Soft brakes after front caliper change, anyone have any experience with this???????

[TommyTwoRams]

Hi everyone, I sold a 2012 Ram 1500 Sport to a buddy. The truck had no issues to speak of. He left with it and made it about 5 miles and noticed the front driver side brake was sticking. He brought it back to my place. He ordered new rotors, discs and calipers. We replaced everything today, bled all four corners and we have bupkiss for brake pressure. Brakes were A-1 before the caliber locked up. I did bench bleed the calipers before we installed them. All parts were new and not reman parts. If you pump the pedal once or twice you can get good pressure but the petal bleeds down. There are no leaks anywhere and no lights or codes. Any thoughts or experience anyone?? Thanks guys and gals

 

[NJMOPAR]

There's a specific procedure for bleeding ABS brakes including the master cylinder & ABS manifold. On my Charger they did it with the engine running.

Also check the vacuum hose to the booster. Poor vacuum can give a fading pedal.

 

[Dinky]

Could be air stuck In the abs module.

 

[TommyTwoRams]

The ABS module is something I was definitely considering. I’ve talked to a good friend that is an ace mechanic at a local Ram dealership. His instructions on bleeding the brakes was completely foreign to me. His instructions were as follows;
Step 1-Open bleeder
Step 2-Have helper press pedal slowly to the floor.
Step 3-Close bleeder when pedal bottoms out
Step 4-Open bleeder
Step 5-Have helper depress pedal
s-l-o-w-l-y and alert when pedal is halfway to floor which at time the bleeder shall be closed.
Do this to all 4 corners. I hope this may help someone. I’m going to try it when I get home from work. I take this man’s advice as the gospel. He has never once been wrong when bestowing his mechanical knowledge upon me. He’s definitely Stevie Ray Vaughn with a wrench. (If nobody gets that I’m on the wrong planet)

 

[Dodge trucker]

I just had to put new calipers on the front of my 12. Had zero issues bleeding.
Dumb question. Are the calipers on the right sides? I've seen people have this problem and they bring their vehicle in and I find the bleeders on the bottom. I'm n that case swap sides rebleed, and drive away.

 

[andymax]

Definitely curious if the bleeding procedure fixes your issue. Looking forward to the update and good luck!

 

[chopperman1]

Gotta disagree with your buddy's proceddure. Never open a bleeder without pressure on the pedal.

Step 1-Closed bleeder
Step 2-Have helper pump brakes 3times, hold to the floor.
Step 3-Open bleeder, allow to fluid/air our, close bleeder

repeat 3 times or until no more air present.

 

[TommyTwoRams]

Yes that’s the way I’ve done brakes for the last 40 years, but he is a factory trained mechanic and has never been wrong yet. To me it didn’t make sense either but I’m definitely going to try it. I’m picking up a snap-off scanner on the way home to run ABS codes. I’ll update with my results

 

[mrclean426]

Just did all my brake and spent a few dollars on a pressure bleeder, love it, one man operation. fill bleeder with brake fluid, install cap on master cylinder, pump up to about 18 psi and bleed brakes in order. open bleeder and wait for air bubbles to be gone, did each wheel 3 times and works great

 

[indept]

. If you pump the pedal once or twice you can get good pressure but the petal bleeds down. There are no leaks anywhere and no lights or codes. Any thoughts or experience anyone?? Thanks guys and gals

What bothers me is that it bleeds down after pumping. If it's just air in the lines the pedal should get firm if pumped and stay firm for as long as you keep pressure on the pedal. When you let off the pedal then it will have to be pumped again to get a firm pedal. If it's bleeding down after pumping while you keep pressure on it then it could be a bad master cylinder.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

Wow, my method of bleeding breaks has not changed since the beginning of time including when I changed the calipers on my '14 RAM.
Open the bleeder and have someone slowly pump the brakes. Watch for air bubbles, you want to see a consistent stream of fluid coming out, no bubbles. This is usually accomplished withing 2-3 pumps. Once you see a stream of fluid and no more bubbles; tighten the bleeder mid squirt. Don't wait till the end of the break pump stroke. Check the brake reservoir and add fluid as necessary. Works every time.

 

[Dodge trucker]

The ABS module is something I was definitely considering. I’ve talked to a good friend that is an ace mechanic at a local Ram dealership. His instructions on bleeding the brakes was completely foreign to me. His instructions were as follows;
Step 1-Open bleeder
Step 2-Have helper press pedal slowly to the floor.
Step 3-Close bleeder when pedal bottoms out
Step 4-Open bleeder
Step 5-Have helper depress pedal
s-l-o-w-l-y and alert when pedal is halfway to floor which at time the bleeder shall be closed.
Do this to all 4 corners. I hope this may help someone. I’m going to try it when I get home from work. I take this man’s advice as the gospel. He has never once been wrong when bestowing his mechanical knowledge upon me. He’s definitely Stevie Ray Vaughn with a wrench. (If nobody gets that I’m on the wrong planet)

this is how I do it.... used to do the pump 3-4 times and wait til pedal is held down before opening bleeder. This way seems to get a pedal faster when there is lots of air in the line. If the pedal already goes to floor then tehre is little to no useful stroke from master to push that air out.

 

[TommyTwoRams]

So I would like to let everyone know, that beyond my belief, that this method of bleeding the brakes absolutely worked. We did all 4 corners and the brakes are perfect. Go figure. Hope all this helps

 

[Jeepwalker]

Yeahhh!


BTW, what is "Bupkiss???" ...a regional saying?!

 

[Dean2]

So I would like to let everyone know, that beyond my belief, that this method of bleeding the brakes absolutely worked. We did all 4 corners and the brakes are perfect. Go figure. Hope all this helps

Glad you got it working good. So when you say this method, are you talking about the one your buddy mechanic recommended, or the one the guys on here were talking about where you bleed the furthest brake first, put the hose into a glass jar with some brake fluid already in it, crack the bleed screw and pump three times till you see no bubbles, close bleeder half way down on fourth pump, repeat on all brakes working furthest to closest, so right rear, left rear, right front, left front.

Bupkis, means nothing, nada, sweet FA, and yes it is a regional colloquialism. Comes from the Yiddish word Bopkes, which means nothing or nonsense depending on context..