Aspire brake swap question

[freshtiva]

I put an Aspire brake swap on my b6 car and the brakes are spongy. If you have to stop hard the pedal goes way down and the braking action is weak. The stock set up stops a lot harder. Ive bled the brakes several times and Im not getting any air out of the system. Im real confident Ive got all the air out. Do I need to put the aspire master cylinder on or does anyone know what the problem might be ? Ive got new everything including rotors, pads. shoes, lines, wheel cylinders, master cylinder, etc. Ive got the best I could buy too.

[JPT]

Some say to bench bleed the master cylinder. I've never done that on any brake job, but it's something you might try.

[Biglay5150]

Shame Shame Fresh!! Double Posting??? LMAO

[JPT]

Shame Shame Fresh!! Double Posting??? LMAO

I just noticed that too! LOL!!!

[91blufestiva]

They are in different forum topics, I think he did this to try and get some of the people's attention that don't use the "new posts" button, and just go to the topics that they are most interested in.

[Biglay5150]

They are in different forum topics, I think he did this to try and get some of the people's attention that don't use the "new posts" button, and just go to the topics that they are most interested in.

Thats double posting. And I was just giving him a hard time anyway. I thought it was funny thats why I said LMAO!

[freshtiva]

The aspire brake swap is still soft, anyone have any suggestions ? Anyone know of other master cylinders off of other cars that will fit on the festiva brake booster ? My proprotioning valve caught some heat from the engine fire before I rebuilt, do you think I should replace it ? Would that cause a soft pedal ? Ive bleed and bleed the brakes, there is no air in the system. Going to try something tomorrow any help would be appreciated.

[skeeters_keeper]

Is the vacuum line/valve to the booster functioning properly (not sure if this would cause your symptoms, but its worth a look see).

[Hot_Wheels]

i would use the aspire master cylinder, did you re use old brake hoses? if so get new ones, and i beleive there is a way you can adjust the brake rod that may help, i believe you can unscrew it out a little to get a firmer brake

[Pu241]

If you had pedal before doing the swap I'd think the MC and proportioning valve would still be OK.
I'm still thinking air in the lines.
Have you tried jacking the back end up and put it up on stands for a few hours/over night and then bleeding them.
I have hear the rear pass. side can trap air and is a booger to get out.
Just a though and much cheaper than a new MC or valve.

[FestYboy]

Fresh, have you tried different pads? if you're not getting air, and the brakeing action is still soft observe the soft lines while someone applies the brakes and look for expantion. if you don't see anything there, then swap out for a different brand of pad. i like Duralast and prostop semi-metallics and avoid anything Advance sells (but that's just me, had a bad expieriance with wearever pads from advance).

[muscle_Car1]

Id say try & bleed them again, as pu241 said it can take some time to get it right. If not the aspire mc is better suited for the aspire brakes & has a slightly larger bore. It makes for firmer brakes that you dont need to press as far, but I like the festy as I can modulate them better, farther travel before full lock

[freshtiva]

Is the vacuum line/valve to the booster functioning properly (not sure if this would cause your symptoms, but its worth a look see).

The foot valve is pointed in the right direction and if I pull the hose off of the booster there is always a vacuum

i would use the aspire master cylinder, did you re use old brake hoses? if so get new ones, and i beleive there is a way you can adjust the brake rod that may help, i believe you can unscrew it out a little to get a firmer brake

I used new aspire brake hoses. The festiva hoses would work on the aspire knuckles. That little keeper hook on the hose by the banjo bolt is spaced differently.

If you had pedal before doing the swap I'd think the MC and proportioning valve would still be OK.
I'm still thinking air in the lines.
Have you tried jacking the back end up and put it up on stands for a few hours/over night and then bleeding them.
I have hear the rear pass. side can trap air and is a booger to get out.
Just a though and much cheaper than a new MC or valve.

I never drove the car prior to the swap, it was a burned out shell when I bought it. Ive bled the brakes till I blue in the face. Im 99 % sure there is no air in them. Ive pumped a lot of fluid through the system with no air.

Fresh, have you tried different pads? if you're not getting air, and the brakeing action is still soft observe the soft lines while someone applies the brakes and look for expantion. if you don't see anything there, then swap out for a different brand of pad. i like Duralast and prostop semi-metallics and avoid anything Advance sells (but that's just me, had a bad expieriance with wearever pads from advance).

I bought the most expensive pads Oreillys had. Havent tried any others. I observe the soft hose when the brake is applied.

If not the aspire mc is better suited for the aspire brakes & has a slightly larger bore. It makes for firmer brakes that you dont need to press as far, but I like the festy as I can modulate them better, farther travel before full lock

^ That is what I was thinking about, maybe I need the larger bore of a different M/C. I put new wheel cylinders on and notice they are larger than the festiva cylinders so it seems logical to me that the master cylinder would need to be larger too to accomidate the large fuild capacity. My other "theory" is that the fire damaged the plungers inside the proportioning valve and is reducing pressure to the cylinders. The valve was right in the middle of the fire damage. Ive got an extra used one.


Thanks everyone for your input !!! Great advise. I think Im going to try a 1992 323 M/C and a different valve. Ill let you know what happens.

[FestYboy]

there shouldn't be any plungers in the PV, just reduced orfices.

just because they were the most expensive pads, doen't mean they're gonna work. you should use semi-metalics reguardless.

[Arnie]

I'm using the Festiva master cylinder with my automatic Aspire swap and have pretty decent pedal stiffness. I want to do another bleed because i think i can get a bit better pedal out it but its not bad at all. I had initial pedal problems but that was because i had issues with the new shoes I installed. I could not get them to retract correctly. It was a very snug fit in the drum. I think they were not moving at all so i could not effectively bleed the car.

I'm using Axxis Ultimates up front. Great bite, though a bit of dust. But with the car's light weight, they should be very fade resistant along with the Motul fluid i run.