[jmiesse]

PROBLEM FIXED!! See my last post



I Just installed Pagid blues on my 05 Elise. I put some brake lubricant on the backs of the pads. The install went very well.

I took it out for the bed in and found the pedal is still spongy. I came home and did a brake flush and found the rear fluid was very dirty. Test drove and found the brakes are still the same. Did another flush and test. Still thee same.

According to the original owner they were that way when he had the car too. Mind you,there was also a brake flush was done by a local shop just 3 weeks ago. There was no difference in pedal feel after that was done either.

Anyway, My question is:1 Was I supposed to put the brake lubricant on these?

2 Anyone with an 05 ever got improved pedal compared to how it was when delivered new?

3 What else can I do to get this improved?

I am at wits end!!

Thanks

Ps: I did search and have found some interesting things.

 

[spectre]

So is it stopping better with the new pads and flush?
Or you want to just firm up the peddle feel?

 

[Elise 323]

Spongy 05 brakes

Do you truely have spongy brakes or is it that the travel is long before the pedal feels firm? If the brakes are truely spongy and the system was recently serviced there is probably air trapped in the abs unit. My 05 with Pagid 4-2s, stainless brake lines and careful pedal adjustment has no sponginess and not much travel.

The challenge is to get the air out of the ABS unit. The dealer only Lotus-Tool will cycle the ABS unit during power bleeding to get the air out. Some owners have had luck with repeatedly activating the ABS on a slick surface and then rebleeding the brakes. Most owners report a small to moderate improvement in pedal feel with brake line replacement.

If pedal travel is excessive you can search for brake pedal "unstop" adjustment. Lotus issued a technical service bulletin on this topic. Other casues of excessive travel are pad knock from rotor run-out.

The Elise will out stop anything when functioning properly. It just takes patience. Send a PM if lost.

 

[macdady2424]

Also, if you have a little travel in the pedal and it feels "spongy" at the begining of the travel, you may want to look into adjusting your brake pedal in the footwell.

 

[Rennstore]

323 has it here - also have them reasonably 'guarantee' that the sponginess it to 'be gone'

 

[jmiesse]

heres how it is ...grips at first part when applying....then travel.... then grips again and is firm. it stops great but its the travel that is screwing me up... I have just bled for the fourth time. Using motive pressure bleeder. I am not getting any air coming out of the lines.

 

[RoadDad]

When you bled your brakes, did you turn the calipers over? If not you probably still have trapped air, that is if you have air in the system.

You can bleed them until the world runs out of fluid but if you don't tip that caliper you will never get all the air out .

 

[jmiesse]

When you bled your brakes, did you turn the calipers over? If not you probably still have trapped air, that is if you have air in the system.

You can bleed them until the world runs out of fluid but if you don't tip that caliper you will never get all the air out .

Just the fronts?

 

[RoadDad]

The it's time for the front. If you are just flushing the fluid, you can do the fronts just like the rear. If you are bleeding air out of the system, you need to unbolt the front caliper. Turn the caliper upside down, and bleed until you get no more air, and you get clean fluid. Then turn the caliper upright, and repeat. This is necessary because the fluid enters at the inside top of the caliper crosses over to the outside at the bottom and out the bleed nipple at the top. Air can be trapped, so that's why you need to flip it over.

Yep. Just the fronts.

About 3/4 of the way down the first post just above the 2nd to last picture: http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f101/pressure-bleeding-brakes-31368/

 

[jmiesse]

No dice... I took the passenger one off bled it and i could have sworn that I saw a huge bubble that came out. flushed it one more time and all is clear. Did the driver side and no air. clean as a whistle.
Put everything back together.

I took it to the local dealer. They said they dont use the scan tool and have a special way of doing it. For 275 bucks it better be pretty freakin special.

I cant say I didnt try. I have been at this since Tuesday afternoon.

I just cant figure out whats going on. All I care about is that hopefully it gets done by the dealer properly. I will post the results.

Thanks everyone for all the help. Plus all the other threads that I searched this week.

This forum is awesome

 

[jmiesse]

Update.
Ok here is what I found. I took It to the dealer and they could not find the problem. So when I got back I tried something. I pullled up a couple of clicks on the Park brake lever and suddenly found I had a great pedal. After doing some research and talking to Tom Shick at Auto Europe. I found that the driver side rear piston was adgusted too far in when I reassembled. There was some play on the inboard pad.

Removed caliper and turned piston counter clockwise until the pad fit snug against rotor and reassembled. WOW!!!It Is fixed!!! better pedal than ever before and the Pagid blues have a great feel. I have to say This has been a long and trying time for me to get this right but its finally braking like a Lotus should.

So when doing pads make sure they are snug in the rear. Also I want to thank "Elise 323" for his help too. He had pmd me with some great info.

Oh and Roaddad too....

 

[Rennstore]

Cool, glad you got it fixed - had me mystified.
People really love the Blues - I've got em ready to go, right here FWTW.

 

[Elise 323]

Better pedal

I'm surprised by your finding. The pistons are supposed to be self adjusting to compensate for pad wear. Can't imagine how there was any extra room with new Pagid RS4-2s. With the pistons wound all the way in, there was barely room for the full thickness pads on mine. The clearance is normally tight, Viper and Lotus rears use the same backing plate but Lotus requires a thinner pad.

Glad you were able to fix the problem. Congratulations.

 

[jmiesse]

I'm surprised by your finding. The pistons are supposed to be self adjusting to compensate for pad wear. Can't imagine how there was any extra room with new Pagid RS4-2s. With the pistons wound all the way in, there was barely room for the full thickness pads on mine. The clearance is normally tight, Viper and Lotus rears use the same backing plate but Lotus requires a thinner pad.

Glad you were able to fix the problem. Congratulations.

Well the problem is back.....play on the inboard driverside pad.... I am going to readjust the park brake cable according to service manual and readjust.

At least I know where the problem is now. I need to figure out if the self adjust mech. is not working or what!!!!:evil:

Passenger side is okay.

Any help would be grateful.. Thanks

Its fixed over on this thread...... http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f91/whats-wrong-myyy-rear-caliper-72144/