How do I increase the performance of my car brakes?

Question

I just bought a used car and noticed that the car's brakes are slow to respond. I took it to a mechanic and they said I needed new front brake pads and resurfacing, which the dealer covered.

But the brakes are still slow to respond after the work. The pedal is stiff and I can press the brake all the way down and not have it stop completely...it will still gradually come to a stop. How do I increase the braking speed?

The inspection said that the rear brakes were almost new...so maybe bleeding the brakes is the answer. How much does this usually cost?

Answer 1

Either you have air in your brake lines and the brake lines need to be properly bleed to remove all air.

Or you have a faulty brake master cylinder.

Answer 2

A stiff or heavy pedal can be caused by the brake servo not working. This would severely reduce your braking power. If the pedal goes down to the floor this could be a bad leak somewhere. Master cylinder seals or rear brakes. Check your brake fluid level. If its going down you got a leak. If i were you i would take it back and tell them to fix it or give me my money back. Pumping the pedal is a very short term solution because if you do have a leak your fluid will be gone after 10 to 20 pumps and then you got no brakes at all.

Answer 3

Well bleeding the brakes is just getting the air out when you change the calipers or wheel cylinders hoses or flush the old fluid when your system gets opened basically. Depending on what you drive you may be able to get cross drilled rotors they are more responsive due to the fast they dissipate the heat and pressurized gas that forms between the pad and rotor there usually available at a parts store or like summit on-line. They cost the same as a good quality replacement rotor.

Answer 4

Have the mechanic check them and the back brakes to. The wheels should be locking up if you floor the pedal. Maybe they didn't bleed the brakes right, or the back brakes are going out, so the front is doing all th work. This can be dangerous when you really need them.

Answer 5

the hydraulic (liquid) system sounds like its not building enough pressure, could be faulty parts like a brake booster on older cars or air is being pulled into the system reducing pressure build up. if they checked it over well and found no problems a "brake bleed" is neccessary not something for the first timer so ask a friend "backyard mechanic" to bleed the line while you pump up the pedal, pushing air out , raising the pedal height and increasing pressure and ultimately stopping power. or you can pay a shop too much money to do the same

Answer 6

check your brake fluid
details
you press the pedal the fluid from the master cylinder goes to the brake cylinders and applies a force on the brake cylinders the brake cylinders push the calipers in and the calipers push the pads in and the pads push on the rotors using friction to slow them down. i dont no if you can do this to increase your brake response but i think you need to move your brake cylinder closer to the rotor or move your rotor closer to your brake cylinder this will cause you to need less brake travel to create friction between rotor and pad

i think that is how you increase brake response i am not sure

Answer 7

I agree with the above theory that you have air in the lines. you need to "bleed" your brakes. Detailed "how to" here:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/how_to/4213448.html

Answer 8

try punching the breaks as in presssing then releasing and pressing again. repet this when you want to break. they say its what you should do in wet weather it might work for you.