The Rig

iTrader: (13)

Just fitted new discs all round,some grooved/dimpled ones along with new/refurbed 4 pots at the front with redstuff pads and have used dot 5.1 performance fluid

bled the system,seem to have alot of travel of the pedal before anything happens and now its rained ihave the rusty spots on the discs from the rain BUT the pad isnt wearing it away,front and rear,on the front all i have is a slight wear mark at the top of disc and a slightly wider wear mark in the middle, the rest is still rusty from the rain,same for the rear so its not caliper related as such,the rear are standard sliding calipers with non branded pads

so,why the long pedal travel/poor braking ?

is it just a matter of bedding in, never had issues on other discs tho, the pads are used but not by much,say 2000 miles

cheers

mrdeeds

Are you sure the system is bled properly?
If you pump the pedal does it get higher?

Mikey Ace

iTrader: (1)

pedal travel is usually because:
1) leak or improperly bled system
2) pistons starting too far back inside caliper.... and receeding too far after use...

One important question - when you pump the pedal, and pressure arrives, does it remain for as long as you then hold the pedal or does it slowly ebb away? The latter points to option 1 - air or a leak...

1) is easy, just re-bleed the system... until all the air is 100% out...
2) if u pushed the pistons deep back into the calipers, you can sometimes find that the caliper allows the piston to travel out but pulls(almost sucks) it back when you remove pedal pressure, resulting in the pedal having to be pumped once before the pads are pushed to the friction surface. really odd one i know, but it's happened to me.
- so - did you check the pistons before you pushed them into the clipers to fit the new pads? they may have had a propoer build up of dirt/brake dust etc (under the so called dust seal) so that when u push the piston into the caliper, is squeezes the grot through the piston seal itself... potentially causing a sticking piston/binding or indeed, a symptom such as you are describing.
Solution is to take the calipers off, pump the pistons out, clean the crap off em and try again, you may well have to renew the piston seals too at this stage... You are looking for a smooth action from the piston, firm yes but smooth all the same.

if the pads are not new, and are not mated to these discs then they coul be worn oddly compared to the new face of the disc I suppose, in time that shoud improve, but it depends how bad the braking efficiency is up to the point they are shaped to the new disc... maybe take the pads outs and check how flat and true their surface is too...

cheers
Mikey

TurboBurty

Evning mate just wondered if you could of made mistake that i made and put the bleed nipple to the bottom resulting in trapped air.

The Rig

iTrader: (13)

i bled the system with half a bottle of fluid,so can only presume the air is all out,no air bubbles were present with at least 5 bleeds,i.e missus pushing the pedal,me undoing the nipple etc 5 times.

they are brand new calipers/reconditioned with new stainless steel pistons so as new,new seals the lot,not done by me, Biggred calipers.

checked the pistons of the pots and they are all equally out on each caliper and to remove the pads requires a bit of effor so the pistons are tight against the pads

The calipers are the right way up, bleed nipples at the top

maybe i shall re-bleed them again but seems odd,was wondering if its the 5.1 fluid

The braking effieciency is there when i get passed the travel and remains,although if i jab the pedal then jab again then brake normally it seems the travel has gone a bit,unless im getting used to it !!

fastmike

iTrader: (4)

The reason you have a lot of travel and uneven rust marks on the discs is...... the pads arent bedded in to the disc surfaces. you state that the pads are used ? .... Did you keeep each pad with the same disc and refit it on the same side etc ? And are the pads from these discs ?

fastmike

iTrader: (4)

Oh and something else you need to be aware of....... red stuff pads are too hard for road use....... be a LONG while before they bed in to the discs

The Rig

iTrader: (13)

the discs are brand new never used, i bought some redstuff pads about 2000 miles ago so they bedded in to my old set of discs.
i kinda guessed they needed to bed in but didnt quite realise that would add to brake pedal travel as such,still thought the pedal would of been solid from the off,didnt quite realise the little pad contact when bedding in,scary really !

i will re-bleed as a precaution but take on board the bedding in issue,my MOT is due end of the month,hope they dont fail !!!!

i bought the redstuff on the understanding they were for road use but hard braking ???




cheers

fastmike

iTrader: (4)

go in the brake section and make contact in there........ use the pads he recommends.... but get rid of those EBC pads as soon as .

The Rig

iTrader: (13)

well after paying nearly £100 for them im gonna have to use them,cant afford another set,they were fine on my old discs so guess i`ll have to wait for them to bed in