Can someone help on my brakes?

[Racquel]

I have a 99 Dodge grand caravan. It was squeling in the front driverside wheel while driving it. It has semi-metallic brakes and I am used to it squealing a little when I applied the brakes but this noise was happening during driving. I took it to a repair shop yesterday afternoon and I was told my brakes were about 98% worn. I paid they guy to replace them. The problem from driving it around last night is that I have to push the pedal to the floor HARD to get the thing to come to a comlpete stop. I was afriad I wan gonna rear-end someone last night. I want to take it back this afternoon but I don't know what this problem could be caused by and I don't want to be unknowledgeable when I go back in there. I was informed that new brakes should be bled. It there a possibility from my description that this was not done or does anyone know what might be the cause? I have had brakework done before but it had improved my car's response time. As of right now, I believe they engaged better when they were 98% worn!

[bellguy24]

The brakes should not need to be bled unless they removed or replaced the calipers. After the brakes are done you have to pump the pedal several times to get the brake fluid pressure back up. Try running the vehicle in park and pump the brake pedal until it gets hard. If not then there is air in the system and they will have to bleed the brakes (remove the air from the system). Also check the ground under the van for brake fluid leaks. Of course you should not be driving the van until it's fixed.

[hundahunta]

I would take it back and tell him the problem.
if you brakes are hard either you have a lack or power assist i.e. Brake booster, your caliper is sticking or binding, air in the system, worn pads.. The fact that the brakes were working (except for the noise) when you first brought the vehicle in means that whatever repair he did was not correct!! You also need to find out what he did. Did he replaced pads only, did he resurface the rotors, did he put in loaded calipers????? Good Luck!!

[hernandez3674]

Regardless what people say. You bleed the breaks every time you replace the pads. Think about it. When you replace the pads the calipers pistons are being squeezed back to original state. Forcing the fluid back up the cylinders. Why would u want that. Brake fluid attracts moisture and dirt. Take a peek under that master cylinder. This moisture can rust the insides of the brake system. On ABS brake systems of today, the rust and other debris that accumulates in the fluid can do lots of internal damage, and can be very costly. Brake fluid can also break down over time from excess heat that is created from within the brake system causing your condition. Its hydralic fluid. If the mechanic didnt do it have it done. Good luck

[th_river]

If the mechanic done the job he should have , and done it properly, he would have either resurfaced the rotors,(turned them down on a lathe of some type) bled the brakes, after installation was complete, and done a drive and check to make sure the brakes were working properly. Take it back to him and tell him to do it right and fix it free of charge , and be stern with him, very stern.

[Braun-y]

Originally Posted by bellguy24

Try running the vehicle in park and pump the brake pedal until it gets hard.

Believe it or not, this works!

I had the same problem as Raquel when I picked up my '99 GC from the local quickie-brakes-&-muffler franchise. They replaced the front brake pads, resurfaced the rotors, readjusted the rear brakes, and I let them talk me into replacing the brake fluid. Seemed fine on the short trip home...

On the way to work this morning, I thought I was going to rear-end somebody! I ran a quick web search to try and get a handle on the problem, and found this thread on this forum. I went out to my van at lunch time, started it up, pumped the brakes up as bellguy24 suggested, and it solved the problem! Drove home this evening with firm brakes and the shortest stops I've experienced since, well, the last time I got new brakes!