So, I was doing a brake/rotor swap on my 2002 dodge neon SE. I jacked up the car, took off the wheel, unscrewed the caliper guide bolts, bled about an ounce of brake fluid, removed the caliper, removed the old pads, used a c-clamp to compress the piston,put in the new pads, took off the old rotor and placed the new one in place, and then bolted it all back up again, makiing sure to torque it to 192 in-lbs. I pumped the brakes a few times to seat the pads against the caliper, and then put the wheel back on. Did the same for the other side.

Now, when I drive the vehicle, and this may have been a problem that was present before I started the job,I have to push the brake pedal down nearly to the floor before the car will stop. I've looked at the brake fluid, and it looks pretty dirty. It also is filled up to the proper level. Any ideas as to why the brake pedal isgoing all the way down to the floor? Your helpis much appreciated!

 

It will do that for a bit, just had my rotors swapped to drilled/slotted and the brakes to ceramic. Had the same issue, but now it is getting better. Just give it a bit of time and you could possibly bleed the brakes if you want.

 

It is not normal for that to be happening wh ile driving, regardless of the brake change... if anything, your pedal should be much stiffer and go down LESS with the new brakes.

Bleed the brakes thoroughly all the way around, until the system is "flushed" with all new fluid and absolutely no air in the system. If there are no mechanical problems all around, then this should solve the problem.

If this continues to happen wh ile you drive, I suspect your master cylinder may be going out... especially since you hinted that this may have started before you did the brake change. Make sure to walk around your car and underneath it, look under the hood... checking for fluid leaks all around etc etc... but if there is no other smoking gun after all of that, I point attention to the MC.

 

hmmm.. I'd say +1...
he said he bled off some fluid before he removed the caliper, but never said anything about bleeding the brake lines AFTER everything was done...I thought that was a must...

 

Yeah, I probably havent treated the brakes on my Neon as well as my other vehicles... but IMO they also held up better over time than I expected (I went just short on 80k miles on original pads, rotors, fluid, etc). But a rule of thumb that I have kept with my vehicles (except the Neon, until recently) has been to always bleed all the brakes to basically flush them with all new fluid @ every brake change, and once inbetween as well. Braking performance seems to stay much more consistent that way.

 

yeah you have too bleed all the air out it is pain
good luck pumping[:'(]