My break peddle as gone soft?

(2010-05-30 11:55:40)

1. levi Says: hi ive just change the front break pads on my ford cougar 20i
and now the peddle as gone soft. do i need to bleed the breaks now even though i never
needed to touch any of the pipe's.

2. who_is_jack_**** Says: Yes you need to bleed the brakes as you have got air in the system, there are some good guides on YouTube that show you how.

*edit*
Just for those that saying it's normal when changing pads... It isn't normal for the pedal to be soft! Feel wooden yes, but soft is air in the brake lines.

3. JohnAdriaan Says: How did you open the calipers to put new pads in if you didn't open the bleed valve?
Is there still fluid in the master cylinder?
Yes, I'd bleed the system and check the fluid levels.

4. beenthere Says: no you dont need to bleed the brakes, you have done nothing wrong by the sound of it, its just that new pads take time to bed in. by the way if the disks are not perfectly flat and smooth both on the inside and outside surface's it will take longer for them to bed in as well as shortening the life of the pads and reducing braking efficiency

5. fbareng Says: You don't need to bleed the brakes. For about 100 miles it would feel like this since the new pads needs to seat them self in. This would be the break in period also, so go easy on the brakes by avoiding long and hard stops and use the lower gears to slow the car down or just drive slower than usual. After this period of time the pedal and braking will go back to normal.

6. Jon S Says: How soft??

If the pedal is going to the floor you have a serious problem, and since you seem to have done the job right so far, get a pro to check it out.

If not, then give the pads a hundred miles or so to bed in and then see what you think. Strangely enough a hard pedal can also indicate problems, because if you have partly seized caliper pistons the pedal gets hard because they dont move as they should.