Mechanic or help needed asap?

[majorscooby]

As some of you are probably aware Ive had a real niggling brake issue where i have no braking power on the first push of the pedal and the second feels ok .

After many bleeds from various peeps on here helping out and a complete change of Master cylinder and servo ( used one taken off of a 2000 jap sti ) by me followed by yet another bleed today, the problem still persists.

Took it for a quick spin round the block today after the bleed and managed a good few stops even with the ABS kicking in, but it just feels like there's air in there some where and i cant point a finger at where it is??

Have tried the conventional bleed by pushing the pedal then locking off with a spanner etc etc, have tried to draw the air through the fluid by compressor at C.J's, Tried pushing the fluid through with pressure from the master cylinder down but just spilt fluid as the resiviour filled up and didnt go anywhere so after a clean up the ezibleed got launched up the garden, and today tried the one man one way valve vizibleed. What next ???? FFS!

So can anybody point me in the right direction of some one who can come to mine to sort this bloody thing out, the only reason i say come to mine is because the tax is out and i have no MOT , and as you guessed it i need this sorted to get through the MOT!

Really getting cheesed off now as i cant sort this and it sounds like such a simple job either on your own or with some one else. :brick wall:

[impreza27]

hello mate sounds alittle bit like the ABS pump,dose the pedal go to the floor the first time you push it, what dose it feel like when you clamp all four corners off or dose the pedal still go to the floor?

lee.

[andy-m]

well, assuming the master cylinger is now ok, there are seals in the ABS pump and seals in the calipers themselves. I think you have changed/refurbished the calipers already right? so as above, ABS pump is the last thing remaining with rubber in them.

an afterthought:- the flexible hoses on to the calipers, are they OE ? and what condition do they seem to be in ?

[majorscooby]

Originally Posted by impreza27

hello mate sounds alittle bit like the ABS pump,dose the pedal go to the floor the first time you push it, what dose it feel like when you clamp all four corners off or dose the pedal still go to the floor?

lee.

I have been thinking all along that there may be a little air in the ABS part but just cant figure a way of getting it out with out making things worse or making a bloody mess, plus theres no bleed nipple.

The only thing is i have had the ABS kicking today so maybe the pump has shifted the air on and another bleed tomo may reveal it. ( after building my bloody garage )

The pedal does go down say 60% of the way on the first push then after its a shorter push with good pedal feel and power.

But funny you should mention the clampling of the four hoses on each corners as ive just read about doing that to fault find wether its the MC or ABS or an individual caliper on clubwrx forum. never heard of doing that but then ive never had this problem

Ill give it a go and see what happens, Really not the weather to be doing this sort of job

Thaks for your reply and thoughts fella.

[majorscooby]

Originally Posted by andy-m

well, assuming the master cylinger is now ok, there are seals in the ABS pump and seals in the calipers themselves. I think you have changed/refurbished the calipers already right? so as above, ABS pump is the last thing remaining with rubber in them.

an afterthought:- the flexible hoses on to the calipers, are they OE ? and what condition do they seem to be in ?

Hi Andy, Yes you are right i have refurbed the calipers with new seals all round and the hoses are all original OE but look in a resonable condition.

As for the ABS pump it looks like a solid lump and i dont know if it can be taken apart, plus i cant see any leaks and all looks nice and dry.

Im still thinking air somwhere as this soft pedal has only occured after the refurb of the calipers. They were stripped though as i had no real pressure on hard braking and there was bloody silvery copper slip everywhere even on the pad faces, Well done park lane subaru! fists.

[impreza27]

no its not really the best weather to do it in mate hope you get it all sorted out soon mate.

lee

[andy-m]

Originally Posted by majorscooby

....this soft pedal has only occured after the refurb of the calipers.....

well, i think you have done more than enough to eliminate the possibility of air. so that leaves the posibility of the caliper refurb not being done properly maybe ? just a thought. anyones calipers you could maybe borrow to prove/disprove the theory ?

[majorscooby]

theres not much to get wrong on the caliper re build side of things fella. 4 rubber seal and 4 rubber dust boots / clips and just make sure everything goes back squarely.

Think im going to get a used ABS unit if someone has one laying around? need to eliminate that next me thinks.

[andy-m]

before you change the ABS, clamp off all 4 calipers as above. if that cures the spongyness, you know its after the flex hose, i.e calpiers. if not, then try the ABS pump

[majorscooby]

Originally Posted by andy-m

before you change the ABS, clamp off all 4 calipers as above. if that cures the spongyness, you know its after the flex hose, i.e calpiers. if not, then try the ABS pump

Yeah will do cheers.

