Ok so I started my brake job at 6:30pm after reading a few posts. Unfortunately, there is no diy for front rotors. Only rear. It at 1am i put back everything in place and now I have a squishy brake pedal and the car wont stop properly.

After doing all of this work I realized that when I was pushing back the piston with my C-clamp, I did NOT take out any fluid from the bleeder nipple. I just pushed it back as hard as I could and fit the caliper back in. Also, on one side my rotors and pads were so thick that i couldnt get the caliper to bolt on properly from the thickness. So I grinded my new pads a few mm's to get the caliper back in.

Now im worried that by pushing back the caliper piston with my C-clamp without taking out fluid, I might have messed up something? Either the seals broke or the master cylinder is done right? I drove the car around the block, it stops but it wouldnt come to an immediate stop. The brake pedal is squishy, it goes all the way down when I try to apply full brakes and the car still comes to a slow stop.

Im a total noob at mechanics, it was my first brake job, I felt confident cause I have all the tools necessary. Now I cant bring the car to the garage cause I gotta jump on the highway and im scared.

Should I try bleeding the front brakes? Or did i probably already mess up everything?

 

By taking fluid out are you referring to bleeding the lines or simply removing the lid to the brake fluid reservoir so that it can breath when you depressed the calipers?

Changing pads and rotors should not require any bleeding of the lines. A proper caliper tool may have made the difference -- that's what I use.

What brand of pads were you installing? I've used a couple different brands and have never had to "grind" new pads to get them to fit. How much did you grind off?

 

One point to note , the rear brake pistons can not just be pressed back in , they need to be driven in while being turned (due to emergency brake function requirments), that what ShellDude was indicating about using the proper tool. Once the pistons are properly pushed back in the pads will fit fine. That said the pads you ground a few mm off are now scrap (replace them...realy). Now the mushy brake problem sounds like you have air in the break lines. You need to bleed your brakes, bleed them in order from the farthest (rear right) to closest (front Left) then clutch (down against the firewall, this ones a pain) and lastly the master cylinder (up by the brake fluid fill cap). To bleed the breaks read up a bit and you will need a helper, its not difficult. If you plan to do breaks as part of your own maintenance you may what to read up on Speed Bleeder (bleeding brakes can be done with out an assistant)
PS.I don't think you have damaged anything by what you have described.

Hope this helps and good luck

 

I did not remove the lid to let it breathe totally forgot. I am using pads and rotors from ebay. The rotors and pads were perfect fit but I couldnt get the caliper back on because the bottom screw that holds the caliper on the shoe wouldnt go in. The one on top was fine since it pops in and out. Maybe i was installing it improperly, I dont know. Is there a special trick to put the caliper back on? It shouldnt be so hard with the piston depressed all the way.

So by not remove the lid of the brake fluid reservoir, do you think I damaged anything? I noticed some fluid overflowed.

I guess I need a new set of pads again. Is it possible that the ebay rotor was too thick? It is 22mm.

 

Yeah, it's possible that you got wrong parts from ebay. You really can't trust e-bay when it comes to stuff like that. And you probably didn't save any money by going there either. I would personally be too terrified of what pad quality the ebay pads are to even consider using them, PLUS you ground down some of the pad? I would now be worried about compromised integrity of the pad as well.

I am also thinking you might have things bolted incorrectly somehow, or not secure.

At this point, you need help, local help, to see what can be done. Where are you located?

 

Update:

So I took it to the local shop. Turns out the bottom bolts holding the caliper were jammed due to rust and dirt which is why the caliper wouldnt fit back in with the pads and rotors. The top screw was fine since it moves inwards and outwards to adjust. So he took them out and put in new screws. The caliper pistons were also jammed from rust and needed to be cleaned.

Since I grinded my pads so i could fit in the caliper, they were uneven on the surface and so I had to purchase new ones. I got the premium ceramic pads from canadian tire. 93$ (not bad)

At the same time I told them to flush brake fluid since i was there. Total cost: 291$.

I guess I didnt save money after all by buying on ebay. lol

LESSON TO BE LEARNED: if you dont have the proper experience or tools, dont adventure yourself in doing mechanical work. You could damage expensive parts. In my case it couldve cost me new calipers or a master cylinder. Also my life since I had to drive to the auto shop with no brakes only using my hand brake and compression!

I did most of the job right, I just didnt figure out that the reasons things wouldnt fit back in is because they were all jammed from rust and unable to move. Which is where I started to do unecessary work.

Cheers to all who tried to help!
This club is the best!

 

FWIW I too have forgotten to uncap the reservoir and the only I'll effect was having to apply a bit more compression than I'd normally like on the caliper tool.

 

Glad you got it fixed.

Perfect example of paying to do it over is always more expensive than paying to do it right in the first place

Always make sure your nuts, bolts, and bolt holes are clear of debris before re-inserting. Ever since getting my tap and die set, I run a re-threader of the appropriate size and pitch through each nut and around each bolt, then clean it appropriately before reinstalling. Does wonders in the long run.