Soft Brake Pedal Persists

[dal59]

I searched the forum and have read a couple of threads on this problem, but never really saw a solution. It is always the same story. Car stops great, but the pedal travels too far before engaging giving the feel of a soft pedal.

In my case, I am experiencing the same thing. The car will stop on a dime, but the pedal goes down more than an inch before engaging. I have now gotten into the habit of addressing it in one of two ways. I have to hit the pedal twice. First being a gentle press to "pump" the pedal up and the second press to stop. Or I can press once very quickly (not hard) and the pedal engages immediately. I keep reading that it is most likely air in the lines. I had the dealership replace the fluid, bleed the brakes and the ABS system. It was slightly better for a while, but it is now back where I started. While stopped at a light, the pedal will NOT sink to the floor and will stay approx. 1.5 - 2 inches from the floor.

I also read this was a fairly common issue with these cars. Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, were you able to fix it and how so??

tks, dal

[Bezlar]

Mine works fine. 2021 coupe


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[initiala4]

I searched the forum and have read a couple of threads on this problem, but never really saw a solution. It is always the same story. Car stops great, but the pedal travels too far before engaging giving the feel of a soft pedal.

In my case, I am experiencing the same thing. The car will stop on a dime, but the pedal goes down more than an inch before engaging. I have now gotten into the habit of addressing it in one of two ways. I have to hit the pedal twice. First being a gentle press to "pump" the pedal up and the second press to stop. Or I can press once very quickly (not hard) and the pedal engages immediately. I keep reading that it is most likely air in the lines. I had the dealership replace the fluid, bleed the brakes and the ABS system. It was slightly better for a while, but it is now back where I started. While stopped at a light, the pedal will NOT sink to the floor and will stay approx. 1.5 - 2 inches from the floor.

I also read this was a fairly common issue with these cars. Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, were you able to fix it and how so??

tks, dal

Have someone bleed it again.

[scott1961]

Read this last night so I paid attention on my drive this morning and nothing like that happening with my brakes

[JohnEnglish]

I've never heard of this issue on this car before. I didn't experience it with my S5 and don't currently experience it with my RS5.

[dal59]

Thanks guys. I think it may be time to toss aside the pressure / vacuum bleeders and try the old-fashioned way. One guy pumping and one guy bleeding.
tks, dal

[HurrayFive]

Definitely not normal, these bite like a mf compared to the S models, almost as hard as my M5 brakes did. If it persists after a bleed, it could be a bad booster or failing master cylinder, I'd take it back and have them bleed it again and if you go back after that, they'll start replacing parts in the pressure system.

[dal59]

Definitely not normal, these bite like a mf compared to the S models, almost as hard as my M5 brakes did. If it persists after a bleed, it could be a bad booster or failing master cylinder, I'd take it back and have them bleed it again and if you go back after that, they'll start replacing parts in the pressure system.

Yes, just to be clear, they do bite like a xx. The car stops GREAT. It is the amount of travel in the pedal that I do not like. I took some very rough measurements today. It seems with the car running, in Park, the brake pedal only pushes back after going down approx. 2.25 inches. And at that point, the pedal is approx. 2.5 inches from the floor.

When driving the car, it seems that on the highway, when rpms are at approx. 2k rpms, the pedal responds fairly quickly (high up). However, when driving very slow, while approaching a red light with rpms near or at idle of 600 rpms, the pedal takes much longer to engage. Probably around that 2+ inches.

Going in for another bleed next Friday.

[HurrayFive]

Yes, just to be clear, they do bite like a xx. The car stops GREAT. It is the amount of travel in the pedal that I do not like. I took some very rough measurements today. It seems with the car running, in Park, the brake pedal only pushes back after going down approx. 2.25 inches. And at that point, the pedal is approx. 2.5 inches from the floor.

When driving the car, it seems that on the highway, when rpms are at approx. 2k rpms, the pedal responds fairly quickly (high up). However, when driving very slow, while approaching a red light with rpms near or at idle of 600 rpms, the pedal takes much longer to engage. Probably around that 2+ inches.

Going in for another bleed next Friday.

A little bit of brake pedal travel is normal so long as the performance is there and an overly boosted pedal means nothing as far as performance is concerned. My brother's truck has a brake pedal as stiff as a rock almost as soon as you press it but the actual braking is horrendous, even for a truck, the pedal is just over boosted to try and make you not notice how shitty the actual braking is.

What's not normal is the double pumping you were describing, I've never had to do that and it's a symptom of something wrong with the pressure system, whether that's just air in the lines or not. I also get engagement from my pedal as soon as it's pressed with progressively more take up pushing it a tad further. Pedal position engagement will change a bit as temp of fluid changes, but not drastically.