[torqueworks]

have you had any luck??

[majorscooby]

Wow, its funny somebody should post on this thread

Errrm no i suppose could be the answer, not really had much luck to be honest over the last few weeks. I had got to a stage recently where i had let a garage local to me (riverview garage) do a complete brake bleed and an MOT.

Both went rather well with it sailing through the MOT and the brake test being all fine and the brakes feeling consistantly soft'ish rather than on and off soft'ish, this i could kinda deal with as i know there only four pots and its not going to stop on a dime.

But I still wasnt quite happy with them and so recently decided to buy some nice HEL braided brake lines as i had a thought in the back of my mind that one or maybe all of the hoses could be slightly perished being over 12 years old.

Now heres where im slightly ticked off, Had them fitted buy the same garage and got the wife to pick the scoob up. She rang me to say she had brought it home from around the corner and noticed how poo they were. Now for her to notice something like that i knew something was still wrong!!

So Had a wee look after work with a torch and im not very impressed with the install of the hose retaining clips were they join to the suspension struts , It seem like they have let a trainee do it, i.e bashed off with a tool thats not fit for the job and then put back any old how to just get it done, then theres the 8mm nuts that join the hard pipes to the flexi ones, I dont think they own an 8mm spanner, Grips seemed to be the choice of tool for every job done there. oh and the nice drop of oil spilt down on the headers which smelt lovely. ( going out with camera to post up pics soon of carnage )

All i can say is i wont be using them again thats for sure!!! Why is it so hard these days to get somebody or a company to do a PROPER JOB!

So whats left now to do?, well in the back of my head something is telling me to re bleed them as i did get them to a resonable level second time round and i have loads of fluid left over so its just a bit of my time taken up not more pennies, Im still thinking they have left air in there. If not then i will just change the calipers out right for somthing newer, which in the long run i should of just done.

Crowman did give me the thought of seeing if sombody has any spare old calipers laying around? Long shot i know, and do i really want to change such a messy part over knowing ill have to do it all again when i buy some new ones if it works.

Oh the joys of owning a scooby.

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by majorscooby

Crowman did give me the thought of seeing if sombody has any spare old calipers laying around? Long shot i know, and do i really want to change such a messy part over knowing ill have to do it all again when i buy some new ones if it works.

Mate, i've got a set of 4 pots in the garage you're welcome to try, that worked fine before i took them off last month for the ksports. I'm missing one of the banjo bolts that the brake lines connect with, but can just use one off yours.

Welcome to pop over and can give you a hand swapping them if you like.

Nice one Steve
Ive just let Rich know, he is going to get in touch

[majorscooby]

Originally Posted by Steve_PPP

Mate, i've got a set of 4 pots in the garage you're welcome to try, that worked fine before i took them off last month for the ksports. I'm missing one of the banjo bolts that the brake lines connect with, but can just use one off yours.

Welcome to pop over and can give you a hand swapping them if you like.

That would be awesome Steve!! What are you up to Saturday mid morn??

Ive been out today and re-bled them to my standard and tided up some of the brake line clips the morons at the garage put back wonky, I managed to get out during the bleed two 5p sized air bubbles one from the front right and one from the rear left doing it the old fashioned eazi bleed one man system! ( would of thought a garage pressure bleeding them would of been better, obviously not!!!!! )

So far it feels better but i need to go out for a proper drive this afternoon and would still like to try Steve's more up to date calipers as mine are the old embossed first version.

[majorscooby]

Quick update, Brakes all sorted!!!!!

The sloppy low pedal was all down to some adjustment on the pedal to servo linkage?!

Thanks to steveppp and dukeboy for there thoughts and input today but with a quick twiddle and some adjustment of said threaded linkage under the dash the pedal now feels firm and brakes bite straight away.

Well now its time to just drive the blooming thing and keep a eye on all the new parts fitted and make sure nothing leaks!

[chris1977]

you got there in the end mate , nice one

[majorscooby]

Originally Posted by chris1977

you got there in the end mate , nice one

Yeah fingers crossed fella, been out all afternoon around sussex etc having a blast and it feels like a different car.
Had my old mates crowman and steveppp drive it today who both said it was 100% better.

[Steve_PPP]

Chuffed that its all sorted now mate, lovely classic and having a drive of it really does make me realise how lardy my newage is

[Krissyb]

So glad this is sorted .... Yay I can't wait to get mine done in the next few weeks