brakes need to be bled ?

[kyro_02]

yeah after giving the car a beating at winton... a few laps and my brake pedal was touching the floor.... checked fluid.. was bit low (half) so put some more in.. 48 hrs later and it's still the same (as expected) ...

i was told if fluid gets too low it can get air in the lines .... i can't see it being the brake pads... because it's not making any metal to metal contact... no noises etc when braking.... 48 hrs later and the fluid is still full so its not leaking

hope i get a cheap quote to get it bled and it better be the problem .. can't afford to waste money at the moment :P

reply with your thoughts ! - can brakes get that low, that your brake pedal touches the floor ?

[hako]

If you pump the pedal and it comes up then that is a sure sign of air in the system. Of course it could also be the master cylinder seals leaking. The only cost of bleeding is 500ml of brake fluid if you do it yourself but seeing as this happened suddenly and the master cylinder was still half full it's unlikely the low fluid level would introduce air to the system. Heavy braking will heat the calipers up and boil the fluid if it is old and has moisture in it - this may also introduce air to the system. Do a search on bleeding brakes if you are unfamiliar with this procedure.

[Damo]

you can buy one man brake bleed kits for $15 ad it's very easy to do.

[kyro_02]

do you know which shop? would supercheap or autobahn have one?

[Damo]

i got mine at autobahn. Any good auto shop will sell them. Make sure you bleed from drivers rear to passenger rear to passenger front and driver front last. furtherest to closest lines.

[nitroman]

You can make your own brake bleed bottle with a plastic soft drink bottle and about 400mm of clear 6mm plastic hose(about 50c from a hardware shop). It's good to have a mate help. Have one person on the brake pedal and the other at the caliper. When you say"down" crack the bleed nipple until the pedal goes to the floor, then close the nipple and say"up" and the person in the car lets off the pedal. Don't let them release the pedal until you have closed the nipple or you will suck air/bad old fluid back into the system. Keep this up until you have clear bubble free brake fluid coming through the hose, and yeah go from furthest from the master cylinder to the closest. e.g falcon l/r, r/r, l/f,r/f. The beauty of using the clear hose is you see the colour of the fluid change as the good stuff comes through and if there is any air bubbles present. If you have air bubbles coming through that won't go away you have a leak in the system or the master cylinder is stuffed. Before you bleed suck all the fluid out of the master cylinder resovoir,clean it with a paper towel or a clean rag and fill it with new fluid so you can tell when the new fluid is bleeding through. Keep a close eye on the resovoir level so you don't let it rundry and suck air in. be careful not to expose the brake fluid to moisture as it is hygroscopic (absorbs moisture) and this will stuff the fluid and severely lower the boiling point. Good Luck!

[Trevor 57]

You have probably got your pads hot and they have worn quickly as well, you really should check your pads.

[Racecraft]

I'd say you've burnt the brake fluid and glazed the pads... Probably an overhaul of the whole show is in order

[kyro_02]

yeah thanks for your replies i will bleed the brakes (or try to :P) today and if it's no good than definately will look at getting new pads (have a new pair sitting round just need another pair hehe)

i can stop without putting pedal to floor, but i can also put it to the floor if i give a little more pressure, it just goes right near the floor when general braking, hopefully it doesn't go down anymore after today... though it's feeling a little worse each time i brake but hopefully i can fix it today.

thanks ~

[Chrispy]

Don't just bleed the brakes-CHANGE THE FLUID.

Chrispy