New Brake Pads feel soft and not stopping well

[96vswgncommodore]

Hey guys. i have just changed both my front brake pads by myself to try and save some coin but now i think i have screwed them up because the car is not braking or stopping very good at all. the brake are so soft they go straight down and takes a long time to come to complete stop. it a bit scary actually and am not very happy with it.

has anyone had this problem before. would i need to bleed the system ( thats wat i heard of 1 of my mates). and how would i do that.

please guys any help would really be appreciated. i got a light that stays on in the console its the ! one i think thats the brake light.

[Brett_jjj]

Sounds like the brakes need bleeding.Some air must have gotten into the system when the brake pistons were pushed back into their bore to fit the new pads in.Also if its got ABS you need a scantool to bleed the brake system properly.The scantool can cycle the ABS to let the air through the system.

[strgas]

check that your pads are sitting in the caliper correctly had many app's **** the fitting and the pads ended up being bent , very poor pedal and soft under foot , never used a scan tool on a commodore to bleed brakes before even when i work at Holden .

[Brett_jjj]

never used a scan tool on a commodore to bleed brakes before even when i work at Holden .

Just shows why no one goes to holden then,hey.They are useless except for taking your money.They know sweet f*** all at the local holden dealer where I live.Air gets caught in the ABS system ports behind the actuator pistons and thats why the ABS needs to be cycled.If you guys have ever looked at the Tech 1 or 2 scantools menus it has a menu option for bleeding the brakes,Jeez.See what I mean about holden.

[woteva]

Don't mess with brakes if you are not sure what you are doing. Take it to a pro and get it fixed correctly.
Is your life worth the few bucks you saved on doing it yourself ??
Also your insurance will be void in the event of an accident if they find out you have played with the brakes.

Now the warnings are over,
1. check you have the pads in correctly??
2. the calipers are done up tight ??
3. did you undo the brake lines ?? If so, bleeding will definately be required.
Get your self a Gregorys etc. there should be a brake bleeding guide in there.

[strgas]

20 years in the trade never had a problem of air in any systems i have worked on or rebuilt ?

[Brett_jjj]

We did an ABS equipped VS the other day (new front pads and system flush)and there was a big difference to the pedal feel and firmness after we used a tech 1 on it to finish off the bleeding.GM dont put these options in the scantool menu just to look at.

[Brett_jjj]

96vswgncommodore,get yourself a gregorys workshop manual if you want to do jobs like this yourself.These manuals explain the repair process with step by step instructions with lots of pics and general info.It makes it so much easier for anyone who is doing their own repairs and fixes.The first time you use the manual to fix something instead of paying someone else to get it done,it will have paid for itself.I still use mine every now and then for some things as theres always some little thing that gets forgotten about,so a quick read goes a long way and can save time.

[96vswgncommodore]

thanks for all your quick replays guys.. Thats wat i was thinking that air must have gotten into the system so i need to bleed it somehow. I do have a gregory's manual and was following wat it told me to do but i come up with a s****d idea of taking the caliper off to paint. so i un hooked them from the brake hose without clamping please dont ask why. it was the biggest s**t fight the other night while i was doing it. anyways i think thats were i screwed up and i hope they will work fine once i bleed the air out of the system. What is the easiest way of doing this i heard to start from the one furthest away from the master cylinder rear passenger side and work my way up. do i need a tech 1 or can i just use a spanner to push on the nipple.

yes them gregory's manual definetly pay for themselves. i bought one a couple of months ago to help me and my mate swap my old siezed engine from this car to another ecotec. turned out to be easier than i thought and getting in there and doing things yourself doesnt just save you cash but also lets you learn things quicker about your car so that if you do have to go to a mechanics to get something you cant do yourself you actually know what your talking about and not just getting talked into getting something fixed that you dont need to get fixed.

thanks everyone will let you know in the end of today if the air bleeding worked or not.

[thewheeldeal com au]

If you removed the brake hose without clamping you will need to top up the fluid too, you would be surprised how much you lose whilst it is just dripping. Leave the cap off while you bleed the system as you will constantly need to check/recheck/top up the fluid level.

If you removed all 4 callipers you will need to gravity bleed the system first until you get some pedal pressure then go around and re-bleed the system properly. And yes you should start furthest away from the brake master cylinder.

[96vswgncommodore]

If you removed the brake hose without clamping you will need to top up the fluid too, you would be surprised how much you lose whilst it is just dripping. Leave the cap off while you bleed the system as you will constantly need to check/recheck/top up the fluid level.

If you removed all 4 callipers you will need to gravity bleed the system first until you get some pedal pressure then go around and re-bleed the system properly. And yes you should start furthest away from the brake master cylinder.

thanks for the info mate. will be bleeding the system in the next few hours. i did not take all calipers of i only replaced the front pads and actually i only removed the drivers front side caliper. will let you know if i fix the problem later today.

[Brett_jjj]

Just follow the instructions on brake bleeding in the workshop manual,too easy.Just make sure the fluid level in the master cylinder is kept above half full at all times while doing the bleeding process.And as already mentioned,start at the wheel furtherest away from the master cylinder,usually the left rear wheel.Also if you have an ABS equipped vehicle and you have bled the system and it still feels a bit spongey,you will need to cycle the ABS with a Tech1 scantool or similar.You can try locking up the brakes on grass or gravel a few times.This will also cycle the ABS.You will need to re-bleed them after the ABS has been cycled like this.Whereas if you use a Tech 1 you just go to the brake bleeding option under the ABS menu and cycle the ABS a few times for each wheel after the majority of the air has come out..

[96vswgncommodore]

had a long day spent on the car today. and i bleed the whole brake system, flushed oil and replaced oil filter and oil, flushed cooling system and and replaced.

bleeding the brake system took the longest. had to start with the passenger rear, then driver rear, passenger front, last driver front. the filled the master cyclinder to appropriate level. had a smoke and hoped that the brakes would be fixed. and Yes they were. i was hoping it would be nothing to big of a problem and im glad to have rectified the problem. a bit of air come out of everyhose but the front driver side had the most and that was the hose i disconnected. really happy about the car now. took it for a good spin and it going really well.

need to save some cash now. want to paint car ve commodore lime green. anyone know the actual name of the colour and were abouts would i be able to buy it from. would also need clear coat. i got compressor and air gun lined up from girl friends dad. would like to do it in my garage. if not do you guys know if there is a place that hire out them paint tents? dont know if that thing exist but im prity sure i seen it somewhere.

thanks guys.

[westbad]

Do you have any experience in spray painting and the preparation thats involved with getting a car ready to paint? 90% of the job is the prep work.. get this wrong and you will have problems.

[96vswgncommodore]

no proper experience although i have done cert2 in vehicle body spray painting at tafe. were we learned how to prep everything and did a bit of painting. i know a good prep job is the way to make the job look good. best way to learn is to get into it and just to say the car started its life with me as a 500 dollar car and im slowly building him up there.

[westbad]

Good luck ;-)
Get your self a decent spray gun will make a lot of difference, i use Sata RP for my clear and devilbiss gti's for colour.

Cheap spray guns dont give a very good spray pattern or atomization, sata's are around $800 and devilbiss around $500 each

Your going to need some good filtration on your air line, water and oil filters and a compressor of at least 14cfm to keep the spray gun at consent pressure, which wants to be around 2bar.