How's everyone brake pedal feel?

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Mechanicboy

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After driving the camaro I have around for almost two months and the lincoln sitting I've noticed that my brake pedals seems really, well squishy. I mean more so than my old towncar I used to drive. That other day I went though a construction zone and there were some divots then a turn and when I hit the breaks it felt like there was almost nothing there. I hit the break hard again and activated my ABS but it didn't seem like the car was stopping all that well. The pedal travel seems like more than it should be. This seems like a new issue because the brakes always worked well before.

I've only done two things to the breaks on this car. One was I bleed the breaks right after I bought it. Second was I took the RR brake caliper off and lubed the slides because they were sticking and the pads were dragging.

I know my pad life is good but maybe they are getting old and glazed over. Maybe my rubber lines are expanding too much, time for SS brake lines?

What do you experienced guys think? I don't have time to really work on my car because I've been working crazy hours at work (90-115hrs/wk). I do, however, have a couple paid days off coming up and would like to have parts ready to go before I tear it apart so I can fix this right the first time.

Thanks in advance.
 
I usually drive either my LS or my gf malibu. The brakes on the malibu are a lot quiker than the ls. They engage right away at the slightest press of the pedal. In my ls, the braking is a lot more gradual. A slight press of the pedal is a very slight brake. I have noticed this but if u feel your braking is not functioning proprerly, there should be no hesitation. Troubleshoot ad find out.
 
I remember reading about Ford master cylinders not being the best, and having seals that deteriorate easily, or something along those lines. I believe joegr suggested flushing brake fluid more frequently than one normally would.

Mechanicboy said:
I hit the break hard again and activated my ABS
Click to expand...

You hit the brake. I know you can spell but I couldn't help it :shifty:
 
This is weird you posted this. Yesterday on my way home from work. I thought the same thing. Only it was really the first time I noticed. I turned down the music and listened and the actual pedal was making a squeak/crunch sound. I thought maybe it was the temp Or something.

I think this insane heat is taking it's toll on my LS. I did drive later that night after t had cooled into the 90s (haha). And the pedal sound/feel had changed to what I believe is normal.
 
M4rk said:
You hit the brake. I know you can spell but I couldn't help it :shifty:
Click to expand...

Maybe that's the problem..... The brakes are broke! :p

Do you have the SS lines? Your stock lines may have deteriorated internally to the point where they expand too much. I would suspect water in the fluid, the brake booster or finally, the lines.
 
M4rk said:
I remember reading about Ford master cylinders not being the best, and having seals that deteriorate easily, or something along those lines. I believe joegr suggested flushing brake fluid more frequently than one normally would.



You hit the brake. I know you can spell but I couldn't help it :shifty:
Click to expand...

Yes, It's brake(I can see the red ink now).

Andrizzle said:
This is weird you posted this. Yesterday on my way home from work. I thought the same thing. Only it was really the first time I noticed. I turned down the music and listened and the actual pedal was making a squeak/crunch sound. I thought maybe it was the temp Or something.

I think this insane heat is taking it's toll on my LS. I did drive later that night after t had cooled into the 90s (haha). And the pedal sound/feel had changed to what I believe is normal.
Click to expand...

It was mid 90's for me. If it's heat related than we should flush our brake fluids.


LS4me said:
Maybe that's the problem..... The brakes are broke! :p

Do you have the SS lines? Your stock lines may have deteriorated internally to the point where they expand too much. I would suspect water in the fluid, the brake booster or finally, the lines.
Click to expand...

I think it's "... are broken!" I think the N is added if it's past tense.

In my original post I stated; "Maybe my rubber lines are expanding too much, time for SS brake lines?" So yes this could be my problem with my stock lines getting old. Could be my brake fluid. I've been thinking of putting SS brake lines on my car for a while now and it would be a perfect time to flush my brake fluid too.

Anyone know where the best price is for the SS lines? Also I know there's some confusion as to what part numbers the gen1 and gen 2 use so some clarification would be nice.
 
Andrizzle said:
This is weird you posted this. Yesterday on my way home from work. I thought the same thing. Only it was really the first time I noticed. I turned down the music and listened and the actual pedal was making a squeak/crunch sound. I thought maybe it was the temp Or something. I think this insane heat is taking it's toll on my LS. I did drive later that night after t had cooled into the 90s (haha). And the pedal sound/feel had changed to what I believe is normal.
Click to expand...

Mine does the same when it gets very hot out. It's been that way since i bought the car. I remember reading somewhere, it had to do with the brake fluid. I think the LS uses DOT 3.
 
