86subaru Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 my 95 awd legacy a/t wagon runs great, but 1 question the brake pedel seems alittle low ,if you pump the pedal the brakes seem to brake better, but both me and my wife were driving 88 without abs, the owner before says new brakes were put on ,so iam thinking bleed the brakes ? is bleeding the brakes the same way as a ea82 model ? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUBARU3 Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 my 95 awd legacy a/t wagon runs great, but 1 question the brake pedel seems alittle low ,if you pump the pedal the brakes seem to brake better, but both me and my wife were driving 88 without abs, the owner before says new brakes were put on ,so iam thinking bleed the brakes ? is bleeding the brakes the same way as a ea82 model ? thanks Same car /same problem. I'll be curious to see the replies. Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted December 25, 2006 Author Share Posted December 25, 2006 been doing a search, i think i have to bleed the brakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 Have you checked the booster for proper operation? I don't remember the entire procedure off hand. I couldn't find it off hand and I don't remember what vehicles it covered, but there is a TSB for some vehicles having gone out with the wrong master cylinder. The symptom was lower than normal pedal feel but supposedly that was the only issue; no impact on brake functionality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny Clark Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 My '96 has always had what I consider soft brakes, even with new rotors, pads and a good bleed (all old fluid out). If my wife steps on the brake, you can see the whole brake assembly move away from the firewall. There's just not enough support IMO. They should have installed a doubler plate. I know someone here mentioned putting a bracket in front of the master cylinder to keep it from moving, and he said it helps, but I can't remember who it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted December 25, 2006 Author Share Posted December 25, 2006 no i have not , the brake fluid is new , no broken or rusty brake lines , how do i check the tbs ? something in the manual says if the brakes get worn down alight will come on ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 my 95 awd legacy a/t wagon runs great, but 1 question the brake pedel seems alittle low ,if you pump the pedal the brakes seem to brake better, but both me and my wife were driving 88 without abs, the owner before says new brakes were put on ,so iam thinking bleed the brakes ? is bleeding the brakes the same way as a ea82 model ? thanks ABS does not make a low pedal. If you can pump the brakes and get a higher pedal you have air in the system, or contaminated brake fluid. Either way you are looking at bleeding and flushing. Also you can check the Booster by pumping the pedal with engine off several times. Start the car with your foot on the brake. The peadl should move towards the floor. ANother possability is that the flexable brakelines are failing internally and need to be replaced. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 Uncontaminated brake fluid can't be compressed (much); air can, and will allow the pedal to be depressed further than it normally would. Air in the hydraulic system also typically makes the pedal feel soft/spongy. As Nipper mentioned, failing brake flex lines can also cause that symptom. A pedal that's low but not spongy can be caused by pads that are too far from the rotor(s). When the brake pedal is released, the pads should remain very close to the rotors. However, excessive rotor runout or axial play can cause the pads to be knocked back further than usual, causing the pedal to have to be depressed more than it otherwise should. Pumping the pedal under this condition will often result in it becoming temporarily higher. Since you can't be sure of the car's history, bleeding and flushing would probably be a reasonable place to start. If that doesn't seem to cure the problem, make note of whether the pedal stays high after being pumped if the car remains stationary; if so, but the pedal is lower when driven, you might look into the possibility of warped rotors or excessive play (due to loose wheel bearings, for example) causing pad knockback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted December 25, 2006 Author Share Posted December 25, 2006 pedal stays hi , when your going to stop, like 55 mph you have to press the pedal hard to stop , if you pump it alittle it helps , but the pedal always comes back up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 pedal stays hi , when your going to stop, like 55 mph you have to press the pedal hard to stop , if you pump it alittle it helps , but the pedal always comes back up Is the pedal low, as your first post in this thread indicates, or that the pedal effort is more than you'd like, or both? If it's a problem with excessive effort being needed, then besides the things mentioned previously (contaminated fluid, vacuum booster failing, etc.), there's another possibility; since you indicated that the previous owner said brake work was done, perhaps the pads were replaced with non-OEM ones that don't have frictional characteristics