hey guys, just had a couple of quick questions about whether or not crappy brake pads would cause a spongy brake pedal? i just bled my brakes hoping to remedy the problem but it only seems to have gotten a little better. i also installed new brembo blanks. the pads i have on the max right now are whatever pads Just Brakes uses (i'm sure it's the cheapest pads they can find). so i was wondering if switching to Ceramic brake pads (raybestos qs, or bendix ceramics, etc.) would possibly remedy the spongy feel. any info would be great. thanks in advance!

 

bump... any suggestions?

 

SS lines. .

 

Spongy brake pedal feel is caused by air in the lines or weak-@ss brake lines ballooning. As long as the pads are the correct thickness and aren't made of cotton, they shouldn't have anything to do with a spongy feel.

Did you install the pads? If so, check to make sure you aren't leaking brake fluid anywhere and possibly bleed all four lines again. Even if you didn't work on all four lines, I've had to bleed all four to get it right.

 

yeah... i'm probably gonna bleed them again. i guess i didn't let all the air out. and while i'm down there i might as well change out the pads for ceramic ones.

 

Cheap pads may fade when they heat up, causing you to experience braking where the pedal is still hard, but you have to push it down a lot to get it to stop.

 

nope that's not the case... it's just spongy, not hard, but i did begin to notice it after my last brake pad change which is why i was just wondering if that could have anything to do with it.

 

Question Brian,

When you put constant pressure on your brake pedal, does it slowly sink all the way to the floor? If so then it is either a leak in the system, or the brake master cylinder is going out and needs replacement.

If not, keep bleeding the brakes at all 4 corners, brake pads never cause spongy feel. Brake pads aren't squishy, not even a little bit. Sometimes you need at least 5 bleed attempts at each corner while constantly filling the brake fluid.

 

You have two things working against you
1) You could have improperly bleed the brakes
2) You could have improperly bed the brakes. New pads will feel like crap until they have a chance to break in a bit

 

Try rebleeding the system and also bleed the MC on the car... We did that on my car wow, made a difference.

 

yeah my car feels kinda of spongy also... what do you mean by bleeding the brake system???

 

How is that done?

 

What was the order on bleeding all lines?

 

It is recommended to start with the right rear wheel, then proceed to the left front, left rear and then right front wheels, in that order

 

drewn- how's it going... i don't think i have a leak in the system or else i'd be losing fluid right? but even after i've stopped with the first couple of inches of brake pedal travel i can continue on and push the pedal all the way to the floor. i was guessing air in the lines?

jeff92se-i'm going with your option 1...

cutlr7- yeah, i'm gonna rebleed them, and also, how do you bleed the Master Cylinder? thanks for all the help guys...

 

or... some sites said to do it:
1. Right Rear
2. Left Rear
3. Right Front
4. Left Front

that's the way i did it... maybe that's what's causing the spongy pedal.

 

Right rear meaning driver side rear?

 

I am not positive but i do beleive it means driver side. I got the quote from the FAQ's

 

brian, whatever u do, stay away from Raybesto QS, trust me on this.

 

crack the lines at the MC and slowly pump pedal till fluid flows out of the MC, do this slowly... Made a difference and requires 2 people....

Pump, Pump, release valve.

 

since we are on the discussion on brakes if you have xdrill/slotted rotors... which way is the pattern suppose to go?? pics would help


wouldnt you be bleeding the master cylinder when you bleed the lines.... kinda unnessary isnt it?

 

It sounds like it, but if you need to pump the brakes to gain enough pressure to stop, then the master cylinder is definately going out.

The easy way to test it, is hold the pedal to the floor, and see if the pedal becomes softer. If so, brake fluid is slipping by the master cylinder pistons and should be replaced.

Otherwise, just bleed the heck out of it and see if it helps first.

 

It doesn't matter so much about the pattern of the slots/holes. What matters is the direction of the cooling vanes inside the rotor. They have to be positioned so that the air is being flung to the outside of the rotor, instead of being scooped in.

))) <= If those were some of the vanes, and they were spinning clockwise, they would throw air to the outside = GOOD

((( <= If those were spinning clockwise, they would scoop air in = BAD

Get it?

Not really, because you have to bleed the entire brake line system to remove air that is stuck at the MC. That's a LOT of fluid.

 

So just like bleeding brakes? Could you give me some idea where the master cylinder is located?

 

driver side firewall, u cant miss it all the brake lines goes to itdo your self a favor and buy a flare nut wrench 10mm before you do it i didnt and had and stripped the nut on the brake line, if you do too no biggy get a line cutter, new line (standard size) and double flaring tool, and redo the line gl

 

 

You have to do one line at a time at the MC. If you don't know where the MC is I would recommend letting a shop do this.. MC is where the brake fluid resouvoir(sp?) is under the hood, all the hardlines run to it. It's connected to the Brake booster on the driver's side firewall....

 

Buy a Haynes manual, it will help you a lot

 

ouch that must hurt

 

Talk about hittin' the O-pipe!

 

^^^ hehe... just rebled my brakes and installed some Satisfied Ceramic Pro's. haven't been driving them long enough to see if they are better. the brake feel is much better now after rebleeding them. thanks for all the input guys.