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Brakes feel weird after new front calipers installed? (self.cars)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by carthrowaway to c/cars

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A few months ago, I bought a 2015 Subaru Outback and the front left caliper was acting up, so I had a mechanic check it out. The mechanic recommended replacing the two front calipers (they were pretty rusty), the front-left brake hose, and then just greasing the rear caliper pistons.

I'm no longer hearing any weird noises now from the front-left and the brakes feel much smoother, but there's a couple differences that are throwing me off. The distance the brake pedal needs to be depressed before the brakes start to bite feels a lot longer now. I've also noticed a kind of hysteresis, where if I apply the brakes twice within a second or two, the second time I apply them, they'll start biting earlier.

Should I get the brake fluid replaced / bled? Could air in the brake lines explain this behaviour? (I assumed air in brakes line would had to have been bled but it's not explicitly listed on the bill I got.) Any other explanations?

The mechanic did paint the calipers too, just to delay rust, and there was a bit of overspray on the rotors, but I'm sure it got instantly scraped off by the brake pad.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Edit: To clarify, I did not get the pads replaced. The inspection done when I bought the car showed about 50% life left on the pads.

Follow up: You folks were right - They bled the brakes and the car felt like 90% better. They said the master brake cylinder might have been leaking a bit so they offered to replace it with no labor charge, so I sprang for that too, but it's hard to tell if that made any difference. Either way, it feels back to normal now, so thanks for your advice!

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Air could be in the lines or in my case, my front pads were new with 10+mm of pad but glazed smooth. Whoever did my brakes before I bought it either did not do the break in process or rode the brakes all the time. I ended up replacing the pads and rotors to be safe. After the install it took my brakes from needing to start slowing down a block away standing on the pedal to pulling me out of my seat in my truck.

I still need to service my rear brakes but those are drum brakes which I haven't had to deal with before.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Drum brakes aren't too bad. Just take lots of pics of the spring locations and only do one side at a time so you can use the other side as a guide to follow if the pics and your memory fails you.