davken1102

okay guys, i need your help!!

Background:

i have a 94 civic CX, i have owned this car for about 2 years now and have always had very hard pedal pressure, you really have to lay into the brakes to stop the car quickly, under light braking the car is normal and it isnt too difficult to press but when i am stopping quickly or am in an emergency braking situation i almost have to put all my weight in it and i am a big guy. i also have noticed while driving it, that when i am stopping hard or quickly (having to press hard on the pedal) the rear brakes lock up sooner than the front, now this only happens when i am going from an asphalt surface to a cement surface. the second the rear tires hit the cement they lock up and sound like i am slamming on the brakes but the fronts are not locked up at all. i also dont think the front brakes, brake as much as the rears do, it also seems like the rears brake better and harder..

What i've done so far:

1. I replaced the original M/C (7/8) with a larger (15/16) hoping this would help this problem and also give me a shorter brake travel. well i have shortened brake travel but still hard to press the pedal.

2. Then replaced the BB with one from a del sol which had a 9" booster compared to the smaller civic's 8" booster, didnt help at all.

3. I replaced all the pads just for good measure and that didnt help either.

My EX-ASE Master Tech Professor's Advice:

he said it could possibly be the prop valve bc the valve has a spring in it that changes the amount of pressure to the wheels depending on the amount of brakes being applied.

What do you guys think?

dsowers19

Did you replace the rotors when you changed the brake pads? Sometimes warped rotors will give you mushy brakes. Did you ever try bleeding the system out? Air in the
lines will make it harder to push the brake pedal as well.

davken1102

No, I did not replace the rotor when i changed the pad although i did turn them down .025 and they were still well within spec. They are not mushy at all though, the brake feel is fine, they give good feedback through the pedal but it is just very hard to press. almost like i have power brakes in the rear but not in the front..

EDIT: yes, i have bleed the entire system on each wheel when i did the M/C.

UberMunkey

i always thought civic and integra brakes were diagonally biased (R.FR. and L.RR. on one channel and L.FR. and R.RR. on the other), someone correct me if i'm wrong.

postman

are you sure they are bled correclty

davken1102

yes, i have bled them three times and they have felt the same everytime.

davken1102

anyone?

civic_driver

-- make sure the booster check valve is in the correct direction
-- make sure the prop. valve is working correctly

davken1102

double checked the one-way check valve for brake vaccum, and i replaced the prop. valve with one from a del sol s which has the same BB and M/C i am using and the brake setup I have.. no change in the brake ease but it feels like the pressure is now more even F/R. but its still hard to press, i dont know what else to check..

Luserkid

You checked the check valve and made sure its going the correct way? Are you using regular hoses, or your using the hose used on 96 and up? It really sounds like the check valve problem.

But incase if its not did you try adjusting the MC fork behind the pedal? If not try adjusting that. Thats my last thought since you did everything else already. ABS or non abs?

davken1102

found the problem, took the BRAND NEW B/B out that I just repleaced, tested unit and unit leaked air, just very quietly took it back and got another one, works great. Parts Guy