New pads, weak ebrake?

[THEMkris]

okay so i just got done installing new hawk hps on my s14. had to replace the rear rotors in the process. i worn in the breaks for a good hour or so as well. but still the ebrake is not catching nor locking up the rear wheels. what could be wrong?

**EDIT**


i need to pin down the problem..

1. brakes have a lil "drag" (hear brakes dragging on rotor)
2. stepping on brake or pulling ebrake makes sound louder.
3. ebrake is weak. does not lock wheels at all.
4. piston on rear caliper is ripped. no leaks.
5. improper wear on brakes (not fully using entire brake pad surface)

what can be my problems?

the only thing i can think of is that my piston is bad. the caliper isnt retracting all the way, isnt pressing the brake pad sufficiently, and pushing in the brake pad crookedly.

any other reasons that i should keep in mind?

[Dousan_PG]

u trying to do it for drifting?

with those type of pads i usually do a lap or two w/ the ebrake up a bit
heat the pads up first
get them in the right spot
then they'll grab like crazy

had to do it a lot when did the touge drift
drive into the mounts w/ the ebrake up enough to cause some good friction
then it worked great

[THEMkris]

well i tried breaking them w/ some ebraking. i know damn well the pads are heated up so i try to at least do a lil 180 and the rear brakes will not grab at all.

[Dousan_PG]

tighten up the cable then
thts usually it

with a stock rear caliper
after using fancy rears for ebrake
i went back to stock pads cheapies from autozone
they dont need any heat to lock and lock up fast and easy

[THEMkris]

also, when im just driving, with the windows up and the radio off, i can hear the rear brakes "rubbing?". is that normal for new pads?

[Dousan_PG]

not at all
u probably installd them wrong

[THEMkris]

i mean, its a really faint sound. not like its loud or anything

[Dousan_PG]

i never hear my rear pads. ever

[THEMkris]

how the hell could i install them wrong? fuck this is frustrating.

[THEMkris]

do you think i tightened the two pin bolts (the two that are connected to the piston) too tightly?

[THEMkris]

please help. i torqued them down to 20 and the brakes are still "rubbing". i just got back from under my car again and with the rear lifted, if i spin the wheel i hear the same noise.. what the hell is going on. please help.

[Canaduh]

are your shims installed?

[THEMkris]

ummm they never came with shims. i assumed the part on the back of the new pad were shims.. am i wrong?

[aznpoopy]

shims = little metal clips. that won't come with your brake pads. they keep the pads from rattling.

as for the noise you hear, its a floating caliper assembly. the pads may touch the rotor a little while not driving. it's not a problem unless they are actually dragging - i.e. braking while you are not braking. if that is the case i would guess you did not reset the piston sufficiently during the install. either that or the caliper is seized.

[THEMkris]

okay, the dust boot on my piston is ripped. that seized my brakes last night after drifting and hitting some dirt.

i think they're seized. what exactly happens when they're seized?

[Canaduh]

you get new ones. Haha.

Or rebuild them

or just upgrade them altogether. <---i recommend that one.

[pbcstylez]

oem rebuilt ones are like 70 bucks, either get a replacement or go z32

[THEMkris]

where can i get them rebuilt? is that 70 each?

[aznpoopy]

you don't have to. just go to your local pepboys/autozone/kragens/napa
they can order you already rebuilt calipers
then you swap em out and give them your old cores to get a little money back

[gotta240]

What side is it? i have a stock rear caliper i'd sell you for 25 bucks plus 5 for shipping.

[THEMkris]

well both really. the passenger side is the worst. where in so cal are you?


does any one know how to rebuild the rear calipers? i just bought two kits from auto zone.

[THEMkris]

dammit, i just looked at the kit and it doesnt come with springs, washers, etc. just rubber seals. i might as well just buy rebuilt ones from autozone.. thanks aznpoopy....

[LongGrain]

dammit, i just looked at the kit and it doesnt come with springs, washers, etc. just rubber seals. i might as well just buy rebuilt ones from autozone.. thanks aznpoopy....

thats what i did, and i dont regret it at all. new calipers FTW! and lifetime warranty!