About 8 months ago I had similar problems as stated above. It came to be a bad master cylinder due to worn out brake fluid. I think the master cylinder that I bought was around 300 bucks (I have advancetrac). When I changed the master cylinder out, I bled the brakes all the way through and installed ceramic pads all the way around. When I bled the brakes, the fluid was very dark red and was obvious that it had been bad for quite some time. Next month for me will be 10,000 miles and I am going to bleed the brakes again so that the master cylinder will not fail again.
 
Lincoln Luebbe said:
How often are master cylinders supposed to be bled?
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Generally, master cylinders are only bled when they are replaced.

Brake systems are often bled (from each wheel) when the brake pads are replaced.

A good rule of thumb is to bleed and replace all the brake fluid every two to four years.
 
Okay cool, I'm doing rotors and pads and front lines and was planning on bleeding the brakes anyway. But I had never just bled the brakes/master cylinder as part of regular maintenance.
 
Lincoln Luebbe said:
Okay cool, I'm doing rotors and pads and front lines and was planning on bleeding the brakes anyway. But I had never just bled the brakes/master cylinder as part of regular maintenance.
Click to expand...

I wear through brake pads quickly enough that I've never had replace the brake fluid between pad changes either.
 
Ford's have always had a softer pedal feel then other cars for some reason, at least in my experience. I think it has to do with the way they design their master cylinders. It also seems like you have a more finer control over other cars too. Instead of it all being at the top, it doesn't hit hard until a little bit into the pedal. This is how my F150, Thunderchicken, Mustang, etc, all were.

SS Lines definitely firmed up the feel of my LS though. The top 1/2" of pedal or so is still pretty soft, but it firms up quick after that and doesn't feel like it's slipping like with the rubber lines.
 
05 LS8 said:
Mine does the same when it gets very hot out. It's been that way since i bought the car. I remember reading somewhere, it had to do with the brake fluid. I think the LS uses DOT 3.
Click to expand...

I think you're right and was thinking about going to a dot 4 only fluid as it has a higher boiling point. I could go 5.1 but I think it's much more expensive.

joegr said:
Generally, master cylinders are only bled when they are replaced.

Brake systems are often bled (from each wheel) when the brake pads are replaced.

A good rule of thumb is to bleed and replace all the brake fluid every two to four years.
Click to expand...

On motorhomes it's every 2 years because of their heavy duty service. Every 4 years seems fair on a car.

Kumba said:
SS Lines definitely firmed up the feel of my LS though. The top 1/2" of pedal or so is still pretty soft, but it firms up quick after that and doesn't feel like it's slipping like with the rubber lines.
Click to expand...

Where did you get your lines from and do you remember the part numbers? Do you have a gen1 or gen2 LS?

Thanks.

Edit. Found the thread. http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showthread.php?t=76011&highlight=950.61006

I put in offers on ebay for SS brakes lines based off xford's reference for part numbers. I checked the part numbers and they were valid for use on the LS.
 
Mechanicboy said:
Where did you get your lines from and do you remember the part numbers? Do you have a gen1 or gen2 LS?
Click to expand...

Heh. Mine are "Custom" SS Lines :)

Since I wasn't aware that the rears on the Gen1s were compatible with the Gen2s, I bought a set of brand new OE-style replacement lines and had a local shop chop the rubber swedges off and weld on new ones with stainless lines. They turned out good and bolted right up with no problems. Turned out to be about $20 less then getting the stop-tech lines at the time, or about $200.

If I had gone with just a long braided line and a banjo fitting on the rears instead of keeping the bent-up metal tube it would have been about $50 cheaper.

It all gets even cheaper if you start with used lines which cost me about $70 from rockauto.

In retrospect, now that I've done it the hard way, I'd just recommend buying the stop tech lines and making them work. I'm just lucky because there is a custom hydraulic/hose shop in Tampa.

It's nice having a lot of tuner/chassis/performance shops in this area. Can find a bit of everything locally :)
 
It feels like my Sileverado stops better...I see a SS line and rotor/pad upgrade in my future........
 
I'm going for the stop tech package here soon. Now that I've seen Kumba went the route I thought I might try. We have so many industrialshops and machine shops around here as well. It's nice ! My brakes feel like crud. I had a brake hose bust on my old ls, I never did get the fluid of my wheels. It took two evenings to clean it off the paint! I wouldn't wish that on anyone! lol.
 
Mine feel alright; seemed a bit better with the new discs and full ceramic pads.
 
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