[quote name='yello620' date='13 August 2011 - 11:05 PM' timestamp='1313301928' post='529398']
Your fluid might need changed, but your original description tells me that you did NOT fade the fluid. But you did fade the pads/shoes. Pedal fade and fluid fade are two different things.
Fading fluid cause pedal height loss and no stopping.
Pad/shoe fade is poor stopping power and a good pedal that doesnt stop the car no matter how hard you push on it.
Common misconception about brakes, and some words of wisdom here.
People replace the pads/shoes and think they have new-perfect stopping brakes. WRONG.
New pads/shoes need time to seat(bed) into the rotor/drum to acheive full stopping power. Usually this takes about a 1000 miles. During this time, they will fade super fast.
Now consider that most cheap Datsun owners did NOT have the rotors/drums machined, Now it takes even longer to seat the pads/shoes in.
Another thing that contributes greatly to pad/shoe fade is the original quality of the product. Cheap parts, properly seated in will still produce this fade problem. Autozone parts are not going to cut it here(they are crap), and most lifetime warranty products will have this problem too.
And unfortunately, most times, once newer pads/shoes have faded once, they are junk and need replaced. They just never seem to work completely correct after that. They work, but not as perfect as they should.
So, moral of this story is buy GOOD parts and properly install them, then seat them in correctly. You still had a solid brake pedal, that would not stop.
When you install really good parts and fade the brakes it is very different. Your good parts will withstand the heat of your driving until you reach the boiling point of your brake fluid, then the fluid compresses and your pedal will go all the way to the floor. Pedal will return after the fluid cools.
Side-note on fluid. I have had good luck with Valvoline Synthetic Dot3/4 fluid. I dont know its boiling point(or care), it seems to work really well in street cars. I have no idea what it might do in a track car.
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Whelp I think you answered all my questions!
My pads are new, but came with the fully loaded calipers I put on, so quality is unknown, however I DO have new pads laying around so I'll find them and slap em on tomorrow. Rotors are also new, and drums were machined less then 1000 miles ago, which I suppose is a good thing. Shoes however, were replaced less then 2 weeks ago.
Any suggestions on brands of shoes that you like? I am a noob in the parts world as far as quality brand shoes.
[font="arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif"][size="2"][quote name='DTP' date='13 August 2011 - 11:16 PM' timestamp='1313302568' post='529403']
Buy a giant bottle of Brake Fluid ,,,, Bleed the shit out of your system (Gravity , Mighty Vac , or Friend's help you choose ) ,,, til it's very clear !!! ,,, takes a bit ,,, but it works
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[/size][/font][img]http://community.ratsun.net/public/style_emoticons/default/huh.gif[/img][font="arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif"][size="2"]Clear as a whistle already. But I got so much laying around, I'll do it again! lolz [/size][/font][img]http://community.ratsun.net/public/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif[/img]