[THEMkris]

how much did you get them for? front or rear?

[LongGrain]

how much did you get them for? front or rear?

i got my S13 rears from autozone for i think about $300 and got $100 back for the cores, so it came out to just about $200 total. that was for completely loaded ones, they had pads/clips/everything. just bolt up and go. but oh yea. if you go that route. make sure you keep your banjo bolt from your old calipers. the new ones dont have those. we had to make 2 trips back to autozone becuase of that shit lol.

[THEMkris]

banjo bolt????

[aznpoopy]

no doubt the bolt that holds the brake line to the caliper

honestly i don't remember it being a banjo bolt, but i haven't touched my rear brake lines in at least a year

[THEMkris]

lol yea i just figured that out now. anyone else have rear calipers for sale?

[motorsnail]

Might wanna make sure you didnt put the brake pads on ass backwards :down: sounds stupid but a friend did it on his civic and it was making a grinding noise saying the same thing "Dude its the new brake pads, I think they gotta brake in" RRRR wrong seems as if the pads dont like going the other way on the rotor and chewed its way threw it. Its like a ginda grinding/rattle noise. I would compare the noise to scrappy a needle on a pan.

[THEMkris]

backwards??? as in the shims facing the rotor?? well noo..

but putting them the other way wouldnt work either. the hawk pads have two "studs" on the back of two pads. they wouldnt let me install them backwards cause the caliper wouldnt go on all the way. so there was basically only one way to put them

[pbcstylez]

They were 70 bucks each from kragen after the core swap.

[motorsnail]

backwards??? as in the shims facing the rotor?? well noo..

but putting them the other way wouldnt work either. the hawk pads have two "studs" on the back of two pads. they wouldnt let me install them backwards cause the caliper wouldnt go on all the way. so there was basically only one way to put them

not shims facing dude as in the brake pads thats closest to you should be on the far side. And you can put them on backwards I just went and looked. Go feel your rotor dude just to make sure, if its rough feeling you got to buy some new pads and rotors. Im not saying this to make you feel stupid trying to save you some headache.


:Edit: Try and explain it easiest way I can sence im not a teacher you might have to read this a couple times. A brake pad is like sharks skin rub with the rotor one way stops it smooth. Go the other way rubbing the pad on the rotor its like sand papper. So if you put them on the wrong sides (just because the shim is facing the right way doesnt mean its on right sorry) they will distroy each other. Go get a brake pad and a rotor then you will see what im talking about.

[THEMkris]

^^ can anyone else vouche for this?

i need to pin down the problem..

1. brakes have a lil "drag" (hear brakes dragging on rotor)
2. stepping on brake or pulling ebrake makes sound louder.
3. ebrake is weak. does not lock wheels at all.
4. piston on rear caliper is ripped. no leaks.
5. improper wear on brakes (not fully using entire brake pad surface)

what can be my problems?

the only thing i can think of is that my piston is bad. the caliper isnt retracting all the way, isnt pressing the brake pad sufficiently, and pushing in the brake pad crookedly.

any other reasons that i should keep in mind?

[S14DB]

You turn the piston to set it inside the caliper or did you push it like the front?

[THEMkris]

turned clockwise .. but how difficult should it be to turn it back in? it was pretty hard to turn it back in. almost striped the tool used to turn the piston in.

[chuy]

I changed from HPS to the lower level of Hawks. If you didnt use some lube or brake them in nice and good they will make noise even after they will. Ive got my e-brake tightened so much that I cant go no more and I still cant lock em up.

[Tearlessj]

tighten up the cable then
thts usually it

with a stock rear caliper
after using fancy rears for ebrake
i went back to stock pads cheapies from autozone
they dont need any heat to lock and lock up fast and easy
Good advice Aaron. Im ganna go try some Autozone pads now. My e-brake only lock up when I pull as hard as I freaking can. Its even hard to do in the rain with wal-mart tires.

[frankist]

are you screwing in the piston while pushing it in, and lining up the piston with the pad? if not it'll create that uneven'ness.

