Brembo caliper refurb not gone to plan
 

So i decided it was time to refurb all the calipers.......

New piston seals, dust seals, bleed nipples (brake parts international parts)
Stripped and cleaned, helicoiled all the threads front and rear, new bolts, hel braided lines and painted with vht paint.

Reassembled everthing and bled near 1.75ltr of fluid through, i should mention that the reservoir did not drop, all lines were capped while i worked on the calipers.

In a nutshell i basically have no pedal, although it could be pumped up till firm.

Ive had the brake bled a futher 2-3 times, the pedal has come up slightly but still no where near it used to be

Any suggestions?

might be a silly question , but you have the calipers on the right side of the car with the bleed nipples facing upwards ?

are you bleeding them right.... got brembos on my hatch and when fitted bled them worked like a dream !!!!

Yes, definately bleed nips pointing upwards, on correct sides

Ive bled them both the traditional way (furthest from MC) and subaru sequence, I have however only used 2 man method , not tried pressure or vacuum.

In no way am I saying you're incompetent pal but if your brakes are not right after you've had a do and your still unsure why they are not efficient get it trailered to a competent garage to sort as it is a matter of life and death when it comes to brakes don't risk it mate be responsible and do the right thing by letting a well known competent garage with positive feedback sort it for you less headache and money and you'll have assurance it's right aswell and drive your high performance car with confidence in motion :thumb:

2-man method, Subaru sequence is pretty full-proof. Are you actually seeing air bubbles when bleeding the calipers or is it all clean fluid? How are you pumping 1.75ltrs if the reservoir is not dropping? Or are you saying it's not dropping when you apply the brakes afterwards?

You either still have a lot of air in the system and are not bleeding them properly or you have an air leak - check that your hoses are fully tight at either end and that you are nipping the bleed nipples back up fully.

Mine was like this after all the calipers were removed. Just took a few goes to get all the air out then pedal was solid.

i had a devil of a job bleeding my big porsche brembos when i unintensionally let the fluid pot empty recently - must have bled them 5 times and pulled air out everytime- i found slooooow pedal pushes rather than the fast method i had been using worked best -obviously using 2 people and bleeding all 4 brakes in order -check your bleed pipe is getting a good seal too or your letting air IN at every push...

Understand completely what you are saying and have already visited a specialist, they did bring the pedal up, just through lots of bleeding.
Again its just not near where it should be, the car can be driven safely, just not flat out!

I should have said the reservoir level did not drop during the refurb process, ie never ran dry / air induced.
Nearly 2ltrs i have used bleeding, i think the garage also used near the same amount.
Ill check connections for air leaks but its not likely.

Looks like it may be the case, just cant understand why!
Im also not 100% that the seals used in the piston chambers are doing their job correctly. Tempted to rebuild using new Brembo seals or using old ones as they were in perfect condition as were the pistons themselves

Appreciate your advice, ive only used slow pedal pushes to protect master cylinder, definately a good seal on the bleed pipe also, but will double check next time

i have told the guy to pm me and I will tell him a sure way to bleed the brakes but alas nothing from him !!!!

that way he would know if the seals etc are working

If that's the case you'll be right mate I'd say it'll be right after a few more pumps nice and easy one more final bleed starting from the rear :thumb:
Defo let us know how you get on:thumb:

Pm'd bud

yeh will do, going to try Nikon's method to determine if seals are good or not

replied...

let us know what happens

If they not doing there job they would be leaking fluid around the Pistons.

Was thinking more upon the lines that the aftermarket seals (brake int.) are slightly out of tolerance / dimension, thinking back the pistons didnt exactly glide back in.
I could be talking crap, but if the next bleed does nothing im going to put genuine brembo back in.......did recall reading on nasioc some time back that aftermarket piston seals should be avoided

Hopefully this weekend , weather permitting!

any updates ??

Looking at next weekend now, been too busy.

only takes a few minutes but let us know what happens

Just a quick update on this.....
Have tried bleeding twice using Nikons method, but no better.

Driving to work one day and pulled a full lock right at 5mph to park in a spot and the pedal dropped almost to the floor!
So im probably getting some movement from a worn bearing causing the extra travel.

Now in the process of fitting 2 new NTN bearings and rebuild my front arms with super pro bushs while im at it!

ill keep you updated..... ill eventually change the rear bearings also , to rule out any movement in the back

What have the bearings got to do with it ? Just curious

too be really honest if he has bled the brakes the way I told him then he has an issue with something as I have bled many systems and never had an issue....

as you say bearings would have no impact on the braking system

If youbhave such an expert way of bleeding them why not post it up and help everyone out?

way to bleed brakes .....

once I have a few minutes I will write it up in word then paste it on here....

Bearings have a significant effect on brakes if they have gone the wheel/hub lye's in and when you press the brake it is in turn having to straighten the wheel via the disc before any braking is achieved.