I know its an old thread, but did anyone bleed their brake lines after doing this? I did open the bleeder bolt a little bit when pushing the piston back in. But the pedal still feels a little spongy. Brake fluid level looks good. I think a little air is in there.

 

You shouldn't have to bleed the brakes, since you are only opening up the MC cover so that the fluid can move into it easier when you compress the brake caliper. No air should have gotten into the system. But, it can't hurt to bleed them. And they do say that we should totally change our brake fluid every few years.

 

True Lee,but he did say that he opened the bleeder. He most likely has some air in the system now.
FWIW. You should not need to open a bleeder to retract the caliper pistons.

 

First off you should not be forcing the fluid back into the master cylinder anymore with anti lock brakes. You should open the bleeder and compress the pistion back in to the caliper.

If you press the fluidback into the master cylinder you run the risk of messing up the anti lock system. Many people get away with it but it only takes a little scale or crud to get pushed into the anti lock unit and it could mess it up.

Also it is not a bad idea to change the fluid as it absorbes mositure that can damage a caliper or anti lock unit. remove it from the cylinger and refill with new. Then bleed the system out.

Like I have stated before todays brakes take a little more to do them correctly today and that is part of the reason some people have more issues today. You have to read and keep up with the changes on todays cars.

 

I may have assumed wrong on "briands" question. He has a 2006,and in answering, I just assumed that he did not have ABS. Sorry if I gave out any bad info on the bleeder issue.
Listen to what hyper says. He's well versed and accurate on the latest brake stuff.

 

No prob at all. I never even considered that it did not have ABS since most cars on the road have it anymore.

To be honest I have cheated and compressed the calipers when I am in a hurry knowing full well I should not do it. LOL! I think we have all been there a time or two.

 

Hyperv6, I never knew that about ABS brakes. I have changed my discs several times, and I did it the old fashioned way of compressing the caliper with a plastic wood clamp after opening the cover on my mc. Didn't realize it could cause problems. And like I said in my original post, it is recommended to change the fluid periodically.

You do learn a lot on this forum.

 

I read it in a tech service artical a while back.

It mostly pointed out if there was any scale or object in the line that got forced back into the ABS unit it could create an issue with the ABS unit. It recomended that you open the bleeder to make sure nothing got forced back.

It is a case where it is not going to mess it up but could mess it up.

Fluid should be changed in all cars periodically but in a ABS car it is more important. It could mess the ABS unit up if your fluid is like Mississippi Mud. Yes I have worked on cars that had fluid that messed up and the owners either did not know or care.

Like I said I have compressed them too but anymore I try to do it correctly. The last thing I need is an ABS light coming on for somthing I did or did not do.

 

A big THANKS to all for this thread. With the ABS I've been reluctant to tackle the brakes on our HHR although I've done plenty of brake jobs over the last four decades. I've learned alot of new info here and techniques that possibly even the dealer techs don't practice in their work. Thanks everyone!

 

Is it common for the rotor to wobble a bit after assembly? I get a rhythmic knocking under harder than normal braking from the left front and I've taken it to the dealership. They'be changed out the steering system including the column and both front struts to very little change. Any ideas?