[frankist]

whoops, just read 2 post above, but it still needs to be lined up with the piston, thats the only other reason i can see the uneven wearing of the pad to the rotor, ive seen this once where this happened and they cross threaded the caliper bolts. so check it out, make sure the pad fits on there correctly.
cheers yo.

[aznpoopy]

^^ can anyone else vouche for this?

i need to pin down the problem..

1. brakes have a lil "drag" (hear brakes dragging on rotor)
2. stepping on brake or pulling ebrake makes sound louder.
3. ebrake is weak. does not lock wheels at all.
4. piston on rear caliper is ripped. no leaks.
5. improper wear on brakes (not fully using entire brake pad surface)

what can be my problems?

the only thing i can think of is that my piston is bad. the caliper isnt retracting all the way, isnt pressing the brake pad sufficiently, and pushing in the brake pad crookedly.

any other reasons that i should keep in mind?

#1 you probably need to screw in the piston more
#2 yes its going to be hard. you are fighting old ass brakes, not to mention the hydraulic pressure in the system.
#3 the boot would worry me. i would personally replace it. next time make sure the boot doesnt crimp when you are screwing in the piston. yes its a pita
#4 take out the pad. if it has little stubs on the backside, you'll need to line them up with a 'gap' in the face of the piston for it to sit flat and not at an angle.

[motorsnail]

1. The brake pads shouldnt be grinding. Thats what brake fluid is for.

2. Your rotors are getting eatin away.

3. Ive seen this happen more then once.

4. Its really easy to put them on wrong.

5.Can nobody read my post or somthing his rotor is fubared.

[THEMkris]

aznpoopy- .. can you elaborate more on that? i'll check that out tonight.

and everyone else saying they're ebrake isnt catching.. what in the world? with hawk hps, shouldnt it lock up really hard??

[THEMkris]

and can anyone vouche for motorsnail??

[karl wasabi]

I have a similar problem with my Hawk pads. I had project mu pads before, and they locked up no problem. I guess it's just the pad material.

I think you just need to break them in more. =)

[THEMkris]

i think i've done all the breaking in i should do.

but anyways, i just checked my rotor.. its starting to etch onto the inner portion of the rotor..

[Turtle]

Sorry to highjack the thread but, I got a similar problem my E-Brake isn't grabbing right with new pads installed either. I went to put gas on my car when I got off my car to the gas station my rear smelled like brakes really bad... What could be wrong?

[THEMkris]

how long ago did you install them? did you break them in?

[Turtle]

Installed about 2 weeks ago, I set my car aside so I can fix it but, haven't gotten around to it since I've been reading on what could be wrong... Its been driven for about 2 hours... Pads are half gone.

[THEMkris]

wait your new pads are half gone already? what pds did you get?

[MrChow]

Give us pics guys. It'll help us help you.

[Turtle]

35$ dollar pads off of autozone... My bro used it and my rotor needed like 1/8 inch to reach the other side...

[Turtle]

I changed the rotors to drilled and slotted...

[THEMkris]

well im buying new calipers and bleeding my whole system on monday morning.. i'll take pictures then.. until then, i just read that my brake lines may be bad. if i open up the bleeder and the fluid just rushes out, the something is wrong with my lines.. i'll be sure to check that on monday too..

does anyone else have any more input??

[MrChow]

Go download the FSM...

[cloudstrife930]

I the same problem with my new rear pads, I know this may sound silly, but I couldnt get my rear calipers in, the guy i bought the car from told me, there was no more pads left. The pistons came all the way out. I took the pistons all the way out til the brake fluid came spraying all out to relieve pressure. Then they went back in easy, all the way in. I got autozone pads as well. After turning them all the way in. There is a little bump on the pads. You have to make sure that the space on the caliper is corresponding with the piston. Also I dont know how, but i may have bent the backing plate a lil. Stuck a screw driver in it and made sure it wasent hitting rotor, then i was good. Of course i had to bleed the brakes afterwerds

[THEMkris]

You have to make sure that the space on the caliper is corresponding with the piston.

can you elaborate more on this?

hmmm.. trying to make sense of what you just said.. tonight i'll check it out. it was pretty tight putting the caliper on .. i'll try it once more but making sure i push the piston ALL the way in.

