I drove my buddies L today (stock) and I noticed his brake pressure is much stronger than mine. I have Rotor Pro's drilled and slotted rotors with Hawk pads on the stock brakes. I was thinking that this may have dropped the pressure during the install, but now that I think of it, it was the same before the install. What could be my problem? Weak or bad lines? I bled the system about 3K miles ago on my own with one of those Pepboy's bleeder kits that you just pump the old fluid out and top off with new. I may try it again to see if I can regain some pressure. My fluid is starting to turn brown anyway. Anyone know what could be causing the weak/low pressure?

 

There have been a couple of posts stating that the master cylinder was weak/leaking and had to be replaced. I think Rob02 had to replace his to get some stopping power.

If you get a GOOD (like a Motiv) power bleeder and bleed them thoroughly and it still feels that way, most likely the master cylinder.

 

Could mine have already gone bad? I only have 11K miles on the truck.

It felt close to the same when I bought it with 6K miles on her.

 

In a word, yes it is possible. Check the other items first , of course, but my bet is you got one of the Rob02 types of master cylinders, i think mine is one of those as well, it works, just not as good as others. Mine is an '02 as well.

 

I've felt the brakes on a few L's and they all felt the same, nice strong pressure. But mine feels like crap! The brakes work, just not as well. Should I have the master cylinder replaced or just live with it?

 

Make sure you get a very good bleed job to clear any air that might have been in there. If it doesn't change anything, by all means, master cylinder. They don't cost that much and if you do a search for the Rob02 brake posts, it made a world of difference for his.

If it were me, I would replace it, just for peace of mind knowing that everything is as good as it can be in the brake department.

The last thing you want to have doubts about is your brakes.

 

I have the cheap bleeder tube and cup kit you get at PepBoys or Autozone. You just hook it up and pump the brakes, no valve on it or anything. Should I get a better bleeder kit? I had someone watch to make sure there wasn't air traveling back up the line while we were bleeding it.

 

It is not clear whether you have a soft pedal when sitting still or takes more effort to stop than others when moving, different problems.

The first is either air in lines or internal leakage in the master cylinder.

The latter can be wrong master cylinder (bore size), too soft or too hard brake pads or brake fluid or grease contaminated pads. EBC green have higher friction coefficient (less pedal effort to stop), but dust like crazy and wear rotors more than Hawk HPS. I prefer Hawk HPS for street and track due to good caliper wear. Do not like ceramics such as Hawk HD, or Napa or any other ceramics I have tried, would up with heat checked rotors, increased rotor wear and fadding when I used them.

 

Since you are in Cerritos, if you want to, just drive up to my place (near Thousand Oaks) and we can bleed those puppies. I have a Motiv pressure bleeder that works like a charm. Once we are sure that air in the fluid is or is not the problem, we can continue the search.

PM me for info if interested.

 

Thanks for the kind offer. I'll try it myself this weekend and see if it improves. If not I'll let you know.