ok...so today i got new pads. I just installed them. All I did was take the bottom bold on the caliper of move it up, put the bads on, bleed the breaks a little then tighten it all back up. Now i have to hit the floor with the peddle to get them to work! What is wrong, what did I do wrong! I need help. My mom has to drive my car tomorrow!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jordan_civic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok...so today i got new pads. I just installed them. All I did was take the bottom bold on the caliper of move it up, put the bads on, bleed the breaks a little then tighten it all back up. Now i have to hit the floor with the peddle to get them to work! What is wrong, what did I do wrong! I need help. My mom has to drive my car tomorrow!</TD></TR></TABLE>

You bled the brakes wrong. You have air in your lines.

You do you know that you dont need to bleed the brakes when doing a brake job, right? You only bleed the brakes when you're flushing out the system and adding new fluid.

You need to get all the air out of the lines. To play it safe, you might as well bleed the rears too. Start form the brake furthest from the master cylinder (rear, right wheel) and work your to the closest (front left wheel). Make sure you get every single bubble out of your system!!!

 

I dont know what you mean....

The pressure part wouldnt move to fit the new pads in between the sides of the calipers. So I loosened the hose and pushed on the pressure circle thing until it was in and then tightened it. The put the new pads on.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jordan_civic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So I loosened the hose and pushed on the pressure circle thing until it was in and then tightened it.</TD></TR></TABLE>



Why would you loosen the hose? You are supposed to use a C-clamp to compress the pistons on the front calipers.

Yes, you have air in your lines. Bleed all of your brakes.

 

how do I do that? And how long will it take?

 

moral of the story, don't try to turn mom's car into a race car.

 

No its my car. She is taking it somewhere tomorrow.

 

Not long. You need a friend.



I suggest that you invest in a Helm manual or simply look at my signature.

 

In the future, dont bleed the brakes when doing a brake job.

As Dogginator said, use a C clamp or some Channel Locks like these:


With the clamp or channel locks, you slowly push the cylinder back into position.

FYI, for the rear you will need turn the cylinder back into position using a special tool or some needle nose pliers.