fatpride111

93 civic dx hatch w/ gsr swap
i THINK it has a 96-spec jdm itr all wheel disc brake conversion (4x114 i think)

lately ive been having to press in my pedal more and more to get the brakes to start grabbin'. right now, i think the pedal is about 60% pressed in when the brakes finaly start to grab, but whats weird is when im at a complete stop, i can push the pedal down all the way down with no resistance.

i noticed the rear pads starting to screech, so we replaced the pads today, and no more screeching. i went out to test drive it, and locked in the brakes going about 35-40, and the car just nose dove like all the pressure was going to the front brakes. is my master cylinder bad or jsut giving uneven pressure to all 4 brakes?

ive been meaning to bleed my brakes, but havent gotten around to it. last bleed them a few months ago, and have only added in about a drop of brake fluid since it was about 5-10% low about a month ago (resevoir is full now), so i doubt air got in the lines since it was braking fine before.

any opinions? TIA

stock_honda_coupe

Sounds like a leak, or air in the system, I've also heard of the rubber brake lines expanding when under pressure.

fatpride111

oh yeah, i also forgot to mention it has steel brake lines. and in like a 4 month period, its only lost about 5% fluid in the resevoir, so if it is a leak, u think one that small could affect it this much? i mean it brakes and all, but its pretty sensative.... i have like 2 levels of braking.
1) slow braking which is highly inafective, and
2) hold on, we're going side ways!

it either barely grabs, or it GRABS.

ejoner

Try this after starting your car press the pedal a few times or after you parked from a drive, with the car off press the pedal as far as you can and hold it there now start the car if the pedal sinks all the way to the bottom then its you master cylinder. Have you checked the pads? Did this start happening gradually or all of a sudden?

fatpride111

ill try that, but any little push and it sinks all the way to the bottom anyway when im not moving. when the car is moving theres a little more resistance in the pedal, but it still scares me because i replaced the master cylinder a few months ago (around july-august) because i was driving, and i pressed on my brake, and the pedal reached the floor and i had no stopping power what so ever.

a few weeks ago it was slightly better, but like a week or 2 weeks ago, the pedal got really soft, and its been really hard to lock in the brakes. before just a decent pound on the pedal and they'd lock up and the car would not move, and now i have to push it down as hard as i can to maybe lock them in.

im thinking maybe its just a defective master cylinder, but wouldnt have it not worked since the begining? the car stopped just fine after the mastercylinder swap, but im still questioned to why the rear brakes aren't stoping as well as they were. ive also noticed alot more brake dust on my front brakes, and my rear ones are just starting to cover up the aluminum... (havent washed my car in about a month, since its been raining, so i just parked it out side and let the rain soak my car for me.... hillbilly carwash FTW!)

JDMbiAtcH

mine does the same thing and its a bad master cylinder......

fatpride111

if i dont forget ill try and replace that today. still under warranty

ejoner

Either the master is at a huge fault or you have a leak some were, I would check for a leak first, then the master. Unless the reservoir is still full.

stock_honda_coupe

Or when you bled the system after putting the new master cyl. in, you pumped the pedal too fast and split all the air bubbles up. then over time they collected into a large bubble again. Giving the pedal a squishy feel.

Syndacate

Did you replace the fronts too?

The brakes are biased towards the front 60/40 on most cars, the fronts always go before the backs if they're working properly, and you won't ALWAYS get a squeal when they're going.

fatpride111

nope, only replaced the rear. got a new master cylinder installed today, and got the brakes re-bled (obiouvsly). the pedal isn't as squishy as before, but when i come to a complete stop, it still slowly goes all the way down to the floor, only this time i have a little bit more resistance. i noticed a decent performance in braking, but im sure theres still something else missing.
ill check the front pads soon.