Last year I changed my brakes and rebuilt a caliper and in the process bled all the calipers and the MC. Since then my braking ability has been ok, but not great. I can slam on the brakes and my car will slow down quickly, but it's hard to get the tires to skid and engage the abs. I know my car can stop faster (it did before the brake job). I used to be able to slam on the brakes and have the tires skid and the abs work right away. My pedal doesn't feel spongy or anything. I bled the system a lot (4 or 5 times) with no increase in braking power.

Any suggestions? Could it be crappy brake pads? I bought the lifetime duralast ones from autozone before I learned how much autozone sucked. Any other ideas?

 

crappy pads.

 

What are some good pads I can pick up at a kragen or wherever? Any brands people like. I don't want racing pads, just good everyday pads.

 

in order:
wagner (Edge or thermoquiet)
bendix (titanumetallic)
raybestos (PGD #s)

not sure which if any of those brands CSK sells
looks like they sell bendix, raybestos, beck/arnley (axxis), performance friction and some other brands I wouldn't bother with.

 

maybe you need new brake lines

 

I've had good experiences with akebono ceramic pads. IIRC they are about $50-65 a set.

 

Why on earth would he need new brake lines? He didn't say anything about losing fluid.

 

Why on earth would he need new brake lines? He didn't say anything about losing fluid.


Hawk is a Killer pad, the best I've felt so far for stock brakes.

 

i have raybestos on my 3rd Gen. They work pretty good, never had any issues when it comes to slamming on the brakes, especially here in NY. I will be replacing my brake lines soon though.

 

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I'm looking at CSK (partsamerica) and it looks like thye have some Raybestos ceramic pads and some Beck/Arnley semi-metallic. Is ceramic or semi-metallic better? From what I've read ceramics wear the rotors faster but also brake harder, is that right? Which last longer? I don't mind wear on my rotors since they're pretty new and it only costs $15 or so to have them resurfaced (and rotors are pretty cheap).

 

I ran the semi-metallics than beck arnley has, and I was less than impressed with them.

 

I'll probably go with the ceramics then.

 

it was the brand I was less than impressed with.
ceramic quality varies widely between brands from what I've seen.

 

Hawk HPS>Any above pads mentioned

 

Hawk is a very good brand.

 

yeah, sorry, I meant the Raybestos ceramics.

 

First either disconnect your battery negative cable or unplug your ABS pump harness the bleed your M/C first then your brakes starting @ the right/rear! You can also purchase synthetic brake fluid (Valvoline) from Pep Boys it's got a 500 degree F boiling point! You will get better brake pedal feel if you equip your ride with some Goodridge SS brake hoses also!

 

DON"T change to synthetic! It's okay if you clean your system out completely, but if there is any old, regular fluid left in the system when you change to synthetic you'll have problems.

You can get just as good a brake fluid from your local Ford dealership pretty cheaply. Just ask for a can of their Heavy Duty Truck brake fluid. Comes in a quart can for ~$6.

IIRC, about 6 years ago Grassroots Motorsports did a comparison test on brake fluids and the Ford stuff came in second only to Motul.

Oh, and by the way, a 500 degree boiling point is GREAT for bragging points, but when was the last time ANY of us came even CLOSE to boiling our brakes? I thought so.

 

15% sits between lubed<--->nonlubed pistons, rails.

In principal confused ABS, poor wheel sensor signal can cause low response. Do the cleanup, use contact grease on ABS computer pins. Theyre the crap tinned -type ...tin escapes and pins loose contact. Also do run ABS diag.

see my ABS computer tinned pins with 'holes'

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/18


ABS control in GM -05:
"If an antilock brake sensor malfunctions, the system can kick into gear at low speeds, taking control away from the driver and leading to longer stopping distances" ...but not to worry, its only in Canada: "...GM notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it was recalling 150,000 trucks in Canada..."
.
.
Edit: to troubleshoot mentioned syndrome, tst disconnect ABS fuse... now brakes have all pwr - if ABS is the cause.

 

so as long as the system is totally empty when the synthetic goes in i'm fine? i'm doing that for a clutch actually but it should be the same principle right? I'm using new lines, and a rebuilt SC, and will empty the MC first. my clutch pedal was always super soft in the morning and once the car warmed up it got stiff as a brick (like WAY WAY WAY stiffer than it should ever be... i was worried about rupturing something) and caused slippage of my already-bad clutch.

 

As long as the system is cleam of other fluids you should be just fine. Just be sure to MARK that you have installed Synthetic in all systems that you convert. You never know when a well meaning person may just "top off" the system with normal fluid.

 

The abs isn't the problem, it kicks in when the wheel actually starts to skid, but by problem is being able to stop fast enough to make the wheel skid. I bet it's my crappy pads, I'll probably pick up some raybestos ceramics soon.

 

just an FYI. the first couple of stops on them suck once installed.
we have / had them on our van.

 

haha, not a worry. NOBODY touches my car(s) (though a helping hand last night would have been super-swell). and if i sell one i'll just tell them to only use synthetic in ______. i really ought to flush my brakes too.. that fluid is naaaasty. just hard finding somebody to pump it. maybe once D gets back next month.

 

WEak brake power? What's that?

 

Synthetic is fine. It's DOT 5 SILICONE everyone should stay away from.

 

Yes, typically ABS does that. This doesnt address mentioned every maxima's existing factory born -problem in no way...

a. How do you know there's no problem?

b. Some may have that issue; lots ppl reading... The mentioned issues changed
my brakes from night ---to---> day; with these speed limits never need more.

 

I'm pretty sure there's no problem with the abs because i can get it to kick in when i can get the wheel to skid (snow, rain, sometimes when it is dry).

 

= u dont know. To costly to tst, pluck out fuse?

 

Go to Harbor Freight and get a MightyVac kit. Costs under $30 and rids you of the need for a second person (although if a leggy blond appears and wants to help, whose to stop you from letting her?). If can also be used to pull a vacuum on lots of other stuff. Great little tool to have laying around!

Still, I prefer plain old, cheap, brake fluid over Synthetic. Call me old fashioned but nobody has convinced me that Synthetic has any real value other the bragging rights. Either at the track or on the street. And I can flush the crap out of my cars hydraulics for less then $6/car (one quart can per car!).

 

my homegirl is back in town soon so we can just use it as an excuse to hang out. not quite leggy, not quite blonde but w/e. she doesn't know ANYTHING about cars (she only has about 2 hours of seat time) but i guess she can pump and hold a pedal alright. no puns guys... she ain't like that.

 

Yes, Ford does offer their Hipo, Hitemp ,brake fluid for all their nonstopping cars (10" rotor Mustang Gt's), but the Valvoline is about that some price if not cheaper and available at your local auto parts store which is more convient. This fluid is compatiable with dot 3 or 4 silicone, there is no adverse affect if all traces of the fluid is not removed. i use these in my Hardbody pickup and it's use to flush out my 03 Maxima's brake system in which I use Motul in.
And you're right.... why get caught in the chase tryin to get to that Ford Dealership parts counter when you can simply drive up to a local auto parts store and get a quart of Valvoline Synthetic brake fluid for about $4 or $5. Spill it all over your beautiful paint job and not have to worry about it damaging your paint, your wallet, or wrecking your car trying to make it to that Ford dealership cause they close @ 5pm! No I haven't made any brake fluid reach it's boiling point yet and i don't plan too. I think it's easier to use....

 

DOT 5.1