Bleeding brakes.

Had my anni brakes fitted the other day by a very kind forum member. (I bought them from him too though).

One slight problem.. the brakes are a bit spongy. It's like they are working at about 60% of what they were before. We took it our for a run after and they will brake well enough to stop the car in an emergency, but they just feel different.. I have to push the pedal further. 

Afaik, he took the old calipers off and bled the system with a brake bleeding thingy (I think it was "Gunson's Easi Bleed" ? used the pressure from the front tyre ?), then filled with fresh fluid (5.1 - Non silicone based), and put the red anni calipers on, with the 312 mm discs and used my old pads.

He mentioned something about doing something with VAGCOM to the brakes.. resetting something ?  Sure i've read about that on here recently, too.  So, basically any advice anyone can give me.. or do I need to get them re bled and refilled at a specialist ?

Before anyone says it - I'm certain they are fitted correctly; after all they got me back 200 miles from somerset! and dave seems a very competent mechanic.. he did an oil change for me too. Cheers dave.. Not having a go or anything mate, just curious for more info

If you put new pads in it does take a while for them to 'bed in' then the pedal will appear to firm up. If it doesn't happen after about 500 miles of normal use I'd bleed them through again.

Don't over use the brakes as you could over heat them which will mean loss of effectiveness.

Richard W wrote:

If you put new pads in it does take a while for them to 'bed in' then the pedal will appear to firm up. If it doesn't happen after about 500 miles of normal use I'd bleed them through again. Don't over use the brakes as you could over heat them which will mean loss of effectiveness.

They were well used pads.. came off my old calipers, just over half worn I would say. So they were well bedded in. the discs were well used too.. have about a year or so left on 'em.

Were the old pads matched to the disc's as they came off .   inner/outer???

Hang on you put your old pads on brand new second hand discs??

If so thats why        .

They still need to bed in to the old discs.

j40hnw wrote:

Were the old pads matched to the disc's as they came off .   inner/outer??? Hang on you put your old pads on brand new second hand discs?? If so thats why        . They still need to bed in to the old discs.

Yeah.. they were my old pads on old discs, but neither had been used together before. I did wonder if that might be an issue, but maybe it's a combination of this and MikeTDI's suggestion.

tylerama wrote:

Bump ! Anyone else got any advice ?

I do feel for you mate as I went through the same thing at the weekend.

First did you bleed them in the correct order?

Drivers side first.....

Did you also bleed the rear brakes?  if so did you bleed drivers rear ,  passenger rear , drivers front and then passenger front?

The first time I bleed the brakes in the wrong order, I started with the passenger rear and the peddle went straight to the floor when I finished.

When I did it in the correct order I removed a lot of air from the system. and then the peddle went a lot harder.

I'm just bedding in my brakes now and they seem to be improving every time I use them. I guess any air in the system is working it's way to the resevoir and the pads are starting to take the correct shape with the discs.

hope this helps..

Caged wrote:

I have used old pads on new discs before and had a simialr issue, pedal soft with alot of travel, after a good few miles it sorted itself out. drive it for a while a see how it goes I suspect it will cure itself.

I did start to get that feeling driving last night.. I think it's starting to get a bit more back to how it was before. I'll give it a coupla weeks at least. Thanks for the advice Scott.

RS GOLF wrote:

tylerama wrote: Bump ! Anyone else got any advice ? I do feel for you mate as I went through the same thing at the weekend.   First did you bleed them in the correct order? Drivers side first..... Did you also bleed the rear brakes?  if so did you bleed drivers rear ,  passenger rear , drivers front and then passenger front? The first time I bleed the brakes in the wrong order, I started with the passenger rear and the peddle went straight to the floor when I finished. When I did it in the correct order I removed a lot of air from the system. and then the peddle went a lot harder. I'm just bedding in my brakes now and they seem to be improving every time I use them. I guess any air in the system is working it's way to the resevoir and the pads are starting to take the correct shape with the discs. hope this helps..

Hmm.. no he did front left first, then front right. Didn't do the rears at all.  I hope whats happening with yours (the air working it's way to the reservoir) is happening with mine, as it seems to be improving.. perhaps I was expecting too much too soon ! I'll give it a bit longer and take it to a local vdub specialist who are reasonable prices.

tylerama wrote:

Hmm.. no he did front left first, then front right.

I assumed that the above was also correct, as I was always told to start with the caliper which covers the most distance from the reservoir, so that would be the passenger side (Left Side) of the car, due to the reservoir being on the Drivers side (Right Side).

When the brake peddle fell straight to the floor I checked my Haynes manual and it stated that it should be drivers side first.

If you are begining to feel that they are improving then just keep an eye on the reservoir level and keep pumping the brake peddle, when you come to a stop, whilst driving around.

Hope it sorts it self out for you mate.