Brake Problem with the DD needs help ASAP

[BP_Z28]

Ok heres the deal.. I bought new rotors and pads to eliminate the horrible vibration and what not everything went good.

Installed everything and bled the brake fluid on both sides.

Took it for a drive and needed to bleed it some more apperanrtley I didnt do a good enough job last time..

Bled the brakes again and same result as the first but a little bit better.

I bled the brakes 4X today and it still seems it has air in the system? I checked those hoses and the whole nine yards from what I could think of


So anyone have a clue why the car wont stop like it should? Pads and rotors are on right . I would like to get this taken care of ASAP since this is my DD and dont need it to be sidelined otherwise Id be walking my ass to work.

Or if anyone would like to take a look at it themselves let me know please.

[98blackbeauty]

Rolo do you have disk on back as well as front? If not you might need to adj back drums to bring them tighter. Also did you start bleeding the brakes with the farthest brake first usually the passenger rear then dr side rear then pass front then drivers front. If that doesn't help check the caliper slides to make sure the piston can push pad to hit rotor and pulls outside pad to contact. if there is any binding on caliper you won't get full brake effect. Jack up each side one at a time take off wheel rotate the rotor and have someone hit your brake watche to see pads contact both side of rotor. go from there.

[Bad_Z28]

Rolo do you have disk on back as well as front? If not you might need to adj back drums to bring them tighter. Also did you start bleeding the brakes with the farthest brake first usually the passenger rear then dr side rear then pass front then drivers front. If that doesn't help check the caliper slides to make sure the piston can push pad to hit rotor and pulls outside pad to contact. if there is any binding on caliper you won't get full brake effect. Jack up each side one at a time take off wheel rotate the rotor and have someone hit your brake watche to see pads contact both side of rotor. go from there.

All good advice, my monte carlo with rear drums had the same problem causing a soft pedal after a brake install. They just needed adjusted up .

[BP_Z28]

Yea I started bleeding passenger side at first then moved my way to the driver side. I had trisha do the pumping and told her how to do it so she wouldnt mess up

I get off of work in the afternoon on monday so Ill probably tinker around then


No I have drum brakes on the back.

How to you adjust them? I never serviced brake drums before


Driving like this wont effect the pads or rotor at all will it?

[Bad_Z28]

No I have drum brakes on the back.

How to you adjust them? I never serviced brake drums before

Drum rear brakes usually don't need replaced as often as front brakes, but do need to be adjusted every so often.
First pull the drum off, it will slide off the pads straight out towards you as if you were taking a tire off from the car. You may have to hit the drums with a large hammer to loosen it up, depending on when the last time they were off.

Once the drum is off, in between the pads you will find the adjuster. It's a small round piece of metal with small teeth on it. If you turn it one way the pads go out, if you turn it the other way the pads will come in. You want to adjust the pads out so that the drum slips on firmly, and there is a very small amount of drag when you spin the drum around in a circle. Too much drag and your brakes will get hot, not enough and your brakes will not feel firm.

And that's pretty much it, some vehicles you can adjust the rear drums directly through the backing plate, i'm not sure if you can do that with camaros or not.

BTW, a complete rebuild for your rear drums is probably only about $50 bucks......

[Phantom409]

Some times with drums you need to set the e-brake a few times to help the adjuster.

Also backing up and hitting the breaks over & over will help move it too.

Just sounds like you have the adjuster set in to far and when you hit the breaks it can't contact the drum.

[1BADAIR]

yep, rear brakes control pedal height. if the adjusters are working back up while pumping the pedal pretty hard