Question about procedures for doing brake pads

[telijah]

So, Tuesday night I got around to putting on front and rear pads. I hate to admit, I went cheap on the pads. However, if I end up not liking them, it's a simple fix and only 60'ish bucks down the drain...

Anyways, I've always just opened the brake fluid reservoir and opened up the calipers like usual, put new brakes back on, closed reservoir and moved on. On my drive home Tuesday night and most of yesterday, it seemed I had to press the brake further, not harder, but further, in order to get the same braking power. I initially thought it was due to the cheap pads. By the end of yesterday, and this morning, it is noticeably better now, and I am wondering if anyone happens to know why exactly?

My thought now is, I should have put some brake pressure on when the fluid reservoir was still open, thinking maybe I had air in there or something. I did not do a bleed of the brakes when I was done, and truthfully never have as I've never had this type of symptom after a brake job before. And yes, I am aware of pad bedding or whatever it is called, and that is something I've also never paid attention to, especially this time around as when I am ready for another pad swap, I'll be ready for new rotors too.

[Hermes]

I would flush the system and go all new on the fluid, I think that will probably solve the issue

[telijah]

I may give it a shot. As mentioned, the condition is much better now. This morning on the drive to work, the brakes were acting much better, so I don't know. Maybe my greasy paws got too much grime and junk on the pads and rotor surface and just took it a day or so to get rid of it? Doing brakes is not something new to me, so I was just a bit paranoid at the new sensation after changing the pads that night.

[danewilson77]

I may give it a shot. As mentioned, the condition is much better now. This morning on the drive to work, the brakes were acting much better, so I don't know. Maybe my greasy paws got too much grime and junk on the pads and rotor surface and just took it a day or so to get rid of it? Doing brakes is not something new to me, so I was just a bit paranoid at the new sensation after changing the pads that night.

Rotors should always be kept clean.

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

[Oli77]

If I am not mistaking, BMW recommends flushing brake fluid out every 2 years.
I put a piece of 2X4 behind my brake pedal when I was doing the flush in order not to move too much grime and crap at the bottom of the master cylinder.
You could be right that a combination of new pads (always a bit soft at first) and some dirt on the rotor/pad may have taken a while to clear up.

[telijah]

Hrm, from Pelican Parts brake pads DIY

When finished with both sides, press on the brake pedal repeatedly to make sure that the pads and the pistons seat properly. Also make sure that you top off the master cylinder brake fluid reservoir if necessary. Brake pads typically take between 100 and 200 miles to completely break in. It’s typical for braking performance to suffer slightly as the pads begin their wear-in period. Make sure that you avoid any heavy braking during this period.
I did the bolded part after all was back together and engine was running...

Odd, just never noticed it before. I've done about 75 miles since Tuesday night already, and as mentioned before, the symptom I was experiencing has almost all but gone away now. I think again I just got nervous as I flew through the isntall and also went with cheaper-than-I'd-like-to-admit pads.

[echo46]

I use the motive power bleeder and change the fluid every year. It sounds like you might have sucked some air into the system so a fluid change and bleed would be in order. I got the Motive unit as I do most if not all of my work alone on the ZHP.

[telijah]

I have the power extractor, and from what I understand I can get a small attachment from them to hook up to the end of the extractor to turn it into a power bleeder. I may do that as I have had the car since November 2008 and put 60k miles on it and have never touched the brake fluid :(

[M0nk3y]

Did you bed the pads properly?

I wouldnt imagine you have air in the system, but a fluid flush should do the trick. Dont extract, you can create more air into the system

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

[telijah]

As mentioned, no I did not bed them. I've never done so in the past without issue, and this time around I purposely did not as I knew there was a high chance I would be replacing these again soon with new rotors too.

As for extraction, how so? I figured as long as I keep extracting until the new brake fluid was coming through, and ensuring the reservoir is full, then air in the system would be much less likely...

[M0nk3y]

As mentioned, no I did not bed them. I've never done so in the past without issue, and this time around I purposely did not as I knew there was a high chance I would be replacing these again soon with new rotors too.

As for extraction, how so? I figured as long as I keep extracting until the new brake fluid was coming through, and ensuring the reservoir is full, then air in the system would be much less likely...

