New Brakes, Harder to stop

[duke16]

I just had my brakes done at a local mechanic and they no longer feel as sharp as they did before. They replaced the pads in the rear, machined the rotors in the front and rear and cleaned up the parking brake. It also says they bleed the front brakes, which I assume is not the same as flushing the brakes because I told them not to do that.

I was expecting my brakes to be more responsive after the new pads, but in fact they feel less responsive. I have to push down further on the peddle then I did before. It almost feels like the brake line has a hole somewhere, but it doesn't. When I asked the shop that did the work (Merchants), they said the new pads needed a few hundred miles to wear them in. Does this make sense? Or did they just not put the same quality pads on that were on before?

 

[Dan Whitaker]

When I put new pads & rotors on the rear of mine a couple of months ago my brake pedal was a lot firmer (too firm) for a couple of weeks.

Why did you not want the brake system flushed? This would have got any contaminents such as moisture out of the break lines.

 

[duke16]

Why did you not want the brake system flushed? This would have got any contaminents such as moisture out of the break lines.

I'm going to do it myself sometime.

 

[Dash Riprock]

Why did they bleed the brakes? Changing pads/rotors does not contain any risk of allowing air in the system. But if they bled them improperly, they may have introduced air, it is something you could check.

That being said, it is true that all disc brakes require a "bedding-in period". With newly machined rotors and new pads, I would expect less braking force for the same brake pressure applied (compared to previous)

 

[anthonytony]

sound like air in the system ..... OR im not sure what year you have but some of the older fords have back break adjusters on them you can throw it in reverse and keep hitting the brakes and they will self adjust.. GL

 

[duke16]

sound like air in the system ..... OR im not sure what year you have but some of the older fords have back break adjusters on them you can throw it in reverse and keep hitting the brakes and they will self adjust.. GL

It's a 97, is there such a thing on this year?

 

[Dan Whitaker]

sound like air in the system ..... OR im not sure what year you have but some of the older fords have back break adjusters on them you can throw it in reverse and keep hitting the brakes and they will self adjust.. GL

This is on drum brake equiped vehicles only. this does not apply to four wheel disc brake systems.

 

[JT624]

On my 2000, I replaced the front and rear brakes myself with semi-metallic pads and then bled them. I expected the pedal to grab higher, it didn't. I also had the "softer" feeling but once I got accustomed to it they are noticeably much better than before and will stop me short easily when necessary. I'm not sure on the '97 but the ABS seems to make a lot of difference on my EXP compared to other cars and trucks I've owned. Once the new pads found their fit into the old rotors, things normalized on their own.

 

[budwich]

depending on how they did your brakes, bleeding may be required. On abs systems (and probably all systems), when you push back the piston, you are supposed to open the bleed screw to allow the "old fluid" a means of "escape" as oppose to pushing it back into the lines which can ultimately foul your ABS system which then would mean big $$$$. If during this "exercise", they were not "good" at "open bleed screw, push piston, close bleed screw", they may have introduce some amount of air into the line... OR they may not have taken enough caution in keeping the reservoir full and may have "seated" the discs and then realized that the reservoir was "less than full". Utimately, your discs do need some time to get "familiar" with your rotors but you should keep an eye on things especially fluid levels.

 

[Nocturnall]

I just did rotors and pads on mine and the pedal grabbed MUCH higher then before, the old brakes weren't even really worn out. Normally with new pads they should grab higher, is the brake pedal spongy at all? That would definatly indicate there is air in the lines, I would flush the system asap and see if that helps, also when you do that it'll give you a good chance to look at all the brakes and see what the hell they did to your truck.

 

[AMMO_HOOAH]

Well seeing as no one has answered your second question. Yes it is normal to have to "break in" your new pads and rotors actually you're supposed to to extend their life. You'll want to do some medium braking from 30-0, 40-0, and 50-0. Then do the same only brake as hard as you can for each interval. But as everyone else has said you might need to bleed your brakes too.

 

[CDW6212R]

depending on how they did your brakes, bleeding may be required. On abs systems (and probably all systems), when you push back the piston, you are supposed to open the bleed screw to allow the "old fluid" a means of "escape" as oppose to pushing it back into the lines which can ultimately foul your ABS system which then would mean big $$$$. If during this "exercise", they were not "good" at "open bleed screw, push piston, close bleed screw", they may have introduce some amount of air into the line... OR they may not have taken enough caution in keeping the reservoir full and may have "seated" the discs and then realized that the reservoir was "less than full". Utimately, your discs do need some time to get "familiar" with your rotors but you should keep an eye on things especially fluid levels.

Excellent answer, the proper way to install pads in ABS vehicles is to open the bleed screw, not crush the piston. The ABS module itself is a moster to diagnose and fix/replace. Other parts of a brake systems are dirt cheap compared to the troubles of the actual ABS main parts.

All brakes should be "babied" for the first couple hundred miles. The brakes should be brought up to temperature lightly, through light braking, not heavy braking. The pads need to cycle through warm and cold temps many many times before hammering them. Once they have had some light normal use, then purposely build some heat, and cool for a while. Heat them again, with heavier braking, and cool them.

Don't stomp on the brakes at all for a few days. Then hit them for a couple of seconds, cool for minutes, and repeat. When the brakes no longer make any smells with high brake pressure, they are bedded in. I've driven cars with 10,000 miles on the brakes, tested the ABS, the brakes smelled, thus they were not bedded in yet.

Bleed your brakes again, first remove as much from the master cylinder as possible, toss all removed fluid. If the brakes feel spongy still, there is likely air in the ABS module itself. Good luck,

 

[ncc]

Also, we've always found that the less experienced folks tend to just throw the new rotors on without cleaning them up with brake cleaner. New rotors are shipped with a light coating of oil on them to prevent rusting and they need to be thoroughly cleaned/wiped down before the calipers are installed onto them.

We also recommend roughing up the surface of the new pads with emory cloth using a circular motion. This breaks the glazing and allows them to seat that much quicker.

And definitely try bleeding if you're having any kind of sponginess in your pedal. You should have a nice stiff pedal to work with. Brakes are the one thing on your Ex you should always do by the book and with full attention to detail/procedure. it's no stretch to say that they could save your life someday.

Good luck!