So about a month ago I got some tsw rotors installed along with carbotech pads and stainless steel lines. I feel I havent had the same pleasent experience with the carbotech pads it looks like everyone else is having. I dont feel like the the stopping power is as good. I have to push the pedal half way down before it starts to grab and if I need to brake hard I the pedal hits the floor. In general it feels like more work with less result than stock. The brakes have been bled twice, bedded in twice, and have almost 1000 miles worth of wear on them. Am I missing something? Should I change the pads to oem? I am going to install a brake caliper stiffening kit next week, any other suggestions?

 

If your pedal is spongy, and *certainly* if it goes anywhere near the floor, your issue is air in the brake lines. Time for another bleed.

 

another good trick is the kit car night bleed method get a length of wood and jam you brake pedal down over night i did this after an air lock in my system when it wasnt bled properly

could also be a damaged master cylinder ive heard it can happen when its not bled properly

ETA: i run carbotech too and once you have the problem sorted there freakin awsome i have XP8's and truck me there are amazing

 

James
Could you elaborate a little more on this type of brake bleed.
Thanks, Steve

[quote=james f;2604512]another good trick is the kit car night bleed method get a length of wood and jam you brake pedal down over night i did this after an air lock in my system when it wasnt bled properly

 

#1
If your pedal feels and acts like that you have an issue with the bleed not the pads or rotors. Check to make sure none of your lines are leaking and do a complete fluid flush in the proper order and use at least a full bottle or two of fluid.

 

[QUOTE=THE ITCH;2604541]James
Could you elaborate a little more on this type of brake bleed.
Thanks, Steve

basically its a good way of getting stubborn air locks out you jam the brake pedal down over night with a bit of wood between the seat and pushing the pedal down sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't ive had two local places mess up my bleed once the pedal was rock hard that time it sorted the other was down to a damaged line (if thats the case it will need properly looked at)

 

Yes just sitting in the car I can push the pedal the whole way to the floor.

Ok I will talk to my mechanic we will bleed it again as well as check all of the lines, any thing else I should look for?

 

Check to make sure the cap on the brake fluid bottle is on tight and is not cross threaded.

 

When I first installed Carbotechs, they didn't feel the same as OEM at all. It took me a while to get used to the pads, because they don't grab hard at first contact. You can push a little and get a little stopping power, push some more and get more friction, and really lay into them and get even more stopping power. That took some time to get used to.

If you're pushing the pedal to the floor at idle, though, that sounds like there's another issue. Good luck figuring that out.

 

Ok so the problem has been fixed! We bled the brakes(my mechanic and I) and went out for a test drive, the brakes felt 100 times better but we could both feel a little bit of sponginess, so we bled the fronts one more time and like magic it feels 100 times better than the previous 100 times better! The brakes work great now, it takes just a tiny bit more push on the pedal but grabs so much harder. Thanks everyone!

 

 

So it turns out I think my Mini might be having a master cylinder issue. The day after we had done the brake bleeding, the pedal felt a little more mushy then the next day they felt the exact same way as before with the pedal being able to be pushed to the floor.

We put the old stock pads and rotors on my Mini just to rule out the possibility of any problems with the new pads or rotors and the pedal felt the exact same way, being able to be pushed to the floor.

My mechanic is checking out the master cylinder trying to find the problem. It turns out that I had old brake fluid in the car before I replaced the pads and rotors, but that got flushed out.

Anybody have any ideas what the issue could be? Any suggestions?

 

If you're sure the system is completely bled, that's the next place to look. Make sure you're not losing any fluid.
I had a master cylinder go out on a car just after a brake job, but that was a 1976 model...

When you initially bled the system, did you make sure that the fluid reservoir never ran dry? If you *know* it didn't, then the master is the place to look. Otherwise I don't know if the ABS system could cause an intermittent problem.

How old was the old brake fluid? I can't imagine it was THAT old, but if it was thick and chunky it could have damaged the seals in the master. Or maybe you just got a short lived seal. Often a bad master will harden up after a few pumps of the pedal - at least in old (pre ABS) systems. I've never had a newer system go bad.

 

my car has started to do this and ive found a leak on the rear brake line, (brake fluid in the rear wheel) and the rear calliper is not working (it cant be the carbotechs as i have stocks on the rear)