Well I bled my friend's crx's brake system today, but there is still no pressure without pumping the brakes each time. All we did was install new pads, never had this problem before, any ideas? I know I didn't remove and lines.

 

ttt for any ideas

 

check your fluid and bleed them again. Are u bleeding them right?

 

everytime i've done new pads on my car....i have taken a c clamp and pushed the piston back flush with the caliper...never had to bleed the brakes..... just my .02

 

no need to bleed your brakes lines when changing rotors or pads. anyhow, if you bleed the brake lines and still have no pedal pressure--there might be problem with the master cylinder.

 

Yeah that's what I was thinking, the MC. Weird how it only became a problem once we replaced the pads though. I had to leave town, so he's taking it to Tuffys and having them check it out.

 

Are y ou sure you didnt pump the peddle after you replaced the pads? After you replace pads your supposed to do that, because you need to rebuild back the pressure in the system. I drove off without doing that once, luckily I was on a side street and needed to hit the brake to slow down for a turn... the peddle sunk to the floor and instantly I went for the ebrake. Locked up the tires but still better then ending up in a ditch!

 

I'm sorry, but are you guys saying that it is not necessary to bleed the brakes after you change your pads?

 

Shouldn't need to; no air is being introduced into the system.

 

Right, the only thind you may need to do is open the MC cap and place a rag around it so when you press on the caliper some fluid may come out. But like he said no air is entering the system.

 

Your friend could have had a damaged caliper with a small leak. Was there any fluid dripping around that caliper? Cuz my old caliper had a leak but my brakes still worked fine and then when i changed my pads once, my brakes didnt work after that. I think that loosening and lifting up the caliper may somehow let air in. But yes i had to bleed my brakes that time and i didnt touch any of the lines either. Could be the MC or maybe need a new caliper.

 

no need to bleed!

 

Still, may as well do it while you're down there with your hands dirty...

 

Putting in a new set of pads might have introduced enough "pressure" to finally break an existing problem. It's probably not the direct cause of it, but it was the "straw that broke the camel's back" sorta deal.

BTW, speed bleeders ROCK!

 

Ya thats what i was sayin, if u already had a leaky caliper before and just didnt know it then this cud have caused it to actually brake and not work correctly NEmore.

 

Is fluid leaking? Look closely. But you really shouldnt have to bleed when putting on new pads.

 

what steps are you taking when you bleed the lines?

you might be doing it wrong

 

Well tuffy's said it was the MC, so he's having that replaced. I told him to ask for the old one back. For some reason though, I think it's more possible that its a caliper leaking rather than the MC, but oh well.

About the bleeding, I just loosened the bleeder screw and retightened it finger tight, then had my friend pump and hold the pedal. Then I loosened the bleeder screw and allowed teh new fluid in. Then tightened the screw while he held the pedal. Sounds ok, right?

 

2 possible problems that occured for the same reason,
1.) when replacing the pads you did not take the cap off the master cylinder and when pushing the psiton back into the caliper you blew a seal in the master cylinder because off the pressure
2.) same senario but you blew another place on the brake system such as a brake hose or caliper seal.

 

I busted my caliper and the brake fluid sprayed all over my old rims...took the clear coat off. That could def. be the prob. Check and see if you have brake fluid anywhere on your calipers or rims or anywhere near it.

 

For $20 or so dollars, I would have taken it in to have only the brakes bled. I wouldn't see how after changing out the pads would have led to a problem that was not earlier evident until changing the pads. A friend just had the same exact symptoms with his car not two weeks ago. Took it to a shop to have the brakes bled and everything was fine.

 

No I did remove the cap, we even syphoned(sp?) out some of the old fluid when the level was too high after pad replacement.

Anyhow tuffy's said it was teh MC, so I imagine that's what it was. The way I see it, if it's consistantly not holding pressure, there must be a leak somewhere. I didn't get the chance to look everywhere since it was dark.