Problems after brake pad change

I had the brake pads changed in my Nissan Almera yesterday. Two problems today.

1. The brakes aren't working properly, it's slower to brake. The car doesn't stop suddenly even with brakes pressed hard.

2. There's a burning rubber smell when the brakes are pressed, especially when pressed hard.


I'd appreciate some feedback, thanks.

Kenny Logins

They need some time to bed in.

Kenny Logins

Kenny Logins wrote: »

They need some time to bed in.

I was thinking that could be the case. How long does it take?

Kenny Logins

Depends on how you drive. I usually go heavy on the brakes for the first day or two.

carol clery

Some important info missing

Who replaced them?

Why were they replaced?

What were the discs like?

When was the last fluid change?

carol clery

carol clery wrote: »

Some important info missing

Who replaced them? Mechanic, a decent one

Why were they replaced? Other ones were well worn

What were the discs like? Not sure but the mechanic said he would check everything when replacing them

When was the last fluid change? That I'm not sure about, but would be quite a while

answered

Beer Assistant

Soft pedal = Sounds like the brake's were not bled properly, could be air trapped.

Kenny Logins

Gretts_40oz wrote: »

Soft pedal = Sounds like the brake's were not bled properly, could be air trapped.

Didn't see any mention of a soft pedal...

JohnBoy26

Gretts_40oz wrote: »

Soft pedal = Sounds like the brake's were not bled properly, could be air trapped.

Assuming this was a straightforward brake pads change, why would the system need to be bled?

A soft pedal?

Didn't seem too much different than before. I'll be out in the car again this evening and see is there a difference.

JohnBoy26

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Assuming this was a straightforward brake pads change, why would the system need to be bled?

That's all it was

JohnBoy26

rarnes1 wrote: »

A soft pedal?

Didn't seem too much different than before. I'll be out in the car again this evening and see is there a difference.

As has been said they probably just need time to bed in. Give It a day or two.

JohnBoy26

rarnes1 wrote: »

That's all it was

In that case air trapped in the system is highly unlikely. It's only in the event of something like a stuck calliper or the replacement of a brake pipe where bleeding the system is required or indeed if the fluid itself was replaced.

Kenny Logins

rarnes1 wrote: »

A soft pedal?

Didn't seem too much different than before. I'll be out in the car again this evening and see is there a difference.

There is no soft pedal.

New pads just won't bite as well as ones that are bedded in. This is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about.

carol clery

If the discs are in poor condition this could be the whole problem

IE - if they are worn below the min thickness then there will more than likely be a lip on them and if the pads are slightly bigger than the old ones then the new ones may well be contacting the lip before the face of the disc if you get me OR there may be a 'channel' down the central 1/3 (or so) of the disc where the old pads wore into it and then the new pads are slightly different dimensions and contacting the previously unworn section of the disc if im makng sense


Ask the mechanic what the min thickness is and what the actual thickness was and i bet you he wont know. Surprsingly few mechanics hwve this info to hand

Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback.

mb1725

........ and take it easy out on the road! I could be in front of you!

corkgsxr

Could be ****e pads too. I had a set for my old mazda that I left in for 2 weeks and they never got better. I whipped them out and put in ebc and never strayed since.

corkgsxr

corkgsxr wrote: »

Could be ****e pads too. I had a set for my old mazda that I left in for 2 weeks and they never got better. I whipped them out and put in ebc and never strayed since.

Yeah, I'll keep an eye on it the next few days.

mickdw

Needs bedding in. Instead of a pad area of about 100mm x 60mm contacting the disc each side, if there is a lip on the disk and the fresh pad is running against this lip you will end up with an area only a few mm thick contacting the disk. You might have something like 100mm x 4mm contacting until they bed in resulting in very very very bad brakes for a good few miles.
As a side note, i always let fluid out at the caliper when doing pads to avoid pushing fluid backwards through the system. This means i also do a bleed when doing pads.

corkgsxr

mickdw wrote: »

Needs bedding in. Instead of a pad area of about 100mm x 60mm contacting the disc each side, if there is a lip on the disk and the fresh pad is running against this lip you will end up with an area only a few mm thick contacting the disk. You might have something like 100mm x 4mm contacting until they bed in resulting in very very very bad brakes for a good few miles.
As a side note, i always let fluid out at the caliper when doing pads to avoid pushing fluid backwards through the system. This means i also do a bleed when doing pads.

A lip wouldn't last a quarter mile. Too much heat and pressure. It rips it away.

aisr1ofk43dpy5

mickdw wrote: »

As a side note, i always let fluid out at the caliper when doing pads to avoid pushing fluid backwards through the system. This means i also do a bleed when doing pads.

Is this necessary when changing brake pads ?

mickdw

corkgsxr wrote: »

A lip wouldn't last a quarter mile. Too much heat and pressure. It rips it away.

My point was to explain why there are poor brakes when fitting new pads on bad disks.
It will take much more than quarter mile. Old disc likely have a good few little ridges in them so you are running with maybe one tenth the proper surface area of pad contacting disc.
Last time i fitted new discs and pads, after about 5 miles the brakes were perfect.
Working with very old discs, it would take many many careful miles to get a good pedal back

mickdw

Corey Silly Busboy wrote: »

Is this necessary when changing brake pads ?

Most would say no but by releasing fluid at caliper makes it a bit easier to push back piston. You are also avoiding any possibility of damaging seals in the system by contunually forcing fluid backwards through the system.
I run a few cup fulls of fresh fluid through while im at it too.

corkgsxr

mickdw wrote: »

My point was to explain why there are poor brakes when fitting new pads on bad disks.
It will take much more than quarter mile. Old disc likely have a good few little ridges in them so you are running with maybe one tenth the proper surface area of pad contacting disc.
Last time i fitted new discs and pads, after about 5 miles the brakes were perfect.
Working with very old discs, it would take many many careful miles to get a good pedal back

80-90% of braking in will be done in the first mile. Getting properly into the grooves takes a while but you still have 80-90% of braking power.

If the grooves are so bad that it takes ages to brake in you need new disks

aisr1ofk43dpy5

mickdw wrote: »

Most would say no but by releasing fluid at caliper makes it a bit easier to push back piston. You are also avoiding any possibility of damaging seals in the system by contunually forcing fluid backwards through the system.
I run a few cup fulls of fresh fluid through while im at it too.

Thanks for that

biko

I use Blueprint pads and they both smell and smoke before they're bedded, a bit embarrassing sometimes.

mathepac

Here is the procedure I've used for bedding in for some time now. This is for a road car / road pads.

dh0011

OP i had issues when I had an almera with the brakes. Turned out that the calipers had rusted and were sticking on. If you are driving against the brakes for a good while they can start making noises.