brake pedal question

[Carl48]

The brakes on my 08 PT work fine, however, after coming to a stop, it seems that the pedal never feels solidly firm. Continued moderate pressure on the pedal (with the vehicle stopped) will cause it to drop slowly towards the floor before it comes to a solid stop an inch or two from the floor. Is this normal? The pedals in my other vehicles seem firmer. 08, base, 21000 mi. Thanks.

[Hooligan]

Did you check the fluid level? Is there any unusual spots under or around the car? I assume you have warranty left with only 21K miles, so take it to the dealer to have it checked out under warranty.

[Carl48]

Checked brake fluid level OK, inspected under vehicle for leaks...none found. Did some reading about brake systems and began to wonder if the rear drum brakes could be out of adjustment. Made a number of heavy brake applications in reverse to activate the self-adjusters. The pedal is now firmer.

[Matt42]

This may sound like a stoopid question.. Are the rear brakes for sure drum? If they are drum, I would suspect swelling brake hoses in front (unlikely), a leak (maybe), or a tiny bit of air in the lines (maybe).

It's warranty time. Don't obsess. Get it checked.

[Carl48]

Rear brakes are drum. Car hardly ever gets driven in reverse other than backing out of the drive in the morning and rolling to a stop. When it was deliberately driven in reverse yesterday and brakes applied there were audible clicks from the rear wheels the first couple of brake applications...quite likely the self adjusters adjusting. Anyways, the pedal now has a firmer feel. Had a similar pedal issue in another vehicle a couple years ago and upon taking apart the rear brakes found that some moron had installed a left adjuster on the right side...putting in the proper adjuster solved the problem. Oh well, the PT seems OK for now, any more doubt about the brakes though and it goes in to the dealer. Just like to try to get a handle on things rather than going into the dealer unprepared and getting a line of BS.

[cdynaco]

Originally Posted by Carl48

Rear brakes are drum. Car hardly ever gets driven in reverse other than backing out of the drive in the morning and rolling to a stop. When it was deliberately driven in reverse yesterday and brakes applied there were audible clicks from the rear wheels the first couple of brake applications...quite likely the self adjusters adjusting. Anyways, the pedal now has a firmer feel. Had a similar pedal issue in another vehicle a couple years ago and upon taking apart the rear brakes found that some moron had installed a left adjuster on the right side...putting in the proper adjuster solved the problem. Oh well, the PT seems OK for now, any more doubt about the brakes though and it goes in to the dealer. Just like to try to get a handle on things rather than going into the dealer unprepared and getting a line of BS.

About every 6 mos I try to remember to back up and slam the brakes to keep those drums adjusted. Has always worked fine.

[leethas]

I'm new to the forum and I hope y'all can give me some advice. I had new front brakes installed on on my 2005 PT Thursday afternoon. The brakes are working fine; my concern is the brake pedal. When I brake, the pedal seems to go much farther down than it used too - if not all the way to the floor, really close to it. I'm planning to take her back in on Monday but I'm not sure if I need to worry about it until then. Any suggestions or thoughts?

[CREWZIN]

Welcome to the forum.

It sounds like whoever worked on your brakes didn't adjust them properly or bleed the air out of the system. Take it back and tell them what your problem is.

[Matt42]

How many stops have you made? It is also possible that the idiot that did the work didn't do a proper test drive.

To install disc brake pads requires pushing the brake piston(s) at each caliper back into the caliper so the new pad will fit. PTs have 1 piston per caliper. Until the pistons push themselves fully back into hard contact with the pad, the brakes will feel squishy or even not there at all for a few applications. The mechanic should do this for you before you take the car home.

Some disc brake pads, particularly some ceramic compound pads, will make the brakes feel squishy with more pedal travel than the OEM pads. I am told that this is normal, although I really detest them. I installed a set of super-wonderful high-tech ceramic pads on my Town and Country, and I hate them. Skooshy pedal, too much effort, too much travel, and a feeling of impending doom until they catch. As soon as I can, I will replace them with MoPar OEM type or (better) Performance Friction carbon metallic NONceramic.

[leethas]

Hi Matt, I've actually made quite a few stops including a pretty hard one due to an overgrown stop sign. The brakes themselves seem to work really well. It's the pedal that is bothering me. Since the pedal goes so far down now, I'm having to sit right on top of the steering wheel because I'm short. I saw the mechanic take her for a drive after he finished the installation, about 5 minutes. I'm going to try some of the other suggestions from this thread to see if they help before I take her in on monday.