Like others have asked... How does the pedal feel?
If you hit the brakes a dozen times or so with the engine off, does the pedal feel different?
When you hit the brakes, is it like stepping on a rock or is there a lot of motion in the pedal and inadequate stopping power?
By far the most common issue after a brake job is air in the system. This can be due to an inadequate job of bleeding the MC on the bench, having caliper bleed screws pointing down (instead of up), stubborn lines, etc.
I've also had an issue where while I was bleeding the brakes the combination valve did it's thing and shut off flow to one side or the other. It's been long enough I can't remember all the symptoms but "no stopping" was definitely one of them. I used a small screwdriver to push a little pin at the nose of the valve to reset the thing and went on with life - bled it again and problem solved.
If your problem isn't hydraulic and performance still sucks, have you done anything special to break in the brakes?
When I worked at a garage, we'd punch the gas and check the rear view - when there was nobody behind us, it was HARD on the brakes and off again before a full stop. Repeat 3-5 times while we made our way around the block. You'd be surprised what a few heat cycles and some HARD hits on the pedal would do for the performance of new friction.
Conversely, a "come back" I had, was a time I neglected to install the "shims" between caliper and brake pad + didn't break the pads in adequately. I drove it around the block, felt fine, but customer claims she damn near lost it while going down a pretty gnarly hill. I wasn't there and am in no position to say much about it - except that in commercial auto repair, it is standard operating procedure to cover your butt and if you get some smoke out of the wheels on a test drive, mission accomplished.
If you hit the brakes a dozen times or so with the engine off, does the pedal feel different?
When you hit the brakes, is it like stepping on a rock or is there a lot of motion in the pedal and inadequate stopping power?
By far the most common issue after a brake job is air in the system. This can be due to an inadequate job of bleeding the MC on the bench, having caliper bleed screws pointing down (instead of up), stubborn lines, etc.
I've also had an issue where while I was bleeding the brakes the combination valve did it's thing and shut off flow to one side or the other. It's been long enough I can't remember all the symptoms but "no stopping" was definitely one of them. I used a small screwdriver to push a little pin at the nose of the valve to reset the thing and went on with life - bled it again and problem solved.
If your problem isn't hydraulic and performance still sucks, have you done anything special to break in the brakes?
When I worked at a garage, we'd punch the gas and check the rear view - when there was nobody behind us, it was HARD on the brakes and off again before a full stop. Repeat 3-5 times while we made our way around the block. You'd be surprised what a few heat cycles and some HARD hits on the pedal would do for the performance of new friction.
Conversely, a "come back" I had, was a time I neglected to install the "shims" between caliper and brake pad + didn't break the pads in adequately. I drove it around the block, felt fine, but customer claims she damn near lost it while going down a pretty gnarly hill. I wasn't there and am in no position to say much about it - except that in commercial auto repair, it is standard operating procedure to cover your butt and if you get some smoke out of the wheels on a test drive, mission accomplished.
Comment