when a caliper goes bad should I see some kind of like brake fluid leaking? example of bad by it no longer compresses against the rotor with full power causing spongy pedal. I have spongy pedal and I replaced the master cylinder and completely bled the brakes. didn't fix the spongy pedal. so next tsrm says bad piston. or bad brake pads. well now I'm trying to determine which it is. thanks for the help David
brake question
- Thread starter djordan97
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My right rear caliper was non functioning(some rust) and when breaking it felt normal :icon_excl It would not take much to ensure that the calipers where working get a flash light and look at each while someone actuates the brake. Exercise due cation (i.e chock the tires) My guess is that there are still bubbles in the line. gl
djordan97 said:
A "bad caliper" will present in one of three ways.
1) The caliper will be leaking from the seal around the piston and fluid will be visible.
2) Contaminated (dirty) brake fluid has many small particulates in it that will build up in the end of the system i.e. the caliper. The particles will collect behind the caliper piston to a point that when the brakes are applied and the caliper clamps down on the rotor and then the brakes are released the caliper piston will not fully retract. The result is premature brake pad wear or a pull in severe cases.
3) Brake fluid contaminated by a foreign substance, (power steering fluid is a good example) will cause every rubber seal in the brake system to swell. This has the effect of locking up the entire system in which case the caliper pistons will not move at all and the brake pedal will be rock hard.
Nothing in your description matches any of these scenarios. It sounds like there is air in the system.
Did you "bench Bleed" your master cylinder before you installed it?
When you bled your brakes did you follow the proper bleeding sequence shown in the TSRM?
When You bled the brakes was someone helping you or did you attempt to bleed them by yourself?
Let us know and we can get you fixed up.
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I did bench bleed the brakes and I was having help bleeding the brakes. I did pump them very slowly following the tsrm. when there is no vacuum I have a very hard normal feeling pedal. but when the car starts is when I have problems.
djordan97 said:
Air in the system. When bleeding the brakes do not let the pedal go all the way to the floor before closing the bleeder. Make sure to close the bleeder while the fluid is still coming out.:icon_bigg