suzuki swift excessive brake pedal travel

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Brake pedal travel

Quote from Max on April 20, 2022, 4:52 pm I want to know how I can reduce brake pedal travel? There is quite a bit of free play / dead zone, before the brakes really start activating. The brakes are strong and work very well without fade, it's just that I much prefer a sharper and more reactive pedal. Brake fluid is roughly 1.3 years old. I think new pads can help a bit but from research it shouldn't make that much difference. What else can I do (preferably cheaply?). I don't get the impression there is air in the system but I am not an expert.

I want to know how I can reduce brake pedal travel? There is quite a bit of free play / dead zone, before the brakes really start activating. The brakes are strong and work very well without fade, it's just that I much prefer a sharper and more reactive pedal. Brake fluid is roughly 1.3 years old. I think new pads can help a bit but from research it shouldn't make that much difference. What else can I do (preferably cheaply?). I don't get the impression there is air in the system but I am not an expert.

Quote from Ken Foxcroft on April 21, 2022, 9:22 am I don't know but are you talking about free play before you start compressing brake fluid of after you start compressing brake fluid?

I don't know but are you talking about free play before you start compressing brake fluid of after you start compressing brake fluid?

Quote from Marc Roberts on April 21, 2022, 5:05 pm Hi Max, and a big welcome to the SSSOC ?

Hi Max, and a big welcome to the SSSOC ?

Quote from Soulchef on April 21, 2022, 5:56 pm Better brake pads? Although not very cheap solution. Usually for tracks they may use calipers with anti knock-off springs inside pistons. See video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS6j6KDz8-A

Better brake pads? Although not very cheap solution.

Usually for tracks they may use calipers with anti knock-off springs inside pistons. See video below:

Quote from ManicMechanic on April 21, 2022, 6:43 pm If there's no air in the system and all the pins & sliders are free, then there isn't really much you can do. Braided brake flexi hoses can help as they expand a little less under pressure.

If there's no air in the system and all the pins & sliders are free, then there isn't really much you can do. Braided brake flexi hoses can help as they expand a little less under pressure.

Quote from Chari Cooray on April 29, 2022, 7:05 am I have this issue too in my swift, Its only one month old and theres a fair amount of deadzone on my brake pedal compared to my previous cars. Asked suzuki about this during the first service and they said its normal.

I have this issue too in my swift, Its only one month old and theres a fair amount of deadzone on my brake pedal compared to my previous cars. Asked suzuki about this during the first service and they said its normal.

Quote from Max on June 27, 2022, 8:36 am @nzchariboy "I have this issue too in my swift, Its only one month old and theres a fair amount of deadzone on my brake pedal compared to my previous cars. Asked suzuki about this during the first service and they said its normal." I am still looking to solve this issue. I have regreased the rear caliper slide pins. No cleaning, only added new grease. I seem to have slightly uneven wear on rear pads (left compared to right side of the car). Pedal is rock hard when engine is off, certainly after pumping once or twice. It kinda feels like the pedal is overboosted, maybe it is normal in these cars, but I would like a heavier/firmer feel.

@nzchariboy

"I have this issue too in my swift, Its only one month old and theres a fair amount of deadzone on my brake pedal compared to my previous cars. Asked suzuki about this during the first service and they said its normal."

I am still looking to solve this issue. I have regreased the rear caliper slide pins. No cleaning, only added new grease. I seem to have slightly uneven wear on rear pads (left compared to right side of the car).

Pedal is rock hard when engine is off, certainly after pumping once or twice.

It kinda feels like the pedal is overboosted, maybe it is normal in these cars, but I would like a heavier/firmer feel.

Quote from Martin Wood on June 27, 2022, 11:59 am I believe it's normal. It's common on vehicles with EBA/EBD. The electronic brake assist system takes into account the 'speed' you apply the brake pedal, so braking power at the wheels varies depending on how 'fast' or how suddenly you apply pressure on the pedal, aswell as how 'far' you depress the pedal.

I believe it's normal. It's common on vehicles with EBA/EBD. The electronic brake assist system takes into account the 'speed' you apply the brake pedal, so braking power at the wheels varies depending on how 'fast' or how suddenly you apply pressure on the pedal, aswell as how 'far' you depress the pedal.