equivalent to the originals. The symptom(s) could even be due to more than one problem. I'd begin by checking the booster as Nipper suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcspeer Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 I think you might have a bad caliper, you can get brake line pinchers from Snap On for around 7.00 dollars, you then pinch the rubber line then remove it from the caliper, or maybe leave it on if you have room, if your pedal stays good then that will be the caliper that is bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted December 26, 2006 Author Share Posted December 26, 2006 how can i tell which 1 is bad, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcspeer Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Sorry, I did not reply but I had a wreck the next day and spent about two weeks in Hosp. If you pinch the hose and you have a good pedal then that is the caliper that is bad. If their is no change pinch another caliper line. I tried to solve this same problem and finnaly took it to someone I know at Midas and he taught me this little trick. how can i tell which 1 is bad, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted January 19, 2007 Author Share Posted January 19, 2007 ok thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Sorry, I did not reply but I had a wreck the next day and spent about two weeks in Hosp. If you pinch the hose and you have a good pedal then that is the caliper that is bad. If their is no change pinch another caliper line. I tried to solve this same problem and finnaly took it to someone I know at Midas and he taught me this little trick. hope your feeling better. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcspeer Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 I am, but all of my travel is still with a walker. The Dr. says I can not put any weight on that hip and leg for 12 weeks so I still got 10 weeks to go. Did you ever recoup from your back surgery? The girl that hit me, her ins. has offered me 5,2000.00 for the 98 wagon I had, I had only figured around 4500.00 due to the high miles on it so I am happy about that. hope your feeling better. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 I am, but all of my travel is still with a walker. The Dr. says I can not put any weight on that hip and leg for 12 weeks so I still got 10 weeks to go. Did you ever recoup from your back surgery? The girl that hit me, her ins. has offered me 5,2000.00 for the 98 wagon I had, I had only figured around 4500.00 due to the high miles on it so I am happy about that. i got 4200 for my 98 legacy L. Recooperation is still going on. My hips are staying in place (enough so that the chiro only sees me once or twice a week) finally thats a HUGE thing. Still in pain, have sadly perm injuries. I am pigheaded so i will do my best to adjust to them and learn to live with them. Sadly I have applied for SSI disabilty (lawyer says he thinks i got it), and my car insurance company is jerking me around by not sending loss of income checks. The personal injury lawsuit is starting to windup, but sadly not alot of money there to be had. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcspeer Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Was your injury a car wreck? I thought yours was just back operation, guess I should have asked. I think I may have got a little more money on my car due to the right hand drive, My nephew is also a body repair man and the car is at his place and he knows the adj. very well that came and gave the quote, I think he used a few tricks of the trade to help on the adjustment. My job is taking care of the med. bills for me being the wreck happen on the job, however the girl that hit me only had min. ins. so they wont be anything much for me as far as the pain and suffering. i got 4200 for my 98 legacy L. Recooperation is still going on. My hips are staying in place (enough so that the chiro only sees me once or twice a week) finally thats a HUGE thing. Still in pain, have sadly perm injuries. I am pigheaded so i will do my best to adjust to them and learn to live with them. Sadly I have applied for SSI disabilty (lawyer says he thinks i got it), and my car insurance company is jerking me around by not sending loss of income checks. The personal injury lawsuit is starting to windup, but sadly not alot of money there to be had. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Was your injury a car wreck? I thought yours was just back operation, guess I should have asked. I think I may have got a little more money on my car due to the right hand drive, My nephew is also a body repair man and the car is at his place and he knows the adj. very well that came and gave the quote, I think he used a few tricks of the trade to help on the adjustment. My job is taking care of the med. bills for me being the wreck happen on the job, however the girl that hit me only had min. ins. so they wont be anything much for me as far as the pain and suffering. I was sitting at a red light in NJ and the kid behind me didnt see me nor the redlight. I got hit at 50 mph Herniated my L4-5 disc. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=932 Twisted the entire car. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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