bambam

Well here's my situation, my brakes suddenly just gave out on me when i was coming up to a stop light. My pedal now sinks all the way to the floor without any difference in stopping power. I had to use my ebrakes to get home safely. But anyway, here's what i've found...
there aren't any leaks, no broken lines etc.
my master cylinder fluid level was low, i filled it and have pumped the brakes for 10 minutes and the level hasnt gotten any lower now.
the brake fluid in the master cylinder is brown and has little shards or chunks of crap in there.
my ebrake works fine.
when the cars off, and i pump the brakes, the pedal still goes all the way to the floor, but there is resistance and it takes some effort to pump them.
when the car is started, the pedal sinks and has no resistance, if i push it far enough, it will just stick all the way down and not come back up.

What does all this sound like to you, could it be the master cylinder? that's what i'm leaning towards...
I don't think it's the booster because the pedal sinks to the floor when it's running and i don't think it would do that if the booster was malfunctioning.

any help?

1995Ex_Sedan

You need to flush the lines with new fluid and bleed the brakes.

bambam

lines have already been bled....and bled, and bled....with new fluid. even if the fluid was bad it would still give some pedal feel no drop to the floor and stick to the FLOOR.

Neighborhood Superstar

replace master cylinder.

anngsr

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1995Ex_Sedan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You need to flush the lines with new fluid and bleed the brakes.</TD></TR></TABLE>
check for leaks, if no leak,bad brake booster.
key;search

ef_you_again

something is leaking somehwere. bring it to firestone for $20 they will tell you whats wrong along with some other ****

bambam

my fluid level isn't getting any lower and fluid is not leaking any where...i've already made that clear

wilsel

If you don't have a leak somewhere, then it's the MC. Couldn't be the booster. With the car off you should be able to pump the brakes, and the pedal should get harder and harder to push. You could try bleeding that old brake fluid out, and replacing it with new fluid first. If its that old, you've probably boiled it by now. As it gets older it's boiling point drops


Modified by wilsel at 3:13 PM 6/13/2005


Modified by wilsel at 3:14 PM 6/13/2005

supaman111

My car did this, i changed the brake lines, but i ugraded to braided hoses and then obviously changed the fluid and bled them about three times. Rock hard break pedal now.

sam

bambam

the lines have already been bled and there isn't any air in the lines at all. There aren't any leaks either...so i'm assuing it's an MC that has finally crapped out on me....i probably broke the seal on the valve or something.

supaman111

sounds like it.

bambam

still having this problem. I replaced my MC with a brand new one from HONDA. It hasn't improved the problem one bit...still the same feel...the pedal goes to the floor and all the brakes have been bled....but, the back left caliper wont bleed at all...no brake fluid comes out and no air even gets sucked in.....because i vacuum bled it with a bottle of brake fluid.
It seems as though that line is broken somewhere, but i sat in my car and pumped the brakes for 10 minutes. I got out and checked vigorously for leaks inside the engine bay near the master cylinder and under the car.....NOTHING! The fluid level hadn't decreased one bit!

I'm still lost here...what else could be the problem? What happens when a proporsioning valve goes bad? That's the last replaceable component of my braking system that i can think of...
it's not the booster and it's not the MC...so maybe PP?
HELP!!!!

nocturnaldragon

Have someone pump the brakes for you while you inspect the soft lines, Im suspecting there may be a bubble forming in one aka the line expanding. Also take out your bleeders and put a coat of white lithium grease or something similer, when you bleed them you may have inadvertenly let air back into the capiler if there isent an airtight seal there. I did that when I bleed my clutch slave cylinder.

Also did you bench bleed the MC first? If not that could also be your proplem those are a pain to bleed on a car and will take you a long time. If not I'd recomend the tubing on the capiler going into a container while someone making sure the master is full of fluid.

Theres an order also on how you should bleed your brakes I dont know what it is off the top of my head but I know it makes a difference.

Other then that all I can think of is bad fluid but you said you changed it all so, and bleeding it should of taken care of that as well so I'm at a loss.

Edit:
I just saw your comment about the PP valve I would say yes that could cause a proplem too if it locks up somehow and dosent allow presure to go past it to the brakes or not enough.

bambam

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nocturnaldragon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Have someone pump the brakes for you while you inspect the soft lines, Im suspecting there may be a bubble forming in one aka the line expanding. Also take out your bleeders and put a coat of white lithium grease or something similer, when you bleed them you may have inadvertenly let air back into the capiler if there isent an airtight seal there. I did that when I bleed my clutch slave cylinder.

Also did you bench bleed the MC first? If not that could also be your proplem those are a pain to bleed on a car and will take you a long time. If not I'd recomend the tubing on the capiler going into a container while someone making sure the master is full of fluid.

Theres an order also on how you should bleed your brakes I dont know what it is off the top of my head but I know it makes a difference.

Other then that all I can think of is bad fluid but you said you changed it all so, and bleeding it should of taken care of that as well so I'm at a loss.

Edit:
I just saw your comment about the PP valve I would say yes that could cause a proplem too if it locks up somehow and dosent allow presure to go past it to the brakes or not enough.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i've bench bled the new MC. I've also bled all 4 brakes and the only one that wont suck in air or bleed out fluid is the rear left....I'm gonna try to see if the line is f-ed up. yes...it's all NEW fluid now
the MC is full
the fluid is all brand new
The MC is brand new and bench bled...

any other opinions?

I'll try the PP next...

T.J.

does the car have ABS

bambam

nope...its an 88 crx.