Quote from Max on June 27, 2022, 1:29 pm @martinwood333 "I believe it's normal. It's common on vehicles with EBA/EBD. The electronic brake assist system takes into account the 'speed' you apply the brake pedal, so braking power at the wheels varies depending on how 'fast' or how suddenly you apply pressure on the pedal, aswell as how 'far' you depress the pedal." To some degree, I think there is indeed a relationship between the EBA/EBD and brake pedal feel. However, I test drove two other Swifts before buying my one, one had a higher mileage and similar brake pedal feel, maybe a tiny bit better. I drove another with significantly lower mileage, and it had a markedly better feel. However, it had more severe other issues so I did not buy that one. I think brake pad wear could be a factor here in terms of how "bitey" the brakes feel.

@martinwood333 "I believe it's normal. It's common on vehicles with EBA/EBD. The electronic brake assist system takes into account the 'speed' you apply the brake pedal, so braking power at the wheels varies depending on how 'fast' or how suddenly you apply pressure on the pedal, aswell as how 'far' you depress the pedal."

To some degree, I think there is indeed a relationship between the EBA/EBD and brake pedal feel. However, I test drove two other Swifts before buying my one, one had a higher mileage and similar brake pedal feel, maybe a tiny bit better. I drove another with significantly lower mileage, and it had a markedly better feel. However, it had more severe other issues so I did not buy that one.

I think brake pad wear could be a factor here in terms of how "bitey" the brakes feel.

Quote from Moyz on June 27, 2022, 1:36 pm New pads and discs will improve this... if these are worn down it will increase the stroke distance you have on the pedal before the pads come into contact with the discs giving you that crappy loose pedal feel. Have a good check of your pads and discs and if they are worn you might want to replace them.

New pads and discs will improve this... if these are worn down it will increase the stroke distance you have on the pedal before the pads come into contact with the discs giving you that crappy loose pedal feel. Have a good check of your pads and discs and if they are worn you might want to replace them.

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HOW TO FIX EXCESSIVE BRAKE PEDAL TRAVEL

What Is Excessive Brake Pedal Travel?

Excessive brake pedal travel happens when you feel your pedal sinking rapidly while braking, or sitting lower than usual when activating your vehicle’s brakes. This can happen due to wobbly discs knocking pistons back or air in the braking system.

Performing DIY brake repair to fix excessive brake pedal travel can be a tedious task. Follow the steps below to diagnose and repair your sinking brakes.

How to Fix Excessive Brake Pedal Travel

1. Diagnose the Problem . To diagnose issues with the master cylinder, the first thing you need to do is remove the lines, install brass or plastic plugs into the outlets, and apply the brakes. What happens when you apply the brakes will tell you what issue your vehicle is having. You can continue this process of elimination by isolating each wheel.

2. Use Your Parking Brake. If you don’t typically engage your parking brake, the parking brake can be key in figuring out if your car is suffering from excessive brake pedal travel. If the parking brake doesn’t properly engage, that generally means a low pedal.

3. Bleed the Brakes. Bleeding your brakes is an important step in brake pedal travel repair and other brake issues. Use a jelly jar half full of brake fluid and a short hose to depress your brake pedal.

While depressing the pedal, rotate the star wheel to lose up the clearance. Then, go back one click when the wheel scrapes. It’s best to have a partner on hand when bleeding your brakes.

4. Bleed the Master Cylinders . After bleeding the brakes, bleeding the master cylinders is the next step. In traditional systems, you begin with the longest line in the circuit first, and go from the right rear, left rear, right front, and left the front. In diagonally split systems, the order is right rear, left front, left rear, and right front. Flush out the bleeder valves, and finally, remove the air from your master cylinder.

If you’re not sure which type of system your vehicle is or are unaware of the proper tools needed to fix excessive brake pedal travel, it’s best to bring your vehicle into Brake Works.

With two convenient locations with great weekend hours, getting proper brake maintenance is simpler than you think. Contact our team of certified specialists to schedule an appointment.

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My 2006 Suzuki Swift brake pedal has excessive travel?

I can answer this question..., i can answer this question ....

