ehretjs Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 New here and was hoping maybe someone has run into this issue before. Just did front and rear brake job on my 2013 Legacy. Back brakes were pretty bad and just decided to do fronts along with them. Replaced both pads and rotors. Following that, it felt like the car was sluggish and being held back at times. Other times it would drive fine. During the sluggish times, the fuel consumption was horrible. A 5 mile drive would sometimes take 30 mi off the the time to empty estimate. After further inspection, fronts looked fine. On the rear, both caliper pistons were pitted and would both only compress in till about an 1/8 of an inch was sticking out. Replaced both rear calipers (haven't done hoses yet as they weren't in stock). Following caliper replacement, new rear pistons also will not compress fully (they actually stop at the same point as the old caliper pistons). I'm stumped. Either both hoses went bad at the same time, or there is something between the master cylinder and the rears that's preventing flow back to the cylinder. I've heard of the check valve occurrence, but that is usually in one of the hoses. Has anyone seen that happen between the master cylinder and the rear? Flow from the cylinder to the rears is fine (per what I witnessed during brake bleeding). History on this car is that I got it in December as a certified pre-owned. It has 55k on it. My theory is that the rear calipers probably haven't compressed fully since before I got it, but the pads were worn down enough that even with the piston compressed, they weren't causing a rub. Now with the new, thicker pads in place, I'm noticing the issue. Any ideas?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 If the caliper and pads fit around the rotor then the piston is compressed as far as it will go. The top of the piston will not always be flush with the caliper when it's compressed all the way. Some calipers are designed so the piston sticks out slightly. That doesn't mean the piston is stuck, or that it's causing the brake to drag. with only 55k miles on a 3 year old car I wouldn't think about that even being a possible issue. If the brakes were dragging enough to make a noticeable difference in fuel economy and power you would see heat discoloration on the rotors and possibly on the calipers, and would be able to smell the pads burning after a drive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehretjs Posted October 14, 2016 Author Share Posted October 14, 2016 When the car is sluggish, it feels almost like it's not shifting properly. I assumed it was brake related (holding it back a bit causing the engine to over-rev slightly) because it didn't start till I changed out the brakes. I wonder if it is something else and all this is just coincidental. There's no burning smell or rotor discoloration. Hope I didn't just replace the rear calipers when they didnt need to be replaced! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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