[Turtle]

So, should we push the piston all the way in and bleed the system? I didn't bleed my brakes when I changed the brakes and calipers could that be it? What has me stumped is that the rear brakes are always grabbing but the E-brake doesn't lock up.

[THEMkris]

grabbing? as in???

[Turtle]

Always braking... This sucks I need my car to work.

[THEMkris]

always braking or dragging? as in it slows down your car?

[Turtle]

It slows my car down really fast for the e-brake to be doing that. My rear lights aren't on so I know it can be the front brakes also, since I didn't mess with that.

[THEMkris]

oh mine's not as bad..

[jspec240]

tighten up the cable then
thts usually it

with a stock rear caliper
after using fancy rears for ebrake
i went back to stock pads cheapies from autozone
they dont need any heat to lock and lock up fast and easy

did you use metalic non metalic or semi metalic? never really thought about this.

I would appreciate your input.

[THEMkris]

bump...............

[Turtle]

Well out in the cold I tried to fix it... Whenever I tighten down the 14mm bolts the rear brakes don't move... So I tried pushing the piston in more... I couldn't how do I do it? Do I have to open the nipple it has and take out the brake fluid?

[THEMkris]

well you might as well jst take out the whole caliper since you're probably gonna have to do a brake flush also. either that or yea, release some pressure so that it's easier to push in the piston more..

you just gotta make sure your piston is in good shape.

[Turtle]

How can you tell your piston is in good shape? Before my bro drove my car my ebrake worked well I could lock the rear tires easily. I find it hard to believe that the piston would go bad after a brake change.

[THEMkris]

well depends on how you put it back in. mines in bad shape since the boot has been torn for a while.

one thing someone else told me was to tighten up the ebrake cable. they tend to stretch after a while. either that or bleed your lines.. open up the bleeder without stepping on the brake and if the brake fluid gushes out then you have bad break hoses. the fluid should just dribble out.

[pbcstylez]

why dont u start with a new rear caliper? you stated that the boot is torn, either way you are going to have to replace it unless you're goign z32 rears. As i had mentioned above its like 70 bucks for the caliper if you have a core swap. This is a good place to start

[pbcstylez]

Well out in the cold I tried to fix it... Whenever I tighten down the 14mm bolts the rear brakes don't move... So I tried pushing the piston in more... I couldn't how do I do it? Do I have to open the nipple it has and take out the brake fluid?

on the rear calipers you cant just simply push in, you have to get a tool to rotate the piston back in, and while doing it to be careful of the boot. The tool is $10 at your local vatozone.

[jsuhs14]

might even be a loose hub. first check if they are all secure, then adjust the ebrake, then adjust on the ebrake handle.

[LongGrain]

on the rear calipers you cant just simply push in, you have to get a tool to rotate the piston back in, and while doing it to be careful of the boot. The tool is $10 at your local vatozone.

needle nose pliers works just fine, just spread them far enough for the tips to fit into the grooves, then turn.

[S14DB]

The tool is sooo much easier, I got the master kit at Harbor fright. I think the C-caliper and wood block is still the best in the front. But the Tool is 10x faster on the rear and easier on your hands.

[Dousan_PG]

did you use metalic non metalic or semi metalic? never really thought about this.

I would appreciate your input.

whatever was cheapest
didnt care. only cost mattered
hahaha

[Flybert]

Yeah, i use to use cheapo pads out back as well. They worked fine.

[pbcstylez]

than go organic pad in the rear as cheap as they get iirc

[zerogrips13]

i run pbr/axxis ultimates all way aorund and i can lock the rear up fine on track and off for drifting... alot of people love how my ebrake feels (most tech guys comment on it) i blew one caliper at the track and replaced it no problems so far. id like to put my spl rear lines on but they wont come undone and i dont feel like replacing twisted brakes lines trying so they can wait lol