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[Skip to ” * ” for the meat of the problem]
-Model Year: 2006
-Make/Brand: Nissan
-Complete Model: Pathfinder SE
-Engine/Transmission/4WD/2WD: 4L(stock)/2-4WD/ All stock
-Country (market): USA (first owner Pennsylvania, second/current owner Michigan
-Part installed: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S2KZGO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (AC Delco Professional Ceramic Front Disc Brake Pad Set )
-Part replaced: They say “Perfect Stop” on them and look visually the same as the ones I replaced them with
-Previous owner’s involvement in maintenance: Unknown and suspected to be minimal/disinterested
-Car dealership trustworthiness where I bought the car: Shady AF (story available but unlikely to be directly related)Hello, This is my first post on the forum. With the help of ETCG and other videos, I swapped a frozen front/driver side brake caliper and pads and then did the front passenger side pads a couple weeks later. The process involved sucking out as much of the old brake fluid from the reservoir with a turkey baster and refilling with fresh DOT3 (as printed on the cap and in owner’s manual), doing the required work, bleeding fluid from the caliper (using a 1-person bleed bottle kit) until more clear, and then topping off the reservoir. I did this for both sides of the front.
The first oil I extracted from the reservoir looked like cola in color. I opted to suck out the reservoir again when I did the second side. This time it was about the color of light honey or cheap pancake syrup. I won’t say that my fluid is currently as clear as I will eventually get it, but I’m waiting for an actual hydraulic jack to arrive so that I can have more maintenance joy and less cranking on the ‘oops I popped my tire’ jack that came with the vehicle.
Now, the front brakes are great. I don’t have any complaints there. Nothing is squeeking, shaking, twisting, or any of that and I’m pretty sure that the rear brakes are not critically worn. In fact, the passenger side pads were not that bad, but I wanted them to match the new driver side pads for personal preference. Both front rotors look serviceable and were sprayed down with brake cleaner for good measure. (I saw Eric do this on several drum brakes and figured “why not?”)
* The problem I DO have, is that the front brakes now seem to brake harder than the rear brakes. I suspect that many drivers would not really notice this and so I don’t consider my problem to be an immediate danger. I do notice that it seems to lean forward a bit much after doing the front brakes though, and so I’m seeking an explanation of what is probably happening to cause it. Also, the brakes gradually clamp down and take a lot of travel to do so. They’ve been like this since I got the car and have gradually gotten worse with time. I tend to drive the speed limit or less and let off the gas and coast for a long ways before I use a little brake. I tend to get better than “new car sticker” gas mileage with this behavior and am not in a hurry to get anywhere. After watching the “stomp on the brakes” video, I tried it and it seemed to give me a little sooner brake action, until my driver side caliper seized a few weeks later.
My current ideas are:
– The new brake pads are better at stopping because they are a different brand: But I put on about 150 miles between replacing the left and right pads and the only difference I noticed is that the right side started sounding a little ‘grindy’ until I swapped the right side too. This could be just my heightened attention though and those pads weren’t used up when I took them off anyway. The rear brakes are cooler than the front when I return home, but I expected that since I think rear brakes have less load.
– The back still has old/dark brake fluid: But on a short test drive, how could this really make any difference?
– Brake lines from the hard line to calipers are old or something: This is a shot in the dark, but since my pedal travel is excessive anyway, perhaps I need new final brake lines anyway. I’m contemplating swapping them with steel-braided lines all around, but I’m not seeing any direct replacements for my vehicle. I also don’t want to just do an upgrade to try and solve something that I don’t understand. This is the essence of why I’m asking the community. 🙂
– Spraying brake cleaner on the rotors made them grippy: If this is true, then things should settle back down on their own after a few hundred miles, I suppose. I have only driven it about 20 miles since swapping the second side pads.I appreciate your taking the time to read this and ponder what may be going on here. I look forward to and welcome your input.
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