Thread: Brakes sticking + low pressure

Car: 1992 nissan sentra se-r with ABS brakes
Problem: Front brakes stick and front passenger brake rotor completely gone, constant grinding sound from it.

I've noticed the brake fluid was a little dirty so I tried my best to take out what was in the MC and put in new DOT 3 fluid so now it's pretty clean.... Back brakes work perfectly fine, life on them are still good and they both spin freely

My brakes are horrible when I slam on them, like if someone cuts me off, I barely even slow down... It feel's like half the stopping power as my 2 wheel disk 96 civic.....

Only thing I can think of is the MC being bad.... There isn't any leaks anywhere so I doubt its a bad line...

Anyone?

Did Nissan use a metering valve in the Classic's brake system? That could be a possibility if it even exists.

I would suggest flushing out all of your lines, bleeding, and start from scratch. You may have air in your lines, or your rubber lines are swelling. You'll need a friend to help check that. Have him (or her, if you're that lucky) pump the pedal while you inspect the lines.

As for your calipers sticking, I'm at a loss. I know that A32 rears are prone to this issue, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to affect your B13 fronts. I don't want to tell you to throw new calipers on if you don't need them.

Maybe the slide pins are sticking, basically the caliper floats on the pins and then when you hit the brakes the piston clamps onto the rotor,
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Try pulling the pins out and cleaning and greasing them, especially if you see one brake pad thinner than the other

Umm...So your brakes are grinding and your still driving around on them? If I'm reading that right, get new pads and rotors ASAP. Before you worry about anything else. Grinding means that all your friction material on your pads are gone leaving the hard metal backing of the pad pressing against the rotors and two hard surfaces create alot of heat and doesn't stop very well at all, that's probably why you feel like your in a 96 civic. Is the pedal firm or soft as hell?

While putting on the new pads and rotors you will find out if your caliper piston is seized on either side and you will find out if the pins are seized. If either is seized go to the auto parts store and get new ones, then worry about bleeding brakes.

I'm not sure if it has a metering valve... I already tried bleeding just that line and it didn't help at all..





Ok I'll try that.





If I put new brakes and rotors their going to just ruin... Last night it started grinding but before it was just really bad braking... The thing is that the front driver is sticking a little bit and then the front passenger is sticking hard I can't help but think its the MC....

Take the brakes apart and check the calipers, depress the piston's on both sides and see if they move, if not replace the caliper with the stuck piston. If both pistons move freely pull the pins, if you can't get the pins to move replace the caliper bracket. Go with the easy fixes first before you start thinking it's the MC or brake booster cause they're far less likely to fail than the calipers and pins are. Sticking pins and calipers will cause poor brake performance, trust me I know lol. Also air in the system will cause poor brake performance.

How does the pedal feel is it firm or soft?

The pedal is pretty firm I guess when I slammed on it it went to the floor though but that was me pushing hard. I already took it all apart and the passenger side piston doesn't want to go back in... I'm guessing that needs to be replaced... 36 bux so not that bad compared to the stupid 56 they want for each rotor... In just the past few days I have come to hating this car... There is no parts available for them at any of the local auto part stores all of them have to be ordered...

I noticed when taking off the pads that they are worn at the top of the brake pad and not the bottom... The bottom I would say still has a good amount of life left on it but the top is plain metal. If i look at the brake pad from the side it looks like \

Sliding pins are bent. When you screw it out watch to see if it wobbles out.

I took them out actually to check if they were dirty or not (they were greased up with grayish colored grease so I don't know...) and they seemed perfectly strait... Well it's about 5 bux for some new ones I guess I'll go ahead and get some new ones.