Had the great idea of changing my rear brakes. 120 bucks, or do it myself for 20. The job was simple, but now my brakes have to be pushed almost all the way to the floor before they will engage. I have this horrible feeling that I'm going to be bleeding the brakes tomorrow. Does anyone know how to fix this braking problem. Thanks. Adam.

 

What did you do? Brade pad replacement? Rotors? Calipers? Brake lines? If you just did pads or rotors, did you disconnect the brake lines? Did you drain/replace the brake fluid?

In other words...provide more details please.

 

Check out this site, and click on "Brakes" on the left hand column to get some help. I recommended this site to a member earlier, has some good pics, and how to writeups.
http://www.motorvate.ca/

 

I just love it when other people tell other people about my site.

Thanks!

 

Sorry about the lack of information. I guess the frustration just got to me. I just changed the rear brake pads. They were screaching, so I knew it was time. I got everything done, and put back together, but now the brake pedal will compress all the way to the floor before it even begins to stop. I didn't know if this was because something accidentally got disconnected or what might cause this problem to happen. Sorry for the earlier lack of detail. Thanks. Adam

 

Hmmm - if you just changed the pads there's nothing in the process that would make that happen (I've changed the pads several times on my '95). There must be something else - did you leave the cap off the brake fluid reservoir? Somehow accidentally cut the brake line (doubtful, that's hard to do and you'd notice, but thought I'd ask).

 

The brake fluid reservoir cap was one of my thoughts, but also...did you disconnect the brake lines when swapping the pads? Did you NOT remove the brake fluid reservoir cap when compressing the piston...might have blown a seal if not...causing a fluid leak. Have you checked for leaks?

 

I took the cap off when compressing the piston. I checked for leak, I didn't see any. Could this just be a case of air in the lines? Should I take the unhappy task of bleeding the brakes? Or should I just admit defeat and take it to the shop?

 

I don't think it's air. Sometimes braking power will be diminished until the new pads seat (that will result in more pedal being needed for normal braking power). Until they are seated, they have to be pushed harder onto the rotor to get braking. It's normal when you first do (disk) brakes that the pedal wll go to the floor a few times, since the pistons are pushed in further than they need to be, once they are extended pedal travel gets almost normal.

How are the rear brakes setup? Were these the type of pistons you have to screw in to compress them or do you just have to c-clamp them back in?

 

So, basically, I should just drive around and use the brakes for a while? The rear disc's on the maxima have the screw in piston. Thanks again. Adam.