Last weekend i decided it was time to replace my brake pads. I went
around to all the wheels and replaced the pads, as well as the disks
on the front wheels. This operation is something I’ve done a number of
times and on a number of different vehicles, so it’s not new to me.

However, when I got back into my car, thinking the brakes would be
great, I was disappointed to find that the brakes were much worse than
before. It felt as if I would not get any braking power until about an
inch from the floor. Naturally, I assumed there was air in the brake
lines. I than proceeded to go around to the car bleeding the brakes
(the old fashioned way).

After doing this twice, I was again disappointed to find that the
brakes had not improved even the slightest. Looking around on the web
I figured that the failure must be the master brake cylinder. I went
out and bought a rebuild kit and got that all done. When I had
everything bolted down and plenty of brake fluid (the correct kind for
my car) in the resevoir, I was AGAIN disappointed to find the brakes
were worse. It felt as if there was absolutely no resistance, other
than the spring, on the pedal.

SO... after such a long description of the problem... I am wondering
if anyone out there has had such a trouble, and if so, how they went
about fixing it. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!

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I forgot to mention that my vehicle is a 1996 Saturn SL2. Up until
this brake failure, it has been working flawlessly since I bought it
used, four years ago.

"Bojangles043" wrote:

This sounds like the calipers may be binding, Check for lubrications on the
points where the calipers slide.
Also, the pistons may be hanging up, wheel berings not loaded properly,
causing the rotors to flop around, or maybe the pads just need to seat into
the new rotors.
Don't forget to check the rear brake adjustment as well. Long travel = low
pedal.
"Bojangles043" <none (AT) 000 (DOT) com> wrote

i appreciate your ideas... thanks!

"Ralph Shapiro" wrote:
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"Bojangles043" <none (AT) 000 (DOT) com> wrote

Are you pushing fluid with good pressure when you bleed them? Also - you do
know (right?), that you have to cross bleed ABS brakes. Left front, then
right rear, then right front, then right rear, ad-nauseum. I generally open
the bleeders and let them gravity bleed - makes the process a great deal
easier. Bleeding ABS can be a pain in the butt.

--

-Mike-
mmarlowREMOVE (AT) alltel (DOT) net

In article
<993084_e5ef439bb78e3162843c8e926950deec (AT) autoboardz (DOT) com>,
Bojangles043 <none (AT) 000 (DOT) com> wrote:


How did you retract the rear caliper pistons?
What did you do to take up the slack in the rear brake pistons
once the new pads were installed?

"Mike Marlow" wrote

Mike, where are you getting your information about cross bleeding
ABS brakes? I've never heard of it. It's certainly does not apply
to any GM vehicles that I've ever worked on. If there are specific
models that you know about, please let me know.

Ian

"shiden_kai" <V-L-M (AT) hotma1l (DOT) com> wrote

It was on my GM's that I was advised about this Ian. I can't point you to a
document though. It was something that I was advised of when chasing a
bleeding problem on a Park Ave Ultra and later again on a Sunbird. I was
advised by a (maybe more than one) GM tech that at least on the GM systems,
the opposing corners are paired in the ABS control. I thought I had later
read something in one of my manuals that backed this up, but I can't say for
sure.

It's kind of funny Ian - when I first encountered this information it seemed
like I was the only one on the planet that didn't know it. No matter
whether it's correct or not - it's nice to have some company...

--

-Mike-
mmarlowREMOVE (AT) alltel (DOT) net

In article <ee05d$4604ff76$4b58a750$5596 (AT) ALLTEL (DOT) NET>,
"Mike Marlow" <mmarlow (AT) alltel (DOT) net> wrote:

Dual diagonal braking has been present on some GM cars going back
to the first FWD X body cars (Citation, Phoenix, Omega).

Haven't seen one yet where the bleeding sequence has you start at
the front though...

"Mike Marlow" wrote

No problem, I just thought that perhaps there was some new
aspect to brake bleeding that I hadn't come across.

We do run into "some" different ways of bleeding brakes, but
it usually involves vehicles with Stabilitrac systems (these days,
anyway).

Ian