Hi guys,

To start, I am nowhere near an expert on this subject, so please be specific when helping out, thanks in advance.

Lately I began to feel that

1) It's taking longer to brake over the same distance
2) I have to press harder on the pedal in order to brake

I checked my pads, still have 0.125" left on the front and probably 0.25" on the back.

Also checked my brake fluids level. The liquid is right in between Max and Min.


What could cause my brakes to becoming less-than-sensitive? And what can I do to improve?

 

.125" of pad is not very much, those are basically worn out. By that point they are losing a lot of their original bite.

When was the last time you bled brakes? When was the last time you flushed the brake fluid? Air in system, water absorbtion in system could explain #2.

 

I am not sure what you mean by "bled the brakes", but I haven't flushed the brake fuild since last oil change.

Or maybe the dealership don't flush, but simply top off the brake fluid during oil change.

I am thinking of going out to buy a bottle of Valvoline brake fluid and flush the system. I think our car uses DOT4?

http://www.valvoline.com/products/co...brake-fluid/28

 

Bleeding the brakes involves added to the master cylinder while opening the bleed valves on the calipers to let some of the old fluid out. A simple bleed involves taking a few ounces out of each caliper. A full flush involves running a few quarts through the whole system. You may bleed a few pints from each caliper in order to replace all the fluid from the master cylinder, through the ABS pump and through each hardline to each caliper.


I believe Nissan recommends DOT3 but DOT4 should be compatible too.

Unless you pay extra for it, nobody bleeds your brakes. You didn't say how old your car is, but I'd recommend a full flush every two years and a bleed in the year between flushes.

 

My car was bought in Oct 2008, and it has 38000KM.

I am from Canada, and the local choice of brake fluids is rather limited:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en

I am thinking of using this:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en

 

Valvoline is fine.

 

Yeah. I noticed the 0.125" thick pads is getting pretty close to the safe clip.

Will get these ones:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...=STRK:MEWAX:IT