How's the level in the reservoir? Sounds like air got in somewhere, I'd bleed them to be safe. Shops don't charge much for this nowadays either, $100 maybe.
Spongy brakes, gap between pads and rotor
Hello, I’m have a 2014 extended cab that I’ve had parked for about a year. She had new pads installed about 2000 kilometres before being parked.
When I started driving her again the brakes felt like they had air in it, bout system had not been opened. I tried the dirt road abs hard braking trick as recommended, but no luck.
I took off the wheels to take a look and the problem was clear. There was a significant gap between the rotor and the inside pad. Fist press of the pedal, the pad made no contact. Second pump made contact. Release pedal, and excessive gap came back.
my question is, what causes this and what’s the remedy?
thanks in advance.
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When I started driving her again the brakes felt like they had air in it, bout system had not been opened. I tried the dirt road abs hard braking trick as recommended, but no luck.
I took off the wheels to take a look and the problem was clear. There was a significant gap between the rotor and the inside pad. Fist press of the pedal, the pad made no contact. Second pump made contact. Release pedal, and excessive gap came back.
my question is, what causes this and what’s the remedy?
thanks in advance.
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
New calipers are in your future. They are frozen, and the “air in the brake lines” feeling comes from pistons that are getting stuck/seized in the bore. I would replace the rotors and pads at the same time as well.
I had somewhat of the same issue turns out to be the ABS module was bad. The rear pass caliper seemed like it was frozen until the module was fixed. Always felt like there was air in the lines and the pedal was very spongy.
I had this exact same issue a couple years ago. The calipers are 4 piston calipers. so they have an extra set of guide pins. There are the ones that are sealed in the rubber boots and lubricated we are all familiar with. These are the pins we normally would expect to get seized.
However, these calipers also have a external set of pins that you can see at the top and bottom of your pictures (there is a spring that goes around the bottom pin in your picture). These seize up, and when they do, they will cause your brakes to feel like there is air in the line, but not matter what you do, your brake pedal will feel soft and you will never get a good solid pedal feel. For mine, my pedal travel was too long, I always felt like I needed to pump the pedal, and that would help, but the pedal travel was always too much, and if I stood on the pedal, I could make it sink further and futher by holding it down (BTW, that is normal for this kind of brake system). If I turned off the engine, I could pump the brakes and get a nice strong pedal feel, but as soon as I started the engine, the pedal would start to sink and get soft again.
I changed brake fluid, bled the brakes, and nothing I tried worked. I took it to my local dealership, and they disassembled the calipers and cleaned and lubricated those exterior pins and that allowed everything to return to normal. It was not expensive (like under $200 as I remember, and I think they may have done all 4 calipers, but not sure about that. For sure they did the fronts).
If you look at your pictures, you can see that those external pins are holding the caliper bodies apart which is why you have a gap between the rotor and pad. When you pump the brakes, those caliper bodies try to slide together, and they do somewhat with the pressure of the brakes, but the pins are holding them apart. The pads travel to the rotor, but when you let off the brakes, the pads stop where they are at, but the pins pull the caliper bodies back apart and the pad just travels along with the caliper body and you end up with a gap between the pad and rotor.
However, these calipers also have a external set of pins that you can see at the top and bottom of your pictures (there is a spring that goes around the bottom pin in your picture). These seize up, and when they do, they will cause your brakes to feel like there is air in the line, but not matter what you do, your brake pedal will feel soft and you will never get a good solid pedal feel. For mine, my pedal travel was too long, I always felt like I needed to pump the pedal, and that would help, but the pedal travel was always too much, and if I stood on the pedal, I could make it sink further and futher by holding it down (BTW, that is normal for this kind of brake system). If I turned off the engine, I could pump the brakes and get a nice strong pedal feel, but as soon as I started the engine, the pedal would start to sink and get soft again.
I changed brake fluid, bled the brakes, and nothing I tried worked. I took it to my local dealership, and they disassembled the calipers and cleaned and lubricated those exterior pins and that allowed everything to return to normal. It was not expensive (like under $200 as I remember, and I think they may have done all 4 calipers, but not sure about that. For sure they did the fronts).
If you look at your pictures, you can see that those external pins are holding the caliper bodies apart which is why you have a gap between the rotor and pad. When you pump the brakes, those caliper bodies try to slide together, and they do somewhat with the pressure of the brakes, but the pins are holding them apart. The pads travel to the rotor, but when you let off the brakes, the pads stop where they are at, but the pins pull the caliper bodies back apart and the pad just travels along with the caliper body and you end up with a gap between the pad and rotor.
replace both calipers from the look of the corrosion it ready !!
Hello, thank you for your advice. I replaced the pins and the springs. Cleaned the area the pads move on and reassembled. Everything feels great. Brakes are back 100 percent. I appreciate you taking the time to educate me.I had this exact same issue a couple years ago. The calipers are 4 piston calipers. so they have an extra set of guide pins. There are the ones that are sealed in the rubber boots and lubricated we are all familiar with. These are the pins we normally would expect to get seized.
However, these calipers also have a external set of pins that you can see at the top and bottom of your pictures (there is a spring that goes around the bottom pin in your picture). These seize up, and when they do, they will cause your brakes to feel like there is air in the line, but not matter what you do, your brake pedal will feel soft and you will never get a good solid pedal feel. For mine, my pedal travel was too long, I always felt like I needed to pump the pedal, and that would help, but the pedal travel was always too much, and if I stood on the pedal, I could make it sink further and futher by holding it down (BTW, that is normal for this kind of brake system). If I turned off the engine, I could pump the brakes and get a nice strong pedal feel, but as soon as I started the engine, the pedal would start to sink and get soft again.
I changed brake fluid, bled the brakes, and nothing I tried worked. I took it to my local dealership, and they disassembled the calipers and cleaned and lubricated those exterior pins and that allowed everything to return to normal. It was not expensive (like under $200 as I remember, and I think they may have done all 4 calipers, but not sure about that. For sure they did the fronts).
If you look at your pictures, you can see that those external pins are holding the caliper bodies apart which is why you have a gap between the rotor and pad. When you pump the brakes, those caliper bodies try to slide together, and they do somewhat with the pressure of the brakes, but the pins are holding them apart. The pads travel to the rotor, but when you let off the brakes, the pads stop where they are at, but the pins pull the caliper bodies back apart and the pad just travels along with the caliper body and you end up with a gap between the pad and rotor.
Excellent!!! Glad this worked.Hello, thank you for your advice. I replaced the pins and the springs. Cleaned the area the pads move on and reassembled. Everything feels great. Brakes are back 100 percent. I appreciate you taking the time to educate me.
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
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