Bedding is pretty important, I'm surprised you never came across any issues until now. It's basically like driving your car without oil...It's a pretty important step.

If you knew you were going to replace these, then why did you get them? Doesn't really make sense.

Extraction is an old technology. BMW gave me the pleasure of installing air in my lines for free with extraction.

Properly bed the pads and see if the problem continues.

[danewilson77]

Bedding is pretty important, I'm surprised you never came across any issues until now. It's basically like driving your car without oil...

Disagree. I bed them now....but never have before, on any other vehicle.

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

[GMATT]

Bedding your pads to new (used) rotors, transfers new pad material to your rotors. In addition, you will find that the pads have much better "bite" and will last longer. No magic here, just what I have learned from the "veterans" in road racing. I have probably gone thru 50 or more sets of pads and can assure you if properly bedded, pads work better and last longer. My $.05 worth!

Gary

[M0nk3y]

Disagree. I bed them now....but never have before, on any other vehicle.

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

Take a used rotor with a new pad, I can guarantee you they will not make surface contact 100%.

When I did my bedding on my HP+ Pads, the bite of the pads increased through each stop

[MrMaico]

I used my Mityvac suction bleeder to flush my brakes last fall, first time using it, and didn't have any problems. Brakes felt exactly the same afterwards. As long as it's done properly it shouldn't let any air in the system. Just make sure the bleeder is closed before stopping the suction. I also put a little grease around the bleeders to help seal the connection with the rubber bleeder fitting.

It also works great for sucking out power steering fluid to do the TB method of changing the fluid. Sucks out more fluid than a TB would because the hose fit around the side of the filter deeper into the reservoir.

[telijah]

I remembered my Motiv Power Extractor instructions that came with it mentioned brake bleeding. So I check them, and the online instruction, and it mentioned attaching a 7 inch clear tube for brake bleeding. I searched their site and could not find the tube, so I emailed Motiv. The guy replied and said "It should have been in the box, what's your address?" Being the honest guy I am, I said "If you're thinking of sending me one, you should know I bought it through Amazon and not direct from Motiv" and then also left my address. They then replied "Doesn't matter, it should have been in the box, so one is on it's way to you, cheers!". Yay, looks like I'll be bleeding my brake system soon.

[quikryptonite]

If you end up changing pads, now or in the future, here is a good reference document from our friends at ECS about brake bedding:
Brake Bedding (http://www.ecstuning.com/stage/edoc/brakebedding.pdf)

[danewilson77]

Zeckhausen Racing has very good instructions as well.

http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm
Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

[sum1orotha]

Since this is a recently created topic, and my brake pad light just came on, can someone be so kind to verify that the items I'm about to order will be sufficient for a full brake service? I feel like it might be overkill, but I'd rather get better parts in there now and hopefully not have to do it again for another 60k+ miles.

https://www.ecstuning.com/Cart/?add1=602&qty1=1&add2=252665&qty2=1&add3=2537721&qty3=1&add4=2580179&qty4=1&add5=2580813&qty5=1&utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_content=link2cart

[telijah]

Well, if you're going over board, you may want to get new rear e-brake shoes while you're at it. Other than that, I am sure a healthy debate will form on your need for cross drilled and slotted rotors if you only do regular road driving. All I'll say is, you've got everything you'll need there though.

[UdubBadger]

yeah i think its safe to say that'll be plenty

[danewilson77]

sum1.....you're good. You could additionally rebuild your calipers with the brass bushings.

I didn't see a brake bleeder on your list either. You can do it the manual method if you have a helper though.

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/showproduct.aspx?ProductID=4118&SEName=caliper-bushing-upgrade-kit

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af278/nicee46/Maintenance%20and%20Misc/brakes_bbk_lg.jpg

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af278/nicee46/Maintenance%20and%20Misc/CBMW1_caliper_upgrade_kit.jpg

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af278/nicee46/Maintenance%20and%20Misc/CBMW1_caliper_upgrade_kit1.jpg

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af278/nicee46/Maintenance%20and%20Misc/brakes_bbk_installed.jpg

[UdubBadger]

Ya pick up a bleeder kit


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