Ae86 brakes spongy and pulls to left

[v-tec]

Hey, after putting in my ae86 struts and brakes yesterday, i filled up the fuel bled it took it for a drive and it was really spongy and has a massive pull to the left.

Bled it another time, tryed again and then came back and did it another time and make sure there was no air in the line (let fluid run till it stopped, while someone had their foot on the brake)

I have no idea why this is doing it, im probly going to take this to a brake specialist, however would prefer to fix it myself if i can figure it out.

Has anyone ever had this problem, or has any ideas how to fix it?

Cheers all

Grant

[deanoo]

hmmm i dont know y its spungy.. most probly y its pulling to the left is cause you need a wheel alignment

[Redwarf]

spongy is normally a sure fire sign of air in the lines, how many times u pump the fluid out ?

done:
nipple tight
pump pedal few times then hold down
loosen nipple, fluid out all the way...
tighten nipple
release brake pedal
repeat

if it was completely drained system could take quite a few repetitions of that process...plus use some clear tubing at the end of nipple to make sure its fluid only no air


for my 2c, im going with bleed it again, and prob wheel allignment after for left'ness


damo

[wth03]

air in brake system for sure. get a clear plastic tube when u bleed it. so u can see are there any bubbles in system. make sure follow the step above. if not that will be your brake booster problem

[v-tec]

hmm

this is so weird


done:
nipple tight
pump pedal few times then hold down
loosen nipple, fluid out all the way...
tighten nipple
release brake pedal
repeat[/b]

that is pretty much what i do to bleed the brakes, expect i bled it three separate times (same morning tho..) and took it for a drive around between.

It cant be a wheel alignement cause it only pulls when i brake and furthermore i just got a wheel alignment this morning at Bob jane

Also i dont think it is the master cylinder as i have had that go twice, once in my old car and once in this and it doesn feel like thats happened.

I will try to bleed it again tmro arvo and will try the straw thing, my best mates dad used to be a brake mechanic make i can ask him to have a look.

Thanks for your info

[driftae86]

i think you will find that bleeding the brakes wont help. you will probly find that its pulling to the left because one of your brake calipers is biting down on the rotor harder than the other one. jack the front of your car up, take the wheels off then try to spin the hub by hand (without brakes on of course). you will most likely find that its easier to spin one of the hubs than the other.

if that does happen, that basically means that one of your calipers is not completely letting go of the rotor once u let go of the brake. so the bias when u do press the brakes will towards one side of the car. it is something that happens over time with old parts like these. basically that means your calipers could do with a rebuild.

another possible reason for it pulling to one side is that one of your brake lines has some shit in it clogging it up. when u bleed the brakes, once pressure is built up by pressing pedal, the fluid should really shoot out of the nipple on the caliper once u open it. if it doesnt, that means there is something clogging it, or its leaking somewhere.

and another thing to check is, when you jack the front of the car up, before taking wheel off, jiggle the wheel. jiggle it as if u were steering the wheels with your hands. dont jiggle it so much that u actually do steer them, just enough to see if there is any free play. if there is more free play on one side than the other, your rack end on that side is probly worn out. possibly causing car to pull to one side during braking.

also, did u put in new pads at the same time without machining the rotors?

reason i say this is that beserker99 has this exact same problem, we have been running around today trying to fix it http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/emoticons/tongue.gif

[mikewestphoto]

As stupid as it may seem, have you put the calipers on upside down so that the bleed nipples are on the bottom of the calipers?

[v-tec]

The idea of the biased caliper sounds reasonable mate, i think ill have a look as you say and see whats the go.
Will also check the rack end idea.

The Disk have been all properally washed, machined and re greased with hi performance grease with new ferodo pads so dont think thats any reason.

The lines wouldnt be a problem as they were used before for for the Ra60's

Cheers all

[RobertoX]

you greased you discs??? or maybe its because you are using fuel as brake fluid? lol


i filled up the fuel bled it took it for a drive and it was really spongy[/b]

it sounds to me like you haven't bled it properly, if you go for a drive each time that might make the air move back up the tube. You need to tighten, pump, untighten, let fluid out, tighten, release brake and repeat about 5 times each side and quite quickly to get a fairly decent result. Maybe get a mate who has done it before to help you.
Then start checking out calipers if this doesn't work (cos this is free and a rebuild is a couple of $)

[Cerby]

when you bled it you didn't happen to bleed it till the reserviour was empty?? Cos if you do this you have to start all over!! Also the first time i drove mine straight after changing the pads my car did the same thing! After i did the ?bedding? the pads in thing it came right!!

[yoshimitsu9]

bled my brakes yesturday and did it like this, fairly simple and works a treat.

have a mate or family member very slowly push down the pedal while u have a peice of clear tubing attatched to the nipple and a spanner on the nut of the nipple. now when the pedal is completely pushed down your mate needs to give the signal for u to very quickly loosen the nipple enough for the fluid to flush out then u will see the air bubble(s) that come out then very quickly shut it again.

rinse and repeat for all 4 wheels

works an absolute treat, my pedals havent ever felt soooo touchy

[SLO-030]

I havent really read through the whole lot but this is what i do at work..

Because you have had the whole system apart i would also bleed the rears.

Start at the rear left. With a friend/famil member pumping the peddle crack the bleed nipple so that its loose enough to allow fluid out. Keep pumping the peddle (while keeping an eye on the master cylinder level) once there are no air bubbles tighten the nipple up. Pump peddle a few more times the hold it down and crack the nipple again. Pump the peddle a few more times and undo the bleed nipple while holding down the peddle once it has got some sort of a peddle feeling. Pumping and holding only needs to be done a few times.

Then move on to the rear right. Now all you have to do is pump and hold the peddle a few times unless you have a disc rear end then you follow the same as above.

Now move to the front left and do the same as the first rear one.
Then move to the front right and do the same as the left one.

MAKE SURE YOUR FLUID LEVEL IS UP ALL THE TIME BECAUSE AS SOON AS IT DROPS AND ITS EMPTY YOU HAVE TO START AGAIN...

Now if it still feels spongy and pulls to the left pull the front left wheel off and then the caliper. Now where the bolts go through they are called slides and they should move freely when u push then in and out.

If they dont get a hammer and some WD40 or any sort of lube (even grease. Spray the WD40 in under the boot and hit the slide back and forward till it makes with just ur hand.

Bolt it back up and then your down. Take it for a drive and see how it goes..