Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have done 50 or more brake jobs. This one has me stumped.
I was helping my son put new brake pads on his 1996 Serbring Convertible.Brakes were making a lot of noise and the car pulled badly to the right on a stop. The right side pads were completely gone, nothing left but metal. The left side did not have any wear at all. Obviously the left side caliper was not working.
Caliper on the right was corroded and when we tried to press the piston back in, it would not move. The left side (side not working) pushed in just fine. Brake fluid was not low and no signs of leaks, except possibly a build up of white crystals around the piston on the right side.
I told him he should just replace both calipers, they are not that expensive. We got everything back together and bled the brakes. Pedal was too soft. Bled the brakes some more. Still soft. Clearly no more air was coming out. Test drive.
The front brakes seem to be working, but the pedal goes to the floor and it will not stop hard. I noticed when he was braking that the rear wheels were not stopping. there are no leaking in the lines (no brake fluid coming out and the reservoir stays full).
I told him to try bleeding the rear brake (drum brakes ), but he cannot gt anything on the bleeder valve to open it (typical stupid Chrysler engineering). However unless replacing the front calipers somehow got air into the back brakes I do not see why it would suddenly need bleeding. We bled the front brakes more than I have ever bled brakes for any reason, but eventually, air stopped coming out. He is hoping just manually bleeding the rear brakes (no room for a hose), will fix everything. I am doubtful.
Any ideas why a formerly working brake system (working in that is stopped the car effectively) with new front calipers - thoroughly bled out, no leaks, would now have no pedal pressure? Not it is working, jsut working weakly.
It is not really practical to take it to a shop. This is a $700 car.
Being a 96 the brake hoses, the rubber ones could be failing. This was happening on my 02 F150. The brake pressure would go in to the caliper but the failing rubber hose wouldn't let it back out so the caliper couldn't release and it would heat up and eat the pads and rotor.
It could also be the master cylinder has failed. I had that happen in an old MGB. The rubber seals inside came apart due to age.
Are the bleeders on the calipers at the top of the piston bores? I don't know about this car specifically, but on a lot of vehicles you can swap the calipers side to side. They'll bolt on and look fine, but the bleeder will be at the bottom of the bore, and you'll never get it bled right.
Also how are you bleeding it? Vacuum bleeder? Gravity? Or manual bleeding by pumping up a good pedal and pushing the pedal down as somebody opens the bleeder?
With some systems, gravity or vacuum just don't work well. Some systems you pretty much have to bleed manually.
We were bleeding it manually (old fashioned way) at first, then when it did not seem to be working, we got a jar/hose kit. The rear brakes will have to be done manually.
Really did not pay any attention to sides. When we bought the calipers they just grabbed two boxes. I did not look at them really, just told sonny what to do (kneeling is very difficult for me.). I will check to see if the bleeders are at the top, I am pretty certain they are.
I will check the rubber lines. It is not losing any fluid, but maybe it could be sucking in air. The brakes are not sticking once applied (may have been on one side before replacing the calipers).
We will also check the master cylinder. I did not know those can be bled. MC did not run dry while I was there, but he had mom helping him for a while (pushing the brake) when I was not home. i will ask him.
MC is bled before installation when replaced with the new one. So you should not worry about it, unless you really ran it dry dry..
I say you had obstruction somewhere in the lines.
Replacing calipers, you should always do full bleed. Brake line do not go front>back. They go criss cross, driver side front>pass side rear, pass side front>driver side rear.
As of ABS block... do you even have ABS on 96 car? If you do, you need to accelerate to 50 and slam on brakes both feet to basically halt. Repeat several times. That expels air out of old type ABS blocks. New ones - got ot have scanner to move valves and actuators.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,551 posts, read 81,085,957 times
Reputation: 57728
As old as it is, that car still probably has both antilock brakes and a proportioning valve. Bleeding is not the same as with the old 60s-80s cars that I used to work on all the time. Unless you have a manual or at least do some research on Youtube, you have probably missed a step or two.
I stopped doing my own brakes after my first that had antilock in 1990, but I agree, for a $700 car paying a shop for this work exceeds the value.
You need to bleed the antilock module if air entered that part of the system. Probably the master too.
Had an ABS pump go bad on a 2012 Land Rover (makes Chrysler look like Toyota)
Front brakes would clamp but delay release for a few seconds. That few seconds turned into never.
(Yes, an ABS pump can still cause issues when ABS would not necessarily be triggered)
---------------
Not related, but a European shop local to me was able to source an ABS pump, and used the controller module off my existing one - if I had gone with a new replacement, it is a dealer job, because even ABS modules are hard coded to the VIN... welcome to imports.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
), but he cannot gt anything on the bleeder valve to open it (typical stupid Chrysler engineering). However unless replacing the front calipers somehow got air into the back brakes I do not see why it would suddenly need bleeding. We bled the front brakes more than I have ever bled brakes for any reason, but eventually, air stopped coming out. He is hoping just manually bleeding the rear brakes (no room for a hose), will fix everything. I am doubtful. 