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Intermittent brake failure - 2007 Suzuki Swift

Disappearing brakes - at totally random intervals - weeks even months apart, when i go to brake my brakes fail. The peddle goes all the way to the floor. In two instances recently [approx 2 months apart] I had to brake more harshly due to drivers cutting into the road, and when I have ‘slammed on’, my brakes peddle goes all the way down, making a strange screeching noise, and unable to stop for some time. I then set off, and when I brake after, the peddle goes all the way to the floor still. When I pull over and try tapping the brakes upto ten mins later, the brakes are totally seized up and tight. I take it to a garage and they cannot find a solution. I have had new brake pads, discs and a rear cyllinder all in the last 6 months. The problem of totally intermittent brake failure continues. I have so so nearly crashed twice now into other cars as a result of it and have been extremely lucky not to but I fear for the next and I dread braking. ABS does not flag up as kicked in on my dashboard in any of these instances. If it were ABS it shouldn’t be as these are brakes in dry road conditions/normal.

Sounds like you may have a sticking brake caliper. This can cause excessive heat build up in braking components thus causing the brake fluid to actually boil in the caliper. Boiling brake fluid introduces gas into the hydraulic system. Gas is compressible so this leads to a soft or no pedal condition. ie. no brakes. Then after you’ve stopped for a while, every thing cools down you have a pedal again. This is a very dangerous situation and you need to get it fixed yesterday. Take the car back to a competent mechanic and have them look for a sticking or seizing brake caliper.

It sounds like the brake master cylinder is leaking internally.

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Suzuki Swift: Brakes Grinding  → Causes & Diagnosis

One of the most common problems with the Suzuki Swift (or any vehicle) is when the brakes are grinding .  The number one cause of grinding brakes is going to be brake pads that have worn all of their friction material off.  But, there are other causes as well.

Your Suzuki Swift is always going to have disk brakes on the front of the vehicle.  Due to the nature of how brakes work (front brakes take more abuse), the grinding will usually be coming from one of the front brakes (but not always).  Once the brake pads are worn all the way down, they begin to damage the rotors as you continue applying the brakes.

Make sure that you know the difference between squeaking and grinding brakes.  Grinding brakes have a lower pitched sound than squeaking brakes .  Slowing down and stopping usually feels different when your brakes are grinding.  You’ll often be able to feel it too.  Often, they’ll make your steering wheel shake when braking as well.  Squeaky brakes are typically an indication that the brake pads need replaced.

Causes of Grinding Brakes:  Suzuki Swift

• Worn Brake Pads –  Brake pads come with little pieces of metal attached to them called squealers.  These squealers let you know that the pad is worn to a critically low point.  Usually they are really easy to hear.  The brakes will squeal any time that you press them down.  Sometimes they’ll even squeal without pressing the brake pedal at all.  If you ignore the squealing long enough, the brakes will run out of material and they’ll start grinding against the calipers.
• Foreign Object –  It is entirely possible for a piece of debris to get lodged between the caliper and the rotor.  In this case, the debris will cause a terrible grinding sound when you press your Swift’s brake pedal down.

Worn brake pads or a stuck foreign object are usually going to be the issue causing your Suzuki Swift’s brakes to grind.  Here are some other issues that can cause brakes to grind, but aren’t quite as common.

• Worn Rotor –  If a rotor gets too thin, it can warp.  This problem actually happens more on modern vehicles.  As manufacturers have continued to find ways to improve fuel mileage, rotor materials are often thinned to improve unsprung weight.  If your Swift’s rotors are warped they can make a grinding noise.
• Broken Shims –  A shim that has worn out can make contact with the brake hardware and cause the grinding noise.  Shims are one of the more overlooked items when doing a brake job.
• Lack of Lubrication –  Brake caliper bolts help the caliper adjust as the brake pads wear down.  If they need lubrication, the caliper can hang up and potentially grind.
• Bad Replacement Pads –  Cheap or poorly made brake pads can cause damage, much in the same way that having worn the pad down too long would.  The material used to make them can be to large or wear unevenly, digging into and damaging your Swift’s rotors.

Driving your Swift with grinding brakes is dangerous.  Brakes that are grinding lose their ability to stop the vehicle reliably.  Have them fixed right away.  Good luck fixing your brakes.  If there is anything else that you would like to add, please feel free to leave a comment below.

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2011 Grand Vitara 2.4 Brake Pedal Travel / Feel - Is it Normal?

