Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Brakes "Soft" pedal feel

Hi there,

Ever since I bought my SVT last year, I have had concerns about the feel of the pedal. It just doesn't seem as firm or solid as...well, as any car with fully functional brakes that I have driven. I had the fluid replaced and bled, but to no avail. Even with new brakes this year, it still seems as though the brakes are less powerful than they ought to be.

Has anybody else had a similar concern? I mean, they work fine, but just have cruddy feel. Is there anything I can do short of replacing all of the lines or an upgrade kit to improve the situation? Would the caliper slide bushings be a good place to start? TIA.

When you say new brakes, do you mean just pads or do you mean new rotors and pads as well?

New rotors and pads.

I have the same feeling in my car, too, and I also don't know what it is.

What pads? Have you ever flushed the break fluid? You may want to try and get some SS brake lines!

-Andy

It might be just a different feel than you're used to. I replaced my rotors and pads with KVR rotors and Bendix pads. They felt very spongy until the pads were completely seated properly which took about 400 miles. They feel great now though. My wife has a Ford Escape and it to me has very responsive and firm feeling brakes. Stainless lines could be a big help as Andy mentioned, and maybe try some better, non-OEM pads.

Sorry but the problem is that the feel DIDN'T change. I did a fluid flush and nothing changed. Just as spongy and weak as before. When I did the brakes (Euro Rotor pads and rotors), there was no improvement either. I am just wondering if this is normal across SVTs, or whether I should be re-examining the system to find other parts that may need replacing.

I didn't like the feel of the stock brakes either. But if you're having the same problem with non-OEM rotors and pads, then maybe you'll have to look into other things, and there's not too many things I can think of that would cause that feeling other than the master cylinder or brake lines which were already mentioned. How many miles on your new brakes?

Maybe 3000 kilometres.....

My pedal was like this, seals in the the drivers side rear caliper were bad. $200 to get replaced.

Alrighty I'm digging this back up, but I just had my car in the shop yesterday, and they said that my brakes were gone, so they wanted to fix them. Well, they put new pads on all 4 brakes, and resurfaced the fronts.

Now my brake pedal feels real spongy..doesn't feel as responsive as it did before I took the car in! I don't like it. It just doesn't feel right. If the general consensus here is that they will tighten up once they are 'settled' then I'm fine with it for now, but if not, I want it back the way they were before the swap for new pads. So, if they don't stiffen back up, should I bleed them?

If you've never flushed the braking, system you should!

-Andy

The shop said they used a softer pad. And that it would take some time.. 500-1000miles to bake them and to get them stiffer. They said that since they are softer, they should reduce brake dust and hopefully eliminate squeeking. You know though, I didn't have any squeeking to begin with! I could slam the brake pedal and lock the wheels up.. Now I can slam it to the floor nearly and no lockup.. it just doesn't feel like it can stop nearly as well. I hope the brakes stiffen up, shoot, I'd rather be able to stop than have the chance for squeeks or normal amounts of brake dust!

They said if i'm not pleased after about 500-1000 miles, just bring it back.

I need stopping power. Especially with these 18s!

Bet you got an econo pad. If you don't have Bandix Titanium then you've got carp.

I've got about 1k miles on Stazi's brakes and ATE blue fluid and they're pretty good. Initial "grap" isn't as good as my friends new Intrepid with 4-wheel disc (for example), however I think this has more to do with pad material than mechanical default. I've noticed, especially on exit ramps, that moments after initial application the braking ability becomes much more effective. Indicating, IMHO, these pads like some heat. I think this is great as they're less likely to fade in spirited driving; a type of driving illegal in an Intrepid I'm very interested in the difference SS lines will provide and will put them on at some point.

Oh, the initial break in period on the Bendix was quite lengthy. I did the procedure where you increase speed and pedal pressure gradually to season the rotors immediately after installation but it was a good 300 miles before the pads hit their stride. HTH.

Amen on the Bendix Pads and Auto-specialty Rotors the best brake job I've ever done/ended up with! Had those performance Friction pads and Amico (China)& factory rotors before, nothing but a pain.
Paul