Hi, I noticed that the pedal has to go ~1/2 the way down before it noticably starts braking. Is this normal? The brake pedal is also on the soft side. Overall braking performance is fine though. I've checked the brake pads and I have around 60% in the front and 40% in the rear. The fluid level is good and there are no visible leaks. My friend told me that it could be due to air in the system. I've never had them changed (well, i did have the dealer to surface the rotors) and my car has around 55k.

Any ideas?

(sorry if this is a repost but I can't use the search function.)

 

you should bleed the brakes. when was the last time you serviced the brake system?

 

Beside bleeding the brake system. Changing out the stock rubber brake hoses to the stainless steel braided lines will give you a firmer pedal feel when applying the brakes.

 

I don't think I've ever had the brake system for service (except for the rotors). By bleeding the system do you mean a complete flush or just crack open the bleeding screw? I'm thinking about getting SS lines but I don't know is the brand mention here http://maxmods.dyndns.org/index.php?MaximaBrakeLines would work for 5th gens.
Thanks.

 

Check this out: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=302671
Technafit brand SS lines are for sale at $80. I had that installed on my car a few months now and noticed a difference with firmer pedal feel. As for the fitment and installation. The front lines did fitted well on my aftermarket Tokico front shocks. I had to use a tie-zip to hold the lines to the strut's metal brake bracket. The rear lines fitted fine. The installation were fairly easy. Just uncrewed the rubber hoses and replaced the SS lines (kits included). Then bleed the brake system with fresh brake fluids.

Make sure you space out the SS lines with enough traveling distance at the front wheels so that when you turn left/right, the lines won't snap.