Aspire brake swap bleeding/pedal softness issues...

[freshtiva]

Pulsing through the pedal , my escort does that a little. I figured it was an antilocking thing.

[mechanicaldj]

warped rotors and/or loose wheel bearings

[micah]

so the pulsing doesnt help point me in any direction in regards to the soft pedal? ive felt warped rotors and its doesnt feel like that but i could be wrong. Im going to change out the pads and rotors this coming weekend probably just to be safe.

still want to figure out the softness and bench bleed the mc if thats the next logical step. as i was saying above, "in addition, how do you bench bleed the MC while it is in the car? and what do you use to run the fluid from the ports back into the reservoir? i dont have any extra metal brake lines or anything like that lying around."

thoughts are welcome and appreciated!

[micah]

decided to change the rotors and pads b/c i just thought it would be a good idea/wouldnt hurt since its only about $60-80 in parts. as i suspected, the pedal pulsing is still there. so, its a deeper issue.

for reference i have also replaced the front lower control arms and tie rods w/ new units. i have a really good feeling the tires are out of balance (the car is all over the road when i drive it) but this shouldnt cause the pedal to pulse so bad. there are seems to be a slight rotational "creaking" noise when i slow down and am coming to a stop. bearings? any other ideas?

thanks for the help.

[jglutz]

Get rid of the clear hose and one way valve set up...they are not bullet proof. With those set ups its very likely your sucking air in past the screw threads while the pedal is releasesed.

I've tried many set ups while bleeding and the only bullet proof method requires two people.

One person to slowly push the pedal down and hold it down.

While the pedal is being pushed down...not before...open the bleeder screw.

When the pedal pusherr gets fully down..they call out down and you tighten the bleed screw.

They release the pedal and you repeat the process.

The pedal pusher will notice stiffnes in the pedal as the air is removed.

I hope the problem isn't in the booster.

[micah]

oh, i wasnt doing it by myself. wouldnt trust just that either. i used that clear hose and the one way valve AND did the 2 person method. then a shop recently did it for free when i they did my alignment. i think the pedal feel is normal now. its the other things i just posted about that im now having trouble with.

[micah]

thought id update you all and get some more advice. here is the run down...

- new pads
- new rotors
- brakes bled
- MC bench bled

pedal stiffness feels fine. BUT, it pulses like a mo-fo no matter what speed im going. i also hear a sort of crunching/creaking noise as i slow down that seems to slow w/ speed and eventually stopping when i stop. seems like i really only start to hear it when i get down below 15 mph or so. could be there above that just not as noticeable.

bad caliper? bad wheel bearing? anything else? im pretty lost at this point.

thanks team.

[FestYboy]

bent rotors and or drums, strip them off and have a local shop turn them to make sure they're straight. check which end the vibration is comming from by using the e-brake to slow down. if you feel it in hte handle, it's the rear. if you feel it in the steering wheel while using the brake pedal, it's the new rotors (not uncommon)

[Mike McKown]

it pulses like a mo-fo no matter what speed im going. i also hear a sort of crunching/creaking noise as i slow down that seems to slow w/ speed and eventually stopping when i stop. seems like i really only start to hear it when i get down below 15 mph or so.

Wheel bearings.

[FB71]

^^^agreed. Wrong torque and/or damaged bearings and cups.

[FestYboy]

is this vibration present durring accel and cruise as well as braking, or just braking?

[micah]

i doubt its the rotors since the fronts are brand new. i will try the e-brake test on the rear but dont think thats the issue either.

the car honestly doesnt feel that great on the road in general but thought that could be due to the tires being mismatched and/or perhaps not properly balanced. thinking i should maybe swap out the rims/tires first just to be safe before tackling the bearing. thoughts?

im going to go search, but thought i would ask just to be safe as well -- are the front wheel bearings pressed in? im very mechanical/have no problem doing work myself. just havent ever dealt with a wheel bearing that is pressed in so wanted to get some input/hints/ideas before tackling the job. that and i dont have any "special" tools per se...

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE HELP GUYS! this one has been SUPER frustrating. i just want my car to drive well! i dont really want to sell it but my frustration has led to all kinds of thoughts running through my mind.

________
SEARCH RESULTS. seems to be the best threads so far. any other input is appreciated.

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/search.php?searchid=139793

*and it sounds like i should probably just take the hubs to a shop and have them do the hard work from there. however, everyone says that the spacers need to be correct (and the correct ones are hard to come by) and its hard to set the pre-load properly. sounds like a bit of crap shoot. anyone know of a place (besides FMS) that sells remanufactured from spindles w/ new bearings, etc?


Thanks again.

[micah]

anyone know of a place (besides FMS) that sells remanufactured hubs w/ new bearings, etc? or someone who can do this work properly if i send them my front hubs?

most importantly, how do i test the bearings to see if that is in fact the problem...just jack up the front and try and move/wiggle the wheel, etc?