i installed new Porterfield pads and turned my rotors yesterday, well it all went fine, but now when i step on the brake pedal it goes WAY down. WAY more than before. any ideas as to what the problem is?

 

Did you crack open the bleeder screws during intallation. If so there is a good chance you have air in the lines.

 

damn which are the bleeder screws? i know i removed 4 bolts on each side. 2 small ones holding the caliper on and then 2 bigger ones holder the entire caliper on. once i removed them i realized i only had to remove the 2 big ones to get the caliper out. hope this helps out a bit. i know i did not touch any of the lines and made sure none were severed or bent in a non-normal matter.

 

I second that.

 

How did you compress the piston back in? Slowly or fast? I've changed pads several times on different vehicles and never had opened the bleeder screws. I just compress the piston back in really slow and never had a problem yet.

 

what i posted on my second post is exactly what i did. i did compress the pistons slowly back. im wondering what the bleeder screws are though

 

its good that you dont know where the bleeder screws are because you do not need to mess with them. if the pedal is softer, you need to take just the smaller bolts back out and take the caliper off the bracket and take the pads out and put them back in, just to make sure everything is straight.

 

Great laugh



Normally you bleed the fluid in the caliper out of the system instead of pushing it back into it. Crack (a little bit, not alot) the bleeder on each side (your choice on how your going to *catch the fluid*) with the truck on, depress the brake pedal SLOWLY 3 times or so, tighten it up, move to the other side, do the same thing for the other corner.

The best way to describe what the bleeder looks like is a bolt with a nipple

 

Since you didn't open the hydraulic part of your system, there shouldn't be any need to bleed air out of it. Did you go through any sort of break in process? Even though nobody usually does it, pad manufacturers usually recommend 6-7 hard stops from 30 m.p.h. when pads are first installed (I couldn't find any FAQ's or support on Porterfield's site), also, activating your ABS system a couple of times can do wonders for pedal feel. I would definitely take kidtriton's advice and make sure your pads are sitting flush against the rotors without the pedal depressed.

 

After I installed my Porterfield's my truck did the same thing at first when I started due to the pistons being all the way compressed. You should never have to open the bleeders during a brake install, I have never heard of that and I have been around cars and mechanics since my early teens.

All I did was start the truck up, and I pumped up the brakes to get the pistons back out and push the pads against the rotors. The pedal will stop being spongy once the pads are back out in contact with the rotors. Do not do what Asinatra said, UNLESS you close the bleeders before releasing the pedal each time you pump it as you will suck air back into the brake lines. This is almost always true for any brake system, but I am not sure about the new F150's, but I wouldn't want to find out.

 

My Porterfields felt the same way SVT for about the first 100 miles or so. THey are a little softer pad than the stock ones and don't feel like they grab as well at first. Just give them a little time to seat in and they will be fine. Mine feel the same as the stock one's now.

 

whats so funny?

Im a ford master technician of about 10 years, and if he doesnt even know where the bleeder screws are, then he obviously didnt open them, and there is no way there can be air in there, so in turn there is no reason for him to mess with them. At this point he would only be taking a chance of getting air in there.

I have seen a lot of people put pads on and have a pad or silencer shim in wrong.

 

thanks for the info guys. i was going to take the truck somewhere to have the air removed from the brake lines, but im going to give it a 100 or so miles of driving first. thanks.

 

You are correct. The only exception is if you have installed speed bleeders in place of the stock bleeders. These allow you to squeeze fluid out, but will not let air back in. These are a must if you want to bleed your brakes by yourself. I had them on my Cobra.

 

I second the motion about "bedding" your brakes.

The normal proceedure is:
1. 60mph and slowly come to almost a stop (about 2-3 mph)
2. Back to 60 mph and brake a little harder to almost a stop
3. Back to 60 mph and brake a little harder to almost a stop
4. Repeat step 3, 6 more times braking a little bit harder each time, but never coming to a complete stop.
5. Back to 60 mph for a few minutes to let the brakes cool off.

You could call/email Portfield to confirm this if you don't belive it. I've never NOT bedded my brakes in so I don't know what they would feel like if I didn't. So I'm not positive this is your problem. But it doesn't cost/hurt anything to do the proceedure.

Good luck!

Mitch
(Now if I could just figure out why the brakes on our '05 always require pumping up to give you a firm pedal. Hmmmm.....)