Hi guys, I have a 1988 SSE.

The brakes on it feel very spongy and not very reassuring. The front pads and discs AND the rear drums and shoes have all been recently replaced and bedded in. The brakes have also been bled and the brake fluid changed twice - once by myself and a friend, then again by a professional garage as we weren't convinced our attempt had worked.

Any ideas why the brakes are still so spongy?

Thanks!

If you "pump" the brake pedal, does it feel better?
Maybe master cynlinder?

Spongy brakes is either air in the system or compliance of rubber parts.

The rubber hoses stretch a bit, especially more with age, and feel like air in the lines. Measure the expansion of your flexible brake lines, anything more than 1/8" should be replaced.

being a 1988 sse, your car has the teves abs braking system, which has a very spongy pedal feel normally, theres not much you can do about the system unless you want to replace the system with a non-abs one.

Yes it does have a Teves system. I didn't realise they were naturally spongy though! I don't mind so much if it'* normal. Strill doesn't feel very good though.

Thanks for the replies guys.

My 90 SSE has the Teves with excellent brake feel. Solid as a rock. Performance friction pads, Adjust the rear shoes until a slight drag is heard, and check the calipers for wear or binding pistons. Bleed procedure should be followed in wheel sequence after you bleed the lines at the master first.
What type of pads were installed?

i'm presuming my 89 sse would have the same abs system and i know when i switched from my 84 pariesienne to it i bitched cause the car felt spongy to me.( it had when my aunt had owned it too, i just wasn't dumb enough to open my mouth then!)the garage had checked everything for the safety certificate and said it was fine. 36k(22,000m) later the brakes still feel spongy but they've worked fine. i'm definitely no mechanic, just mentioning my personal experience.

bill

I can't remember the brand now, but they are just the normal metallic-type brake pads.

...So far I see one person here with an SSE with Teves saying they have good brake feel, and two saying spongy is normal.

I'll go with the majority.... Anyone else with an 88-91 SSE with Teves out there care to comment on their brakes please?

With everything working right the brakes on my 91 feel as good as the brakes on my 97.
They can't be compared to a brand new car... but they definitely aren't "spongy" (when properly maintained).

there is a big difference beteween your car and simon'*, you dont have the teves abs system being a 91, you have the delco abs which uses a completeley different setup