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Hi All So, had this car a few weeks and instantly noticed that the brake pedal feels a bit strange from all other cars ive driven. The discs and pads were changed just before i bought it and im told the brake fluid was changed / bled too. So, the symptoms(difficult to describe); Engine off the pedal is nice and hard Engine on the brakes work fine and progressive however the pedal feels like there is a lot of travel (spongey). I can push the pedal down midway then up a little then down to the floor and hit what im assuming the stopper as i hear a clunk I tried on a hill to keep the same point on the brakes for a little while to see if they creep off which it didnt. Pumping it doesnt seem to do much I have taken it back to the dealer where i got it who have said theres nothing wrong, its normal. They said its the same as another GV they had. So my question is what does your pedal feel like? I can video if it helps.  

It should not sink to the stop on successive applications of pedal..  

Chrisjb330 said: I can push the pedal down midway then up a little then down to the floor and hit what im assuming the stopper as i hear a clunk Click to expand...

I can push the pedal down midway then up a little then down to the floor and hit what im assuming the stopper as i hear a clunk Click to expand...

Tried all the procedures to check in the book and all seems normal apart from the pedal travel seems to go really far to the floor. I went to a trusted mechanic this morning who says if with the engine off you pump the brake to get it hard. Release for a few seconds and try again it should be in the same position or slightly less. Exactly as the above post says. The pedal does exactly this, so it must be a normal characteristic of the car. Video below, I do this test at the end. Engine off around 2.05  

Chrisjb330 said: Tried all the procedures to check in the book and all seems normal apart from the pedal travel seems to go really far to the floor. I went to a trusted mechanic this morning who says if with the engine off you pump the brake to get it hard. Release for a few seconds and try again it should be in the same position or slightly less. Exactly as the above post says. The pedal does exactly this, so it must be a normal characteristic of the car. Video below, I do this test at the end. Engine off around 2.05 Click to expand...

Did you try bleeding the ABS Module using a Scan tool (This only supports by high end scan tool AFAIK). there could be Air in the ABS unit and that might cause the sponginess.  

Funnily enough I have a Bluetooth scan tool, I'll have to look and see if it's possible with it.  

Tried this and can confirm it does not go further down. Also checked and there is no abs bleed on the tool I have. Is there another way to bleed the abs?  

Ok, that's good news at least. Not possible without a scan tool designed to do it. I will look up the bleed procedure tomorrow when I'm on the pc and post it for you, it's just as easy to bleed the whole system, this will then prove it's in the abs, would be unlikely, but it is possible. Your other option us go find a shingle road and make the abs work by very hard braking several times, its primitive but it will cycle the solenoids and pump and move any air around so you can get it out with a normal bleed. As a comparison both my GV's have rock solid pedals, so if your pedal is solid at rest, and spongy when driving its more like it's got sticky caliper pins, which is a distinct possibility. Easy to check, wheel off, remove each pin and make sure it's free to move in the caliper, grease and reinstall. Do all 4 wheels, one pin out of the 8 sticking could account for this, also check pads are wearing evenly.  

Chrisjb330 said: The system has been bled by Suzuki when they changed the fluid. That's the sort of procedure I was thinking however the brakes haven't fully bedded in. Ideally I need some mud or a wet slippery surface Click to expand...

Chrisjb330 said: The discs and pads were changed just before i bought it and im told the brake fluid was changed / bled too. Click to expand...

What you need is a BI-Directional scanner, most DIY will not wish to lay out the cash nor take the time to learn how to use it, just clearing service codes will not fix any issues triggered by the vehicles' computers...  

Yes, hard to justify that cost. Few hundred £ at most really.  

I have the foxwell nt 630 pro, works great on the zukes, the elite is slightly different but does the abs and engine stuff, about $160 USD on aliexpress  

Hi @Chrisjb330 what happened with the scanner hunt? saw couple of threads related to Pedal sink which is related to HCU pump in ABS unit (I think Suzuki used ATE MK60 ABS Unit). hope yours not the same issue.  

90% of the time its air trapped in a solenoid, this is why you need to ensure the abs unit is properly bled. If the pump is faulty, that will not create pedal sink as the abs unit is a closed system  

I've ordered a Foxwell NT630 Elite. Going to wait and see what the pedal is like once they bed in more. All tests say it's fine, although there could be air in the abs. The car is going back to Suzuki Monday as the condenser is missing a lot of fins so hopefully they will replace. I will ask if they tried that when they bled the brakes.  

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