt abit soft, so bled the brakes and quite a bit of air came out but after two or three goes all the air had gone. Now I took it back around the block and it hasn't made a slight bit of difference.

Brakes fitted to a 2007 vauxhall Astra 1.4.

Any ideas what else could be the problem? Or just wait until they have bed in?

Thanks, Oakley

 

[MG cup]

Bleed the brakes from the furthest away corner from the master cylinder first round to the clost incase there's some trapped air.

Some cars need to be bleed a specific way, I.e n/s/f first then clockwise. Have a google.

 

[Oakley12]

Thanks fella. Will google it later .

 

[MikeClio172SPT]

If the Brake hydraulic system was air free before you touched it..... if you have only fitted disks & pads there is no need to touch the hydraulic system, all u did was push the pistons back yes???
And yes..... there wont be that initial bite on the brakes untill they have glazed into each other's surfaces. wont take long for them to run in though.

 

[Oakley12]

Yes all i done was pushed the pistons back. I was told that they wernt the best before changing so bled them to be on the safe side! But now think they are a wee bit worse now.

How many miles would they be bled in by?

O

 

[MG cup]

How many miles would they be bled in by?

O

You mean bedded in I think mate, when the disc and pad have a better key with each other. Go for a drive and do some left foot braking if its fronts or rears you can hold the handbrake on a bit.

 

[Oakley12]

Yeah what I meant haha, okay mate ill report back ina few days .

 

[ben lee]

if you pushed the pistons back you can turn the seals in the master cylinder quite a common problem resulting it a crap pedal.

 

[MikeClio172SPT]

Yes all i done was pushed the pistons back. I was told that they wernt the best before changing so bled them to be on the safe side! But now think they are a wee bit worse now.

How many miles would they be bled in by?

O

About 200 miles or so. And also dont get them excessivley hot it will ruin the pads, as new disks and pads generate quite a bit of heat. If the pedal was rubbish before hand you might want to check the hydraulic system..... there's an easy way to check the master cylinder to see if the seals are passing.... get somebody to press the pedal & keep it down....... you watch the brake fluid level..... if it goes down abit & stays down.... its an indication that the seals are doing there job. If the fluid raises back up
with the pedal pressed.... that says the seals are letting the fluid back past.... & not pushing down it the brake pipes.

 

[Dan519]

if there was a lot of air bubbles coming through as you bled it, I'd suspect you've opened the bleed nipple too far, or you don't have a tight enough pipe on the nipple. I've seen air get pulled in like this before and make it look like you're improving things, but you're making it worse

 

[Oakley12]

What's involved with the repairs if the seals are passing in the master cylinder?

 

[MikeClio172SPT]

What's involved with the repairs if the seals are passing in the master cylinder?

A new master cylinder.......

 

[Oakley12]

Oh right, haha. Thanks for the help/advice, defiantly going to try the visual test before breaking bad news lol.