I'm sure all of us automotive enthusiasts know that car repairs can sometimes expand into much more than originally planned and that's exactly what happened with me...
The Start of it All (Day 1)
Unfortunately parts like brakes are made to eventually wear out and need to be replaced a few times over the life of a car. Well I was driving back from a day trip in Charlotte NC and BOOM... my brake pedal starts to feel extememly soft and by the time I got home the pedal was going almost to the floor before my bringing my car to a complete stop. That Monday I took my car to my local trusted repair shop where I expected to just have the brake pads replaced.... boy was I in for something completely unexpected!!
Day 2
I get a call and was informed that they checked my brake pads and they all looked fine but that my master cylinder seemed like it wasn't working effectively. UGGH my bill immediately went from about $75 to $175 :anguished: I trusted my mechanics judgement and had it done. BUT this wasn't the end of my issues...
Day 3
The next day I get a call saying that after replacing the master cylinder the pedal still didn't have a great feel. She said they were going to replace the fluid reservoir to see if that solved the problem, of course it would cost me another $50, but again I trusted my mechanic so I told them to do it.
Finally (Day 4)
After 4 days in the shop between ordering parts, waiting for them to come in, and installing them I finally got my car back. $226 later and my my car was "fixed" even though I'm not to convinced of that.
The pedal just doesn't feel right to me. I mean the car still has strong stopping ability when you really slam on the pedal but it feels like there is way too much travel before grabbing, as you can see in the video I've attached below. Oh and ignore my messed up toe, lol I had a small incident with a power washer. Anyway click on the video below:
My Thoughts
I think that there may still be some air in the system so I've been driving it around to see if that solves the issue. If not then it may be as complicated as needing a new brake booster or as simple as just replacing the brake pads.
Hopefully it's just some air in the system, but if it's not you can bet that I'll be marching back up to my mechanics shop demanding that they actually fix the issue. Wish me luck and keep your eyes open for an update coming soon.
I hope you all have a happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend!!
~~Isaac (vette1999)~~
Comments (10)
Bleeding is most likely all you need like the other commenters are saying. My Maxima had to be bled about four full cycles before I had it right. In the future Maximas are easy to do brakes on. Nothing complicated in the way. Can probably save you a ton. I don’t trust shops, as some like to constantly up sell you.
Thanks for the advice man! I normally like to work on my own car but my family has gone to this shop forever and I trusted them to do a good job. I'll probably try to bleed them myself and then go from there.
I would have the brakes bled sounds as if there is air still in there. It may help fix the issue that still is there.
Thanks, I'll probably bring my car back to the shop tomorrow and have them bleed the system. Hopefully that fixes everything.
Yeah you definitely need to bleed it. Try gravity bleeding first by opening a bleeder and the top of the reservoir and letting it sit for a few hours and keep topping up as needed. Then do a proper bleed starting with the back brakes and moving forward
I'll probably spend my day Monday trying to do that. Thanks for the advice!
Reply to: vette1999
Yeah no problem the gravity bleed can do a lot honestly and makes it much quicker to actually bleed
I have the exact same problem, I paid 300 for mines and it still has a bit of air in it. Not to sure if it was always like that in my eclipse. Well i will stay tuned to see if u get it fixed.
After a little bit of driving the pedal has some better feel but still not where it needs to be. I'll probably bring it back to my shop on Tuesday to see what they can do.
Reply to: vette1999
Get chance and luck.