Hi all,

This is my first time posting on this forum, and hopefully I am not making a post that is similar to something out there. I am having trouble with the brakes. They would start to lock up and my pedal would feel soft until more than halfway applied. I knew it was the front by the way the car was pulling and by the dust from the brake pads. I pulled the wheels off to discover that one of the rubber brake hoses went bad. So I went ahead, replaced both front brake hoses along with rotors and pads so I wouldn't have to worry about runout. I re-bled the system, and the brakes have been fantastic for about a month.

I was out driving it yesterday and the brake pedal seemed to feel soft again, so I punched the brake pedal a little harder to see if anything had just hung up. Immediately after that, I noticed the sound of the pads rubbing against the rotors without the pedal applied. I know that the pads rub constantly against the rotors, but this was more significant. I am pretty darn sure it is the front-left caliper that is hanging up because when I took out the pads the first time around, the springs in the pistons would not want to pop out like normal. Even when the brake line was disconnected, they seemed to be moving quite uneven.

Is it possible that this caliper has been rebuilt before without those stainless steel shims inside the bore of the caliper pistons, and now they are starting to stick? Just a thought.

I am just wondering if someone has had something similar happen, or if someone thinks that I am on the right path. I appreciate any help I can get. Thanks!

 

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You ain’t getting away from runout that easily! You have to check. The shimming isn’t that bad, you get to drink some beer and make shims out of the sides of the cans.

Also, what you describe sounds like a runout problem. You probably have air in the calipers at the very least too.

Most of these cars have already had their calipers replaced with SS sleeved units, but if yours hasn’t, it’s about time. No one really takes care of the fluid in the brake systems and it absorbs water and pits the bores of the caliper.

Best to go buy a runout gauge setup and some more dot 3.

 

Most likely putting new rotors on made runout worse. Not better.
agree with above. Start checking everything.
The brakes on these cars should throw you through the windshield. If not, your not setup correctly.

 

Hi guys,

I am sorry that I haven't responded in a while. Thank you for the replies. I went out and replaced the caliper that I thought was bad. (The pistons in the old caliper were not retracting like they should of, so problem one solved.) I re-bled the whole system back to front until there wasn't any air in the lines. The pedal goes a little soft when I am driving still, but I did put new pads and rotors on and they may need some time to break in. As for the grinding noise, I found that it was only when braking and turning left, so I went underneath and moved the heatshields on either side in the front around and the grinding sound went away. The runout has been fine. No pulsations from the brake pedal or shimmying from the steering wheel.

So far so good with the brakes, now on to rebuilding the rear-end!

Thanks everyone!