[jpdumal]

Hi,

A few days ago, my friend helped me change the brake pads on all of my Mazda 3 2014 wheels, but my pedal feels very soft since then. We just changed the pads, nothing else but we must have done a mistake somewhere.

We had a hard time removing the driver side rear caliper and we thought that maybe there was a third screw for the rear calipers, so my friend proceeded to try a few but soon realized it was just stuck. When compressing the passenger side rear piston, a little bit of liquid came out near the piston but stopped as soon as we stopped the compression.

When we had finished replacing all pads and realized the pedal was soft, we removed every wheels to check for mistakes. One screw on the driver side rear caliper, and I think it's the one holding the brake fluid hose on the caliper (not sure though), was a bit loose, so we proceeded to tight it. Also, the driver side front caliper must've been rotated when we screw it back because the brake fluid hose was a bit twisted so we unscrewed the caliper, rotated it to back the way it was to untwist the hose and screwed it back.

After we had fixed these issues, the pedal felt a bit more rigid but was still a lot softer compare to before we installed the new pads. I must've done 50 km with my car since then and nothing changed.

Should I bleed my brakes because we could've allowed air to enter the brake lines ? Or should I just give my car a few more km to allow the new pads to bed-in? Or do you think it's something else?

Thanks for the help!

JP

 

[lordnikon]

There might be air in the brake lines

 

[arathol]

Hi,
When compressing the passenger side rear piston, a little bit of liquid came out near the piston but stopped as soon as we stopped the compression.

What sort of liquid? Where did it come from? You may have a small leak that is allowing air into the system.
Start by bleeding the brakes completely. How long has the brake fluid been in the car? If it has never been changed its time to do so as there may be moisture in the lines.

 

[MrBen]

You can bleed the brakes properly with these:
Speed Bleeder Bleeding Brakes Bleeding Motorcycle Brakes Automotive Bleeder Screw Brake Bleeder
No Mess

I've used these for over 5 years.

 

[arathol]

One other obvious thing - how did you compress the rear calipers?

 

[Fauropitotto]

You can bleed the brakes properly with these:
Speed Bleeder Bleeding Brakes Bleeding Motorcycle Brakes Automotive Bleeder Screw Brake Bleeder
No Mess

I've used these for over 5 years.

I have this on my gsxr1k, and they work incredibly well. What size did you use for your mz3?

 

[Siceci]

Speed Bleeders are cool.

I prefer Motive Power Bleeder for cars that they sell a master cylinder adapter. I really don't like their universal adapters so would use a speed bleeder or traditional 2 man bleed in those applications.

I'm actually ordered the adapter supposed to fit this car, I hope it works because it really makes a huge difference having properly bled brakes.

Back on topic. OP, if you have brake fluid leaking from your caliper piston you have a bad seal and need to rebuild it.

 

[MrBen]

I used speedbleeders on my old 2007 M3 2.0L.... my 2018 is under warranty....so nothing yet.

 

[mlp-mx6]

I prefer Motive Power Bleeder for cars that they sell a master cylinder adapter. I really don't like their universal adapters so would use a speed bleeder or traditional 2 man bleed in those applications.

I'm actually ordered the adapter supposed to fit this car, I hope it works because it really makes a huge difference having properly bled brakes.

Did your selected adapter fit? If so, which one? Thanks.

 

[mpp12]

you have air.... go to a real mechanic....
dont know about mazdas, subarus are VERY tricky to bleed air, need a order and a procedure.


if you see a dog under a car, does not mean its a mechanic....

 

[zero_gravity]

you have air.... go to a real mechanic....
dont know about mazdas, subarus are VERY tricky to bleed air, need a order and a procedure.


if you see a dog under a car, does not mean its a mechanic....

Or take the time to learn how to do it properly. Bleeding brakes isn't hard on any vehicle, including your Subaru. You just need to do a little homework is all.

But if your half hour of research time is worth a couple hundred dollars, then yes a good mechanic is a wonderful idea. I don't know about you guys, but I have a very above average income and I don't make that much.

I have no problem with taking a car to the shop when needed. Sometimes we have to know our limits. However, the whole spirit of car forums like this is to get that info and learn so you can do jobs like this if you do so choose. Telling a member asking for help to just go to the shop isn't advice at all. Its a waste of time.

 

[mpp12]

being serious.... I bleed my bike for track days often..
speed bleeders work wonders and not expensive.

I also have a low income but here in DR, labor is dirt cheap, in USA is very expensive.

I would put your buddy on the car and you on the caliper, he would depress the pedal and you open the nipple, like 2-3 sec. so no air goes back to the caliper.

(for some reason my subaru, liked to be drained in diagonal FR with RL sides..... the mechanic just poured the fluid in the reservoir until the flow was air free). my subaru suffered from that 6 months, and saw 5 brake shops, until my mechanic (audi and subaru guru) solved it.

buy at least a liter of fluid, and do this a couple of times, the ABS pumps are tricky sometimes.