Picked up the car from the dealer Wednesday after work. They had to replace pads and rotors on all four corners (something that should have been done during the CPO inspection). Got in and immediately noticed the brake pedal was soft. Like '2/3rds of the way to the floor before braking occurs' soft. Since I was in a hurry to get home, in my own car for a change, I figured I'd let the brakes settle in and see if it got better. It didn't. You'd think they'd have noticed that when/if they test-drove it.

Drove the car yesterday and found an open road to do Carroll Smith's brake bedding procecure. That helped a little. It will eventually engage the ABS in a hard stop, but it's still spooky in that first half of pedal travel. At this point I don't trust the dealer not to screw something else up...again.

I'm going to try bleeding the system this weekend and see if that solves the problem. Any tips or tricks to bleeding the brakes on this car? Suggestions as to where to put the jackstands? Looks like the front subframe is covered with a plastic shield.

Also, came out of the gym yesterday and noticed the license plate frame was broken. Not sure, but since they had only secured it with two small #8 screws at the top, it may have just broken due to air buffeting. Just odd little things with this car.

 

Hi Delta V

Just to let you know that my paternal grandfather served on the battleship HMS Dreadnought in the First World War. He was lucky as the ship was then obsolete, (built 1906), so didn't go out to fight at the battle of Jutland in 1916. His friend was posted to HMS Queen Mary, a battle-cruiser, that was hit by German shells and blew up with only a few survivors. The Battle of Jutland was a shock to both sides, the British because they found their shells didn't work very well at all, and the Germans who were completely out-manoeuvred into a position where they would have been completely annihilated if the British shells had worked !!

Anyway, hope you get your car fixed soon. Normally, you'll get a soft pedal if all four brake discs and pads are replaced at the same time, and it should improve over the next 100 miles. So go for a few long rides and then see how it is, if still not OK, you may need a brake bleed job. Really this should not be needed, because replacing discs and pads does not involve breaking into the hydraulic circuits at all.

 

Yes, sadly the RN knew the shells were a problem, but had not fixed it. The Dreadnought might have been obsolete in 1916, but she was a game-changer in 1906. Big guns, steam turbines, analog fire control computers...

Bled the brakes last night. Didn't help. We'll see if it works itself out. Also found a new scuff in the paint, just aft of the right front wheel well. Not certain the shop did it, but this would be the second time they scuffed the car.

 

Hello, Im a new owner and was curious how did you know you needed pads and rotors? Was there an indicator on the dash or screen? If so, how did you reset?

 

I had the wheel off anyway, so I checked the pads and saw they were almost gone. Then I pulled off the caliper to measure them (2mm) and compare to the inspection sheet (7mm). There is a wear sensor clipped into 2 of the pads (1 front, 1 rear) that will go off at about 2mm, judging by the fact it went off a couple of days later.

I believe that if the sensor goes off, it has to be replaced. Not sure if the dash indicator has to be reset after the sensor is replaced or not.

Also, the brakes seem to have worked themselves out. Maybe it was the bleeding, or just the pads needing to seat to the rotors. Still softer than they were, but not spooky.

 

Hi, I have just changed my front pads and fitted a new sensor lead as well, was really pleased with the first set as they lasted 33000 miles, did you find out if the sensor needed resetting as my warning light is still on, I was going to ring the dealer tomorrow as it is a bank holiday here today.
Thanks very much

 

Sorry, no, I made the dealer do it as it should have been done on inspection.

 

Thanks, I did ask the technician, we came to the conclusion that it is probably the rears now need doing so I have got them ready and the sensor wire if needed, he was amazed that the rears have done 34000 miles as he said most seem to give up at between 12 and 15000 miles, he did actually say was I sure they had not been done, I was sure of course but we did call up the history on their computer and it just showed the two services that had been done.

 

I'll have to keep an eye out on the rears, then. I've noticed there's quite a bit more brake dust on the rear wheels than the front. Not sure if they're not disengaging properly or its the stability control kicking in a lot (I tend to throw the car around like my old 335i...).