Brake Pedal goes to the floor!?

[RS.YES]

Hey Guys & Girls,

Well I've just finished putting in rear struts & springs from a V3 STI, had a hard time with the bracket on the struts that were in there for the brake hose to be secure and everything. Hacked away at the side of that bracket to get the brake hose free and also taking out the 14mm bolt and banjo fitting at the back of the calliper where the piston is so I could maneuver the strut in a position so I could hack away. Once done, put everything back together, clips, bolts, hoses, wheels, ecetera.....

Once everything all done up, started the car and heated up for a while. Car was warm and went to drive off and then put my foot on the brake pedal and then * what the fark!? ???* - pedal went to the floor had to use the e-brake. Sh*t I was freaking out cause car wouldn't stop, so checked the fluid, it was bout half way so topped up with more fluid, still same problem.

Now 'm thinking that disconnecting banjo fitting & hoses may have done something, At the time when disconnecting the hose, about 10mls of fluid oozed either from the piston or the abs sensor ring but don't think any got on the disc cause it was dripping from the brake's shield. It's either air entered through the hoses and/or the abs sensor ring(???) or whatever has stuffed up blah blah. But this is the first and I had no other way of getting the brake hose free unless I took that bolt out without ripping or pulling out the brake lines.

Can anyone shed some light for me because I'm stuck. Will bleed the fluid and any air that might have entered through the bleed valve but would appreciate some help from fellow CS members.

Cheers guys!!

[madmike]

Bleed the brakes dude....

[jacsmiley]

the moment you make a break in the brake line regardless of where it is you should bleed them. you wont have broken anything without force

[MercuryFree]

You may need a new washer for the caliper hose/banjo type bit. Mine did a similar thing where it wasn't sealing properly so was pissing brake fluid (slightly) up into the guard.

Get someone to push on the brakes while you've got your head under there watching the caliper, you'll see fluid spraying out if so.

But yeah, standard practice to bleed brakes when lines have been disconnected so may indeed be something as simple as the old air in the lines

[RS.YES]

I was thinking I might need a new washers but had a look and everything seemed sweet no fluid bursting out so I'll bleed 'em in the morning. Thanks for the info thought it'd be something simple as to just bleed the system hahaha what a noob, shows I wasn't paying attention in class when we had the session about brakes!! Cheers guys

[aim]

fluid essentially doesn't compress at all, air does, a lot. There's a reason we use hydraulics for braking systems and not pneumatics

[DRFVDR]

 aim said:

fluid essentially doesn't compress at all, air does, a lot. There's a reason we use hydraulics for braking systems and not pneumatics

Unless u have a larger vehicle of course,then they can have a bit of both

[Guest boostcut]

 DRFVDR']

[quote name='aim said:

fluid essentially doesn't compress at all, air does, a lot. There's a reason we use hydraulics for braking systems and not pneumatics

/quote]

Unless u have a larger vehicle of course,then they can have a bit of both

what about magnetic? im working at goughs in chch on 400t dumptrucks for stockton mine that have magnetic brakes...

[aim]

 boostcut said:

what about magnetic? im working at goughs in chch on 400t dumptrucks for stockton mine that have magnetic brakes...

Heh, that would be cool to see actually. Magnetic brakes. How do they work?

[Guest boostcut]

the brake pedal is just a huge potentiometer. and powers up some electro magnetic thing that releases the brake and stops the truck... its cool because it dont need servicing and it doesnt look to have brakes at all as theyre internal in the hub, inside the planetry gear

[Guest]

 boostcut said:

the brake pedal is just a huge potentiometer. and powers up some electro magnetic thing that releases the brake and stops the truck... its cool because it dont need servicing and it doesnt look to have brakes at all as theyre internal in the hub, inside the planetry gear

what happens if while driving theres an electrical problem? i guess theres some emergency braking?

-smurff

[aim]

The brakes could be designed to be always on, with magnets releasing the calipers, so the pedals turn the magnets off, applying the brakes. Therfore, electrical fault would = brakes on

[Guest]

 aim said:

The brakes could be designed to be always on, with magnets releasing the calipers, so the pedals turn the magnets off, applying the brakes. Therfore, electrical fault would = brakes on

ahhh of course at least you were thinking

-smurff