95 S14 with Z32 NA brake problem ( seached till my eyes started burning )

[AJ1356]

Here is a a little back ground on the car and the problem. I had the brakes upgraded to the z32 na calipers, the MC is from a s15, i dont remember but the brake booster might be from the s15 aswell. the car has been setting for awhile ( trouble shooting the swap and electricals) however i drive it a little. last week i fixed the electrical and took it for a drive, but it seemed like the car has no power and it would stall. found out the front wheels wont spin, damn the calipers have siezed i thinks to myself. i go and buy rebuilt calipers, install them bleed the system, passenger rear, driver rear, passenger front, driver front, and MC. all of them fluid squirts. i fill up the reservior, i turn on the car to take it for a spin, and there is not brakes i push all the way nothing, pump the brakes still nothing, the only thing work is the E brake. NOW it looks like MC is bad, but it is pretty new only about 12K miles on it. what i want to know is what could be wrong, since i dont wanna start changing things blindly that costs money and might not even work.thanks for the help

[onosqv]

all of them fluid squirts. i fill up the reservior

But did you bleed it properly and get all the air out??? Any leaks? brake booster connected properly?

With the car off, pump the brake pedal - if it doesn't firm up after a few pumps, then the brake booster or m/c could be bad. If the booster is bad, you can usually hear some air leaking w/ the car off and pumping the brake and holding it down.

[AJ1356]

But ofcourse i bled it properly, and had someone push the pedal while I bled the lines. On my way home to check the rest. and rebleed the system, well post updates. I've done brakes b4 but this combo of locked calipers( one extreme) to no brakes ( another extreme ) is the first for me.

[AJ1356]

Here is an update of what happened, so the next person searchign can find a proper answer when ever swaping calipers or reinstalling them, make sure the bleeder valves are on top. it is very easy to put them on the opposite side , the bleeder valves would be in the bottom and you'd have the problem i had. BLEEDER VALVES UP = PROPER INSTALLITION

[AmoebAssassin]

To clarify, pointing the bleeder valves up allows air bubbles to rise to the bleeder exits, which then allows you to, well, bleed them out of the caliper. Placing the bleeders pointing down just moves fluid around, while the air bubbles will remain trapped at the top of the caliper.

[steaminhotryce]

So is your problem fixed? If not, I might have an idea why you're having a problem.

If it's fixed, then ignore this....

You MIGHT have the 26mm Z calipers paired up with 30mm rotors. I'm assuming this because the 26mm aluminum calipers were used in the 1990 N/A Z's. I have these calipers on my car for the lighter unsprung weight as opposed to the 30mm aluminum or 30mm iron calipers. If you do indeed have the combination that I speculate, then let me know and I'll tell you where you can find 26mm rotors. These rotors were REALLY hard to find...correctly. Most shops would just give you the 30mm ones. And to make it clear for everyone, Brembo DOES NOT make 26mm FRONT BRAKE ROTORS FOR 1990 NA Z's. All of their rotors for the Z are 30mm.

[AJ1356]

I thought my problem was fixed, so i decide to dirve it to work today, and bam it happens again on the highway, so i pull to the side the rotors are hot. all i did to temp fix it i let some air into the system. I just checked and they are 28mm.

[AmoebAssassin]

Sounds like you have seized calipers, combined with air in the system.

[AJ1356]

No i have brand new calipers, the rotors are 28mminsead of 26mm, please read b4 making a comment

[steaminhotryce]

No i have brand new calipers, the rotors are 28mminsead of 26mm, please read b4 making a comment

Okay...so your rotors are 28mm.... I'm assuming they're for the 30mm Z calipers. So what exactly are YOUR calipers? I still think you have the 26mm Z calipers.... If you can tell me exactly what year the calipers are from, I can tell you what size they are.

[AJ1356]

i think i have the 26mm calipers from 1 1990z32, and the rotors are big, either way since these are the rebuilt ones i am gonna take them back to the shop and ask the to give me the 30 mm aluminum ones from 91-92.5 it shoudl fix my problem and i think the pads should fit fine. i'll take them off the car tonight so i can take it back to the shop tomorrow. is it a good idea?

[steaminhotryce]

i think i have the 26mm calipers from 1 1990z32, and the rotors are big, either way since these are the rebuilt ones i am gonna take them back to the shop and ask the to give me the 30 mm aluminum ones from 91-92.5 it shoudl fix my problem and i think the pads should fit fine. i'll take them off the car tonight so i can take it back to the shop tomorrow. is it a good idea?

That should be fine as long as you're matching the right calipers with the right rotors this time. Both rotors use the same brake pads so you won't have to worry about that. If you can't exchange them for 30mm calipers, then go order a pair of rotors for the 26mm. But let me warn you ahead of time....26mm rotors are very difficult to find. Don't expect to be getting those drilled/slotted/performance rotors for the 26mm calipers. I just bought OEM replacements for mine and paired them up with decent pads. Still a very big difference compared to stock 240 front brakes. Let me know if you need the part number for the 26mm caliper rotors.

