I am in need of advice on my wife's brakes... I think I got screwed.

[antelopey]

Hi everyone, I'm glad to see a forum specifically dedicated to the Protege 5!

My wife has a Protege 5, and today we went to a Midas to get new struts put on front and back. Please hold off on the flames, I have no facilities available to me, so Midas was my best option for her vehicle.

The brakes are now s****. They're spongy, don't seem to grab correctly, and I am wondering if a mechanic needs to disconnect the brake lines in order to replace the struts - and if it's possible that they didn't bleed them or re-install them correctly after the strut replacement...?

I would love your advice. Thanks for your time in advance!
Jim (antelopey)

 

[DubbyDoo]

well when i did my struts i never unhooked the brake line they may have not sure you may just need to bleed the brakes

 

[Packerfan]

sounds like that is what happened the caliper does have to come off but I have never disconnected brake line just hang it out of the way with bungy cord maybe they did disconnect and not bleed correctly or maybe they got some rust bust spray or something on pads bring it back and demand that they fix it period

 

[jamesk]

why does the caliper have to come off?

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Never took mine loose, just undid the line from the strut. Midas must have done it a differently.

 

[Don Juan]

Bleed em, that sounds like your prob. If you need a how to on that let me know.

 

[aMaff]

I am wondering if a mechanic needs to disconnect the brake lines in order to replace the struts

if he's retarded, sure.

and if it's possible that they didn't bleed them or re-install them correctly after the strut replacement...?

Is it possible? Have you ever seen the guys who work in a Midas or Meineke work? I'd say there's no question that's what happened. I know on one side, the 1st time you do the rear struts you need to pull the caliper to get the bolt out (yay assembly line!), but there's no reason to disconnect the brake line...

You can bleed them yourself, but as you said you don't have the facilities to do it, I'd take it right back to them and make the retards to it ASAP.

 

[RatLabGuy]

3 day old post.
Chance to go back complaining to Midas is pretty much gone, thsi service is ancient history for them.
x20 on bleeding the brakes.

If you have the receipt/printoff, often places like Midas will actually print the name of the technician on teh form; if not, it will have a work order number.
You can politely call them bak and just ask. Just BE NICE.
"Hey, I've got a question. I'm curious about what's involved in this... when you replace a strut, do oyu typically have to also remove a brake? Would you mind asking XX if they had to on my car? I'm just curious about this..."
"Well, it turns out my brakes have been off since I got it back. I'm just wondering if they need to be bled."
etc etc.
The manager will realize what happened, and hopefully step up to the plate and tel lyou to bring it back and have them bleed it (free).

 

[SavoWood]

Calling the shop to get them to bleed your brakes is one idea, but probably in the time it would take to drive there and back, you could do it yourself. Brake work is remarkably easy to do, and anyone with the ability to hold a wrench in their hand and apply the correct side to the necessary bolt should be able to do everything they need on the brake system.

For example, I'm not that great at wrenching, but I did my front brake pads and flushed the brake fluid all around, using the stupid little hand jack that came with the car, and it took me about 35 minutes for the whole thing. Had I gone to a shop to have it done, they would likely have charged me for two hours. If it takes me 35 minutes with a hand jack, imagine how fast a good mechanic with a lift can get it done.

The only tools I had were the jack, torque wrench, basic socket set, small box-end wrenches, C-clamp, and a PowerBleeder. For the roughly $100 in tools, and another $100 in pads, plus $15 or so for the Ate SuperBlue, I was able to get the job done. Count my labor at the shop rate and you have about $265 for the whole thing. That's assuming I have absolutely no tools! The next time, It'll cost me $100 less since I already have the tools. Having the shop do the same thing, it's a 15 minute drive there and back again, so there's the 30 minutes of my labor, plus the pads, brake fluid, and shop labor. Even the first time having to buy the tools, and including the driving time, you'll save about $100 or more.

People seem to be afraid of doing their brakes. There's really no need to be. It's one of the few systems on a car nowadays where you can wrench away in your driveway and not need any special tools.

-Michael

 

[jamesk]

well the point is that he paid for the service, so he should not have to do s***. it is not a question of him being scared to do his brakes. he paid for someone to do it and he has the right to get his money worth out of it.

 

[SavoWood]

Considering the shop screwed it up before, I'd be reticent to return and have them work on it at all. I completely understand your point, but I think you may have missed mine. Basically it comes down to this:

If the shop put me or my family in danger because of their shoddy workmanship, my level of trust in having them make it right is rapidly approaching zero. I can bleed my brakes in less time than it takes to do a round trip to the shop. To be safe, I'd need to bleed the brakes to go there anyway.

RatLabGuy's idea about calling is great. Let the manager know they f***ed up. Drive the point home by telling him you ended up having to bleed the brakes yourself as you didn't have enough confidence in them to do it right.

-Michael

 

[JPB-Pro5]

X2 on getting them to check out the problem. As was already said talk to them first, don't do anything to the brakes until they resolve the issue. Myself and other friends I know have had dumb things like this done to our cars, and as soon as you mess with it yourself they will say it's not there fault. Another thing is if one of there techs isn't crossing their T's and dotting there I's hopefully you bring this to there attention and help others not get screwed also. The least you can do is turn your wheels and look under the car for any actual brake fluid on any thing! As far as safely driving it back to the shop, only you know how bad the brakes are but sometimes your car insurance will cover some roadside assitance and may tow it for free. Hope it works out for you!

 

[Bala]

I have an idea what happened. I've swapped out the struts on my Pros four times now. The first time for the passenger rear was a pain due to the fact that you have to pivot back the caliper to allow the lower strut bolts to come out. At least this is the way mine came from the factory - Problem solved for any future work by pushing the bolts in from the other side facing back. I'm sure at the factory, Mazda bolts up the struts and then adds on the brake gear. At any rate, there's a chance that line got loose if the mechanic needed more clearance to pivot the caliper back. I worked around this by just removing the caliper.

Def sounds like air in the system. I agree that you should bring it back and nicely explain the issue (Don't let them sell you a brake job lol!). As a last resort, plan B would be to pick up some speed bleeders from Summit to allow you to do the job yourself, but it shouldn't come to that ... welcome and keep us posted.

 

[Bala]

if he's retarded, sure.

Is it possible? Have you ever seen the guys who work in a Midas or Meineke work? I'd say there's no question that's what happened. I know on one side, the 1st time you do the rear struts you need to pull the caliper to get the bolt out (yay assembly line!), but there's no reason to disconnect the brake line...

You can bleed them yourself, but as you said you don't have the facilities to do it, I'd take it right back to them and make the retards to it ASAP.

Dude I sound like a parrot (loser) - just saw this haha.

 

[aMaff]

Dude I sound like a parrot (loser) - just saw this haha.

d'oh! lol