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Brake Calipers: Front ones don't engage at the same time

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Old Jun 4, 2005 | 07:48 PM
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Brake Calipers: Front ones don't engage at the same time

Hello all,

After doing some repeated hard stops recently, I found out that my front right caliper engage the brakes sooner than my right front, causing the front right wheel to be hotter than the left wheel.

How could I make the calipers to engage both fronts at the same time? I even decided to brake pretty hard to confirm this, and after repeated attempts, the tire always squeals/locks up sooner than my left.

Recently, I found out that one of caliper pin bolts on the front right corner of my 97 Maxima is rusted. This causes the outer brake pad to touch the rotor at almost all times, but I took it apart and regreased everything. I bled the caliper a little bit during service. I inspected the rotors and seems to me that the right one is shinier than the left, indicating that the left pads presses the rotors harder.

I imagine this would not be too dangerous during driving under normal circumstances, but at some situations, this could be dangerous.

Do I need to bleed the left caliper as well? What do I need to do so both calipers engage the pads at the same time? Air in the lines?

Give me your thoughts on this and thanks in advance!
Old Jun 4, 2005 | 08:54 PM
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Brakes

Ardica, It sounds to me like the left front has an air pocket in it, and needs bleeding!
I grew up in the beer capitol of the world, and have 2 bro's there yet. Cheers, Earl
Old Jun 4, 2005 | 09:06 PM
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E-Carp: Thanks for your reply. Would you mind if I ask how do you know the left front has air pockets? Did you have something like this before?

I have been living in Wisconsin for almost 8 years. I guess nothing has much since you left, all we have is bars and more bars.... .
Old Jun 4, 2005 | 09:24 PM
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Maybe try re-bleeding all lines. When was the last time you thought about rebuilding your calipers?
Old Jun 4, 2005 | 09:28 PM
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err.....I don't plan on rebuilding the caliper. Hell, I might as well go with the 300ZX brakes if I need too.

The last time I flushed the brakes was in 2003. I just noticed that the front right tire is worn faster than the left. But the wear was even across the threads, so it's not suspension related.
Old Jun 5, 2005 | 09:51 AM
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Brakes

Originally Posted by ardika
E-Carp: Thanks for your reply. Would you mind if I ask how do you know the left front has air pockets? Did you have something like this before?

I have been living in Wisconsin for almost 8 years. I guess nothing has much since you left, all we have is bars and more bars.... .
I've had 38 cars since 1954, and recently had one that pulled to the right, witch is what yours must be doing, and bled the left cylinder and got lots of air out. I also had a car that did the same thing but pulled left, and it turned out to be a brake hose to the right side. The hoses deterorate internally, and plug up! Earl
Old Jun 5, 2005 | 11:42 AM
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Earl: Thank you, will bleed the brakes and post updates. Fortunately I have installed speedbleeders back in 03.
Old Jun 5, 2005 | 11:22 PM
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Interesting post. Never thought air pocket can cause slight braking issues. I would have to look into that with my car when I get my rear pads replace.
Old Jun 9, 2005 | 02:28 PM
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brakes

Originally Posted by FanaticMadMax
Interesting post. Never thought air pocket can cause slight braking issues. I would have to look into that with my car when I get my rear pads replace.
Air in the line, or caliper won't compress as will liquid, therefore the caliper will not function the same! Air in the system will also cause a spongy feel to the pedal. Air "compresses" liquid dosn't, simple physics!!! Earl
Old Jun 9, 2005 | 09:02 PM
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Bleeding Maxima brakes

Does anybody know what's the sequence for bleeding all four corners? If I remember correctly, the first one is passenger side rear, then to front driver side, third is rear driver side and then front passenger side.

Is this correct?
Old Jun 10, 2005 | 09:56 AM
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Originally Posted by ardika
Does anybody know what's the sequence for bleeding all four corners? If I remember correctly, the first one is passenger side rear, then to front driver side, third is rear driver side and then front passenger side.

Is this correct?
Always bleed the farthest from the master first! Look at the line routing, as the longest line might be on the drivers side rear! Then procede to the next longest, etc. Earl
Old Jun 13, 2005 | 07:17 AM
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Apparently both of my lower caliper pin bolts were rusted to their holes, so they were replaced with new ones. Bled both lines during service.

However, the symptom still persist. The pass. side wheel is warmer than the driver side.

I did notice that it took quite a bit more effort to depress the pass. side piston back compared to the driver's, so I might be needing a new caliper on the pass. side (since it's a "lazy" one).

How hard is it to rebuilt your caliper using the caliper rebuilt kit?
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