I have a 96 Cav with the 2.2 with a leaky clutch slave (fixing this weekend, new clutch kit and all) and a very obnoxious brake problem. When I brake softly, everything feels normal, but I live in a city where everyone drives like a maniac and I find myself having to use moderate to heavy pressure to brake pretty often. When I do this, the car pulls HARD to the driver's side and if it's wet outside (raining or just rained) I'll get a metallic "crunching" sound, also sounds like the tire could be skidding on the pavement a bit. The brake pedal also has a ton of play in it. The brake fluid reservoir is completely full.

About 6 months ago I pulled off the passenger side front brake caliper and the piston wasn't coming out very well, so I replaced that and had my dad and a friend help me bleed the front brakes. Problem was solved, the car braked perfectly even when pushing the brakes super hard. It stopped on a dime. The pedal was still a little soft but not as bad as before. We checked the lines and those looked good too. No leaks. The rotors were fine and only about a year old too so we didn't replace those.

After about a month of driving like that, the problem started happening again. What the heck could be causing this? I'm having to fill the clutch reservoir with fluid daily as I lose a whole reservoir in my 20-mile round trip commute. Is it possible the fluid is leaking out the bottom of the transmission and coating the passenger brake caliper, then transferring to the pad and reducing friction? I can see how this might possibly destroy the piston over time. I also only bled the front brakes when we did the caliper, could not bleeding the rears too have something to do with this?

My wife & I are selling her car and going to be sharing the cav for the next couple years at least, so I need this to be safe for her to drive. Any ideas? I could take it to a brake specialist but they're going to rip me off big time and we're channeling all our $ into paying off student/wedding debt. Kind of counterproductive to be spending it on something I could do myself.

That would be a long way for brake fluid to travel, there is a 90% chance that is NOT the issue.

Brake/suspension parts should always be changed in pairs.

I also recommend always changing the rotors when you do brakes, I mean, they are like $15 each at the parts store. If the pads were somehow contaminated, they contacted the rotor and embedded the contaminate into the rotor. Change the pad, and the rotor will transfer it back to the pads. Its a vicious cycle.

Have YOU ever flushed the brake fluid before? There is a good possibility it is the factory stuff in there if YOU havent.

Go get yourself a couple quarts of brake fluid and flush the system out good. Brake fluid is clear, not brown or any other color, unless you buy the colored fluid.

There could be something in one of the lines or the master cylinder that is causign your issue. If the passanger side caliper isnt getting the correct amount of fluid, its not going to work properly and the car will pull to the left.

Parts store list:

New rotors
New pads
2 quarts of brake fluid


"Oil Leak ? What oil Leak ? Oh, Thats Just The Sweat From All The HorsePower!!"

I guess I screwed up by only doing the one caliper, but the other one wasn't sticking so I didn't think it would be a problem. When we flushed them, my dad was operating the bleeder screw, my friend was pouring in new fluid in the reservoir as it depleted, and I was inside pushing the brake pedal. My dad has been working on cars longer than I've been alive so I trust him when he said it was clear. I think we made a mistake by not bleeding all four corners though, we only did the two fronts. Is there any way to test whether or not there is something stuck in the lines causing uneven distribution of fluid? I know we can replace the short, flexible portion of the brake line but the hard lines coming from the master cylinder to the corners of the car would be a pain.

We have to do the clutch this weekend anyhow, so might as well get new rotors, calipers, and pads while we're at it and redo those again. And bleed all 4 corners. Calipers are only like $12.50 with military discount at auto zone so might as well replace them too and eliminate that as a possibility.

I would make sure to check the caliper slides too. frozen caliper could be the issue. See if the pad isnt worn evenly.


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Two things. Check or replace caliper hose and while bleading note how much fluid is coming out of each. Might be a stuck proportioning valve.

Thought I'd follow up on this since I fixed it. Last weekend I pulled the transmission to do the clutch and while I was at it I pulled all the suspension apart, replaced bad bushings, ball joints, both brake rotors & calipers, axle nuts (obviously), etc. Turns out the problem was a clogged up passenger-side rubber brake line. These lines break down over time inside and all the worn down rubber gunk gets down in the lines and plugs them. If the stuff gets in the caliper the caliper is junk too. So my lines made it 15 years of almost daily use before they went bad. Replaced the lines and now the car brakes like a brand new car.