Garbage Spongy Brakes.

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Wed May 11, 2005 1:02 am

I cannot figure out what the hell is wrong!!! I bought the car april of 2004, and in august 2004, replaced my front pads and rotors. The pads are EBC redstuff, and the rotors are oem from the dealership. The pedal feel was pretty spongy, but I attributed it to the dark brown color of my brake fluid, supposing that I probably had air, as well as a high amount of moisture in the system. In March(I think) 2005, I replaced the rear pads with EBC redstuff ceramics, and the pedal feel got noticably firmer, but anywhere near as firm as it should have been. About a month after that, I FINALLY bled my brakes, flushing the entire system, expecting firm pedal feel. Pedal feel didn't change at all. Now I have no idea where to go from here.
A coworker suggests that I may have an air pocket that my at-home bleeding didn't get rid of, so to take it to a shop, and have them power bleed them. When I asked him about SS lines, he said that those were another option, and definitely wouldn't hurt anything.

So, I'm thinking I'll be getting SS lines in about a month or so, is there anything else this could be? Master Cylinder maybe?

I don't have a leak anywhere, and my fluid level has not gone down, so that's not the problem. aargh

Subaru_Nation555 · Post by **Subaru_Nation555** » Wed May 11, 2005 1:09 am

My SS lines did very little for pedal feel on my car. Others have said fluid type can make a difference. Good Luck.

scottzg · Post by **scottzg** » Wed May 11, 2005 1:11 am

It's my personal opinion that the dual stage MC is to blame. My pedal feel and whatnot is quite good once i get past that first inch of worthlessness. This has been the feel on every legacy ive driven (although i can't remember the feel of hardy's), whereas the non-abs imprezas have felt pretty dandy.

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Wed May 11, 2005 1:14 am

My 91(non-abs) had great pedal feel, even with shit pads and bad fluid. I've gone with quality pieces on everything in this car, and it's still not good. The fluid is valvoline synthetic

Subaru_Nation555 · Post by **Subaru_Nation555** » Wed May 11, 2005 1:18 am

LaureltheQueen wrote:The fluid is valvoline synthetic

Yeah I'm running that too. Wonder if some Super Blue would make a difference?

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Wed May 11, 2005 1:27 am

I don't think it would make the difference that I'm hoping for.

Subaru_Nation555 · Post by **Subaru_Nation555** » Wed May 11, 2005 1:29 am

Prob. not. Have you tried adjusting the pedal travel?

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Wed May 11, 2005 1:32 am

not yet. It still won't fix the spongy feeling that i get. It brakes better if I pump the pedal. God this is irritating

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Wed May 11, 2005 1:39 am

It could be that your master cylinder's seals are getting old and tired.

Ooh, look, a cheap single stage booster on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 7972964211

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Wed May 11, 2005 3:15 am

scottzg wrote:(although i can't remember the feel of hardy's)

It feels like stepping on a bag of moldy apples.

scottzg · Post by **scottzg** » Wed May 11, 2005 3:20 am

Oh yeah, i remember "they both suck, but yours sucks less"

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Wed May 11, 2005 5:29 am

Maybe it's my lack of ABS that makes my brakes feel fine. As a note, though, I'm running the Valvoline Syntec and after a couple months the pedal has gone from good to Today's Sponge and the fluid is nasty colored. I'm going to try something else when I get a chance.

Steve

ej22t · Post by **ej22t** » Wed May 11, 2005 5:33 am

I had that feeling on my 92 turbo too, then I go change to better pads (PBR Front and rear), Better rotor (bermbo front and eurotor rear) then SS line. After all those change the paddle feeling has a little bit better. After I swap the single stage Master cylinder its the other world of the brake paddle feeling. I am 100% sure the Master cylinder do make a big change for the entire brake system.
Go for the single stage and you will love and trust your right foot on the paddel.

Ben

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Wed May 11, 2005 6:26 am

To clarify: we're talking about a single stage power brake booster, not master cylinder. You'll almost certainly want to keep your stock master cylinder (or a remanufactured stock-replacement one, of course).

Subaru_Nation555 · Post by **Subaru_Nation555** » Wed May 11, 2005 12:33 pm

evolutionmovement wrote:As a note, though, I'm running the Valvoline Syntec and after a couple months the pedal has gone from good to Today's Sponge and the fluid is nasty colored. I'm going to try something else when I get a chance.

Steve

Same on my car. I'd get better fluid first.

ej22t · Post by **ej22t** » Wed May 11, 2005 2:30 pm

Thanks for clarify vrg3, I really mean the brake booster..... sorry.

Ben

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Wed May 11, 2005 7:19 pm

what fluid should I be using short of super blue?

tris91ricer · Post by **tris91ricer** » Wed May 11, 2005 8:25 pm

DOT 3 or 4? Like Scott would say, you're not gonna heat up those pads/rotors or whatever enough to warrant performance brake fluid. I say spend the money on some Performace Antifreeze.

scottzg · Post by **scottzg** » Wed May 11, 2005 9:44 pm

porsche fluid.

dot 4 is firmer but loses firmness faster than dot 3 as it absorbs water.

The dot # indicates minimum specs, and the 4 has an additive that 3 lacks. 3 fluid can meet 4 specs and 4 fluid can meet 5 specs (although they call it 5.1, as dot 5 is silicon based and no bueno for cars)

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Thu May 12, 2005 7:44 am

Superblue has the most stable life-span of almost all reasonably priced fluids, from what I have read in comparison between fluids.

It's only 15 bucks.

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Thu May 12, 2005 9:09 am

but even with brand new fluid, they still aren't good.

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Thu May 12, 2005 4:57 pm

Mine ABSOLUTELY sucked until I replaced my proportioning valve. Then again, my stock piece was leaking, so that may have had a lot to do with it.........

Did any Legacies come w/ a SSB? I was curious, because my '94 wagon w/o ABS has MUCH better brake feel than my SS.......

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Thu May 12, 2005 6:17 pm

I think Legacy Brighton models had single stage boosters and rear drum brakes.

Your 94 wagon has a tandem stage booster.

Laurel - Maybe you should just change the master cylinder. It can't hurt considering its age anyway.

0perose · Post by **0perose** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 8:43 pm

hey laurel you silly non-post-updater you... did a new master cylinder fix your problem?

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 5:38 pm

I was actually kind of curious about this too. What ever came of the problem.

legacycentral bbs

A forum for 89-94 BC-BF(BJ) Legacy Owners and Fans

Garbage Spongy Brakes.

Garbage Spongy Brakes.