soft brake pedal

20

Asked by Qblitz Nov 09, 2018 at 12:04 AM about the 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe 2.7L GL FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

soft pedal after the following repairs  were made by a mobile mechanic
1) Front passenger side:  Brake pad, rotor, caliper and fluid hose replaced.   
Fluid bled.  Fluid added,   Two anomalies
     a)  mechanic said that the caliper I bought from the auto store was for a left
side, but should work anyway.
     b)  I noticed that two small copper washers that came with the new hose
were not installed
2) Front Driver Side: Pad replaced.  No line bleeding,
3) Rear Driver Side:  Caliper greased. Pad replaced.  Fluid bled.  Fluid added,
4) Rear Passenger side. Pad replaced.  (after soft pedal discovered on test
drive, the fluid was bled).

Pedal is still soft.  Pumping the brakes helps with pressurizing the line.  I
noticed no leaks on the driveway floor. However, after driving around the next
day,  I noticed slight lowering of fluid level on the reservoir

1 Answer

159,075

If he put the left caliper on the right side it will never bleed properly because the bleeder is down low and not up high like it should be. Actually the caliper is mounted upside down. Having the bleeder down low causes an air pocket above the bleeder because brake fluid is heavier than air. This traps a very compressible pocket of air in the caliper causing a soft brake pedal. You need to check the brake bleeder to see if its location is low or up high on the caliper. If it is low then you need to buy the proper caliper and have it installed and the brakes bled again. He probably reused the copper washers that were on the old brake line. I would avoid using this guy again.

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