[steaminhotryce]

By the way...26mm aluminum calipers actually aren't bad. They don't add as much unsprung weight to the car (even though it's not THAT big of a difference). If you're gonna persist on getting the 30mm calipers, make sure you get the ALUMINUM ones. The iron ones are really heavy. I originally had the 30mm iron ones ready to install but then changed my mind to the 26mm aluminum. The advantage that the 30mm calipers have on the 26mm is ~4mm more surface area to vent heat from braking.... But looking at handling factors, less unsprung weight the better.

And 26mm calipers will clear more wheels!

[FRSport]

26mm rotors are very difficult to find.

http://www.frsport.com/Nissan_Mountain_ ... _3054.html

Glad to be of service . For anyone looking for standard 26mm z32 rotors, we have plenty in stock.

As for the drilled/slotted 26mm rotors, we are working on making them happen and more easily available soon .

We just want to finish up a couple other projects/products we want to make available first.

[steaminhotryce]

http://www.frsport.com/Nissan_Mountain_ ... _3054.html

Glad to be of service . For anyone looking for standard 26mm z32 rotors, we have plenty in stock.

As for the drilled/slotted 26mm rotors, we are working on making them happen and more easily available soon .

We just want to finish up a couple other projects/products we want to make available first.

DAMMIT!

If only I was informed EARLIER!! I swapped my brakes back in August of last year. Were these offered then?

FRSport: Any NICO Member discount or promotion to persuade brand switching?

AJ1356: You're probably better off switching to these rotors than to get another set of calipers.

[FRSport]

We've offered these rotors for a while, just not on the site . Still adding TONS of products. I actually just got it put on the site today, hee hee.

For the vast majority of performance/suspension/oem/etc aftermarket parts, you can always call/email/aim us to see if we carry that item. Chances are, we do or will soon.

[steaminhotryce]

I'm using 26mm rotors that I bought from Kragen. OEM replacement. Paid $60 for a pair. But if I knew about these Mountain rotors before, I would've probably busted out another $50 or so for them.

*Sigh...

[AJ1356]

So this is what i did, I took the 26mm calipers and got the 30mm ALUMINUM calipers since i had bought the 26mm ones about 8 days ago, and in the papers i had asked to give me the ones for 91 300zx they gave me a new set of the 30mm aluminum ones without extra charge the reason i went with the 30mm ones is the more choices availible for rotors i.e. sloted cross drill, that are not availible for 26mm ones. and in that case i would not have had to cough up for new rotors i could have used to corrent rotor i have which barely have 20 miles on the but have been setting on the car for 1.5 yearsThanks everyone for the help now i need to do the speedo
Modified by AJ1356 at 3:02 AM 3/25/2007

[S14-KOUKI-MONSTER]

Here is an update of what happened, so the next person searchign can find a proper answer when ever swaping calipers or reinstalling them, make sure the bleeder valves are on top. it is very easy to put them on the opposite side , the bleeder valves would be in the bottom and you'd have the problem i had. BLEEDER VALVES UP = PROPER INSTALLITION

Yeah, I guess it might be hard to bleed the air out of the highest point of the caliper.Since the lines are fairly long, I suppose it would be possible to unbolt the caliper from the steering knuckle, rotate 180 degrees so bleed nipples point up, bleed properly, rotate caliper back 180 degrees and bolt back up. It would be unique for sure.

[AJ1356]

Have you ever done brakes in your life ????? how in hell are you going to rotate calipers 180 degrees, i'll see you try that, it would be the funniest thing ever. also go ahead and read your your post again and see if anything makes sense. MODS can you lock this post? thanks

Yeah, I guess it might be hard to bleed the air out of the highest point of the caliper.Since the lines are fairly long, I suppose it would be possible to unbolt the caliper from the steering knuckle, rotate 180 degrees so bleed nipples point up, bleed properly, rotate caliper back 180 degrees and bolt back up. It would be unique for sure.

[AmoebAssassin]

Have you ever done brakes in your life ????? how in hell are you going to rotate calipers 180 degrees, i'll see you try that, it would be the funniest thing ever. also go ahead and read your your post again and see if anything makes sense. MODS can you lock this post? thanks

He didn't mean to bolt them up 180* -- he just meant rotate them so the bleeders point up, bleed them, and then bolt them back up. I'm going to leave this post open for the time being in case anyone has any questions of their own, or has something to contribute.

[Eddie]

AJ1356 I installed my callipers wrong when I first got them. It happens to the best of us. I thought it would be easier to get to the bleeder valve if it was facing down. That turned out to be a bad idea. I like to believe that I am wiser now...