IGOTK22

I have 2001 honda civic dx....After driving for 10 minutes my car begin to slow down and stop....My brake pedal is hard as hell. Left the car for a couple of hours....Came back and the brake is functional again. I'm like Wtf!!!....Drove it home and its doing the same thing.
Does anyone knows what the cause of this....Thanks!

IGOTK22

84 views...Where all the brakes expert at?

earlehd

sounds like air in the system, as it heats, air expands causing breaks to drag. cools off brakes release. Have you worked on the brakes or ran fluid low-dry and added without bleeding?
I am not an expert, I understand brakesbut, I am new to these these cars

roastbeefrichie

iTrader: (1)

master cylinder (or caliper) leak: pedal goes to floor, little or no braking power. air in line: pedal goes to floor, but can be "pumped up" to acheive near-normal braking temporarily. air in the system (or a bad master cylinder) causes the brake pedal to feel soft & spongy, requires brakes to be bled (or m/c replaced)


faulty brake booster: no power assist. very hard pedal, normal or close to normal travel. a bad brake booster turns your brake pedal very hard (feels the same as pumping brakes with the engine turn off). your master brake booster uses the vacuum pressure from the engine's intake manifold; stiff pedal is typically the result of a malfunctioning booster or leaky (or possibly crimped) vacuum hose


diagnosing brake booster
A. press the brake pedal 3-4 times when the car is off (should be stff). turn the car on and push the brake pedal, should soften up a bit. if the brake pedal feels the same when the car is off & on, it's a pretty good indication that your booster's toast

B.

IGOTK22

I havn't work on the brakes yet.......


diagnosing brake booster
A. press the brake pedal 3-4 times when the car is off (should be stff). turn the car on and push the brake pedal, should soften up a bit. if the brake pedal feels the same when the car is off & on, it's a pretty good indication that your booster's toast

B.[/QUOTE]

I did this test...press the brake pedal 3-4 times when the car is off (Its stiff). Turn the car on and push the brake pedal (It did soften up a bit)...So brake booster is good.

Thank you both you guys for responding to my thread.......

earlehd

This problem started by itself? Meaning with no changes/work done by anybody?

IGOTK22

Correct.....Its started one morning when it was 31 degree outside. Trying to move the car, it didn't move....Brake was stuck. Left it for couple of hours, try it again and it was ok. Took the car for a ride...15 minutes into the drive, car begin to slow down and stop.... Waited a couple of hours and its funtional again. Same routine over and over......

I will try to bleed the brakes sometime this week....See what happen. No brake light shown.

cloviskilla

iTrader: (2)

BAD BRAKE BOOSTER CHECK VALVE. OR FAULTY BOOSTER.

IGOTK22

Will check this out too...Thanks. Also had some info from a mechanic who has this problem occured to many times.....He said there could be two problems....

1) Master cylinder
2) Rear drum

Once the problem is fixed, I will let you guys know. Thanks to all that had responded to my thread....Happy new year!!! to all....

Mfleming

I have the same problem. Did you get it fixed? What was it? thanks for yout help

djowen

I'm experiencing very similar problem. May be same problem. BUT...

My drivers side front brake locks ONLY when weather outside is above 80F-ish and it's been sitting in the sun. It does not start locking until I've pressed the pedal in one good time, once I've done so, they will release slightly, but I can tell my pad is touching rotor. So now they're locking, and continuing to drive of course heats them up further now that it's locked, and continues locking harder and harder.

Now for the weird thing, lets say it's a cool 50F night. I can drive for hours, with no brake problems, sure enough, the next day, during the hottest part of the day, I can only get about 5 miles into a trip before they start locking again.

This is an '89 civic DX
front disk, rear drum
I had front brakes lines replaced due to a leak 4 or 5 months ago at the dealership, they also checked the M/C and said it looked good. I replaced the rotors and pads around the same time. This was during the winter, no problems yet.
I noticed some minor problems 1ce or 2ce but not often enough to connect the hot weather. After about a month of hot weather now, I've connected the problem, testing this "hot weather theory" 30 or 40 times now during hot weather and then not again.
Took it to my local mechanic (not dealer) he wanted to replace the calipers, which he did(he also checked M/C and said it seemed to be fine). It seemed to help, (it's been a week) but then today it's blazing hot outside, and it happened again after about 5 miles of running errands.

djowen

Also wanted to add, just got off the phone with my mechanic, he thinks it could either be contaminated fluid or a bad proportioning valve.

