[kamil212]

I installed my front brembos yesterday and when I went for a test drive the pedal would go all the way to the floor with very little braking being done. If I pumped it again I would get more resistance and braking, the 3rd pump would stop me on the dime.

Did just the fronts (as I'm waiting to do my V7 6speed swap to do the rears as I can't reuse the hubs like in the front)
Installed SS brake lines on front.

Didn't do the sti MC as it was getting late and I read here that it's not really "that" necessary.

After the install I only bled the fronts as I never touched the rears, but after the test drive I bled all corners hoping that was the issue, it wasn't.

Any ideas?
Would the stock MC really not be able to handle the Brembos at all?
Or me using the blue brake fluid that's been sitting open for a while cause this?

 

[absubtle]

Did you start w/ the outside bleeder, on the passenger side, then inside bleeder, then move over to the driver's side outer bleeder, then inner???
Still sounds like you have air trapped or a leak.
Absubtle
CO

 

[kamil212]

I did RearPass, RD, FP, FD, and no air was coming out when I re bled, also, can't see any leaks.

 

[bjcarter2]

You definitely have air in the system. How are you bleeding the lines? Are you using a vacuum bleeder?

 

[kamil212]

using the $10 bleeder from autozone, tube with bottle, skipping the needle and putting the tube directly on the nipple. Pumping the brakes while a friend watches for bobbles. Since I used a different color fluid it was pretty obvious to see.
opening/closing the bleeders only with the tube tightly on, topping the fluid off once in a while.

 

[bjcarter2]

Go to your closest Sears and buy one of these brake bleeder kits. Better yet, do you know someone to borrow one from? You will find bleeding brakes so much easier and a much better bleeding will occur.

 

[JE]

did you mount them correct, not switched left en right?

 

[jgartland]

Or me using the blue brake fluid that's been sitting open for a while cause this?

this probably isnt causing the problem. but brake fluid is hygroscopic, which means when its exposed to water it takes it on very easily. having the bottle open for a while could allow some water, even from the air, to get into the bottle. that could end up lowering your boiling point and you might end up getting some brake fade and a low mushy pedal after braking hard a few times. thats about all the information i have for you though. sorry about the problem, good luck figuring it out!

 

[mickey76]

you probably need to do the sti mc as the output displacement of the stock mc is optimized for 2 piston calipers not 4 piston brembos

 

[kamil212]

okay, did I mention I'm a dumbass?

So I was doing the MC and found the air in the lines:
The Brembos have two sets of bleeders, one for each side of pistons :lol:

Feels much better now, but still not perfect. There is a lot of travel at the beginning and then the brakes catch on really well. I guess I need to install the booster to help that.

 

[Ken Cravillion]

Fail...

 

[Atomic1]

I think your bleeding procedure was wrong. Your friend has to do more than just look for bubbles. You have to open and close the bleeder with each 3/4 pump. If you dont do this you suck air right back into the system.

 

[Tuned200]

LOL. At least you didnt go ball out on the test run.

 

[kamil212]

lol, yeah, I'm going to rebleed the system one more time, as well as check for leaks.
I'm afraid I might have a tiny leak where the hard line connects to the used SS lines I bought. I wiped it all down last time and I'll check if it's wet again.
I'm also going to get a friend to close the bleeder while I still have the pedal down as the "self-bleed-kit" might not do too great of a job keeping the air out on the release.

Again, what's the order of the corners to bleed.
I've always done RearPass, RDriver, FP, FD.
A friend told me FrontPass, RPass, RD, FD.
and then I read on iwsti: FD -> RP -> FP -> RD

 

[mickey76]

with every vehicle i have worked on its always start with the wheel the farthest away from the MC then work your way towards it. so rp, rd, fp, fd. always works for me. also you should be closing the bleeder as the pedal is on the way down. another trick to try is tapping on the caliper with the handle of a screwdriver, helps to release trapped airbubbles from any imperfections in the metal of the caliper.

 

[jgrote]

Ditto on farthest away to closest to MC. If one bleeder on brembo's is higher than the other, do lower one first. Install tubing on bleeder. Close bleeder screw and pump up brake pedal until you have good brakes. Have friend open bleeder until pedal hits the floor. hold pedal on floor until AFTER friend retightens bleeder. Repeat until no air comes out.

The problem you are having is that you are not using pressure to force air down to brakes. Pumping the brakes will create more pressure than any other way. I have never had a lot of luck with the suction type tool unless you buy a really nice one.

 

[funkymonkey1002]

Subarus have a dual circuit braking setup, so I'm pretty sure the order is different than the typical furthest to closest. However, I've never had an issue doing them completely out of order anyway.

 

[jgrote]

If, by dual circuit, you mean one port in mc for fronts and one for rears, I agree. But so do all modern cars. If you mean something else, please educate me. Even on dual port mc's you should still bleed all four when you open the system.

 

[kamil212]

okay, I think I have an actual problem.

I had a friend over and we rebled the system yet again.

This time my friend was pumping the brakes with the bleeder closed, then I opened it and let his foot drop. All seemed good till the inner bleeder on my pass side. Under pressure there were no bobbles, but as soon as his foot hit the floor bobbles started coming out like crazy. Over and over again, only once his foot hit the floor.
When I look at the bleeder the nipple looks slightly bent, so I'm thinking it's leaking or something (but I can't see any fluid coming out, maybe the leak is just enough to let air in and not fluid out???)

I'm considering getting the speed bleeders to replace them all, but $60? Maybe I'll just buy one stock bleeder.

 

[Indifferent]

Yea get some new fresh brake fluid, since fluid in your lines would have less exposure than the fluid in the bottle.

The subaru's have a diagonal dual circuit system so that if one fails you'll have a front wheel on one side and a rear on the other side. Thus do the bleeding accordingly to the circuits. Rear Driver>Pass front then Rear Pass>Driver Pass or the other way round.

Yes I would recommend doing an sti MC and brake booster since that was designed for the brembos.

I recently did the 4pot with ss lines and sti MC/BB and motul RBF600 and I bled 6 times and my pedal is rock solid. But before all the bleeding I would have the pedal go to the floor but could still get a firm pedal after pumping.

Also make sure your MC didn't run dry while changing brakes because then you'll have to bench bleed the MC