I kinda get the feeling he doesn't believe my "hot weather theory", and I think he's fishing for old parts to replace...

any thoughts on this?

djowen

really? 2 days with no opinion? I have more faith in honda-tech than that

TheDarkRacer

bump. having the same problem on my car. Replaced the MC last year, and the front calipers like 7-9 months ago and the other day leaving import alliance.. someone chime in please.

djowen

finally solved my prob...after replacing the calipers it seemed to be better, BUT THEN of course it happened again on a nice HOT day when heavy braking in downtown traffic

SO, we replaced the proportioning valve, and replaced all the brake fluid AGAIN just to make sure

its been a couple weeks now problem free, keeping fingers crossed, but happy

profs77

Wow its funny you had this problem, I recently had a very similar issue and wrote about it in my blog, Honda CRX Brakes Locking Up or Stiff Brake Pedal.

Basically I ended up changing out the Dual Proportioning valve, oiled the brake caliper pins, and changed the master cylinder, none of that worked, maybe temporarily it did though. Finally I changed the brake booster, and did a few adjustments to the booster rod and after that it solved it. I really think it was a cracked diaphram in the booster that created the issue and I ended up changing out a bunch of other parts for no reason.

Try this, next time when your brakes start locking up unplug the vacuum hose from the booster. Plug up the hose though with something like electrical tape so you're engine doesn't trip out from a vacuum leak. When braking, you will have to use a lot of foot force to stop the car (drive carefully), but if the brakes are not locking up after you do that, then the booster is the problem all along. The booster is there to create a pressure differential, it helps you magnify the power you apply from your foot to the car's brakes.

djowen

lol, thanks! unfortunately I've already replaced everything BUT the M.C. and booster....if it acts up again, I'll replace the booster next But hey! Then I'll have an entirely brand new braking system! should hopefully be good for a while

TheDarkRacer

damnit alright thanks man. good to know i guess. was really hoping it wasnt the booster.

bfodle

I'm having a very similar issue with my 93 Del Sol. Put 94 Integra brakes on it (calipers, rotors, brackets, pad and hubs), along with an Integra master cylinder and booster. The pedal is fine after I bleed it, but after a few miles of driving, it gets so hard that the car won't go over 40 mph and the brakes start to smell. I've changed vacuum hoses and adjusted the pedal but I'm at a loss. Could it be that the booster is bad?

Dogginator

It sounds like some of you did not properly adjust the push rod.

rpena001

car:
93 civic EX 1.6 VTEC
History:
recently changed out the master cylinder due to the brake pad would hitting the floor board.

current:
I can drive the car for a few miles but then the front brakes begin to lock up. If I let the car sit for an hour or two and then I can drive it again for a few more miles. the locking up is on both front tires.

checked:
I don't think it's the booster push rod since the car will drive for a bit before locking up
I know the master cylinder is still good since I took off the brake lines and checked for fluid squirting out

Thoughts:
I've replaced a lot of fluid butI just noticed the ABS resevoir is the the color of maple syrup, I plan on flushing the brake lines tomorrow. I plan on removing the vacuum line from the booster. I'm thinking it could be a pinched or broken brake line, but don't know how to figure out which hose.

Other thoughts. Could this be caused by something else? I am not considering the prop valve since from what I've read the chances of that going bad are very slim and if it were bad it would be bad at all times and not just after it's been driven for a bit

Any and all help I can get with this will be greatly appreciated.

rpena001

anyone have some ideas on this for me?

Dogginator

@rpena001: It is most likely the push rod. This is the common symptom. Is the pedal hard before and harder after the wheels lock?

romen

Hi guys,

Dogginator is right

I had the exact same issue in my newly bought EG, and after my mech adjusted the push rod (set the pedal to travel lower before it starts to bite) then the problem went away

Damanzi

bumping this because people here seem to have the most similar problems to what im experiencing, but there is also alot of mixed info as far as a real resolution, is it consensus here that it's a poorly adjusted push rod casuing this?