tmichael

I have a 2004 CRV and have a problem I have not been able to figure out.

Starting out cold, everything works fine. As I go 10-15 miles, I can feel the car start to drag, Within another couple miles, the car will not move. Once I let it sit for awhile, it will start out fine again. I can smell brake pads burning

I thought that it was a caliper hanging up so I checked them out and they are working fine. The emergency brake is not on and the brake pad smell is up front anyways. I changed the hoses from the caliper and did a flush of brake fluid and bled them out.

Could a bad bearing cause this? I have not heard any strange noises and when I grabbed the wheel I could not feel any play.

Any thought on where to next?

bbarbulo

not a bearing issue.

touch the wheels when this happens, which one is the hottest one?? which wheel is the dirtiest one? that's the problem area. a caliper is most likely hanging up, what testing have you done to say that it isnt?

tmichael

Put new calipers and hoses on front as that was the ones that were heating up and brake pad smell coming from.

bbarbulo

first post says hoses only, second post says calipers AND hoses. so is the issue resolved now?

are both fronts dragging? or just one side?

Hondas generally use diagonal pressure distribution, FR RL share pressure and FL RR share pressure. Is there ABS on this car? Are there any ABS faults?

tmichael

sorry I was not clear.
There are new calipers and hoses on the front. That is where I suspected the problem as the brake pad smell was coming from up front. After I installed I did a complete flush out of old fluid. I am sure there are no bubbles.

On test drive, brakes worked fine and then after about 10 miles, I could feel them start to drag again.
Someone suggested I flush the transmission fluid. I only had the car for the last 24 months so I dont know when it was done before that so it cant hurt ( I know to use only honda trannny fluid).

I am also going to check back brakes again and see if something is hanging up there but I checked once and all the pins were sliding and the back is not as hot as the front when the problem occurs.

bbarbulo

no, i've seen this before on two cars where front brakes would lock up after a bit of driving. in one case (a 2006 Ford Escape) the flex hoses were badly rusted at the steel fittings and it was pinching off return flow back to the master cyl - it would allow flow under pressure of applying brakes, but would not allow flow back. but you put in new flex hoses, so that's not it.

the other case was a bad ABS module on a mid 90s Mazda 626. I didn't fix that one, the car went to scrap as far as I know.

if this was my car and I wanted to diagnose it, I'd get the brakes locked up close to home, then loosen the fittings at the ABS pump, determine if the issue is before or after the ABS module. Normal is to have a little fluid come out when you loosen the line; the lines that pressurize the fluid out (gushing leak) is likely the offender. So determine at the ABS block (figure out before or after the ABS), then get it hot again and locked up, then check at the master cyl if before the pump or at the caliper bleeder if after the pump.

Or just take it to a mechanic if you're not overly confident going down this path.

tmichael

2004 LX model does not come with ABS

tmichael

Took it for a drive tonight and got same thing to happen.

Got it in garage and got all four wheels off the ground and in neutral. Front rotors were hotter then rear.

All four tire were hard to roll at first . Back tires loosened up quick but front tires took a few minutes longer.

On the front are new calipers and hoses. I could find nothing wrong with rear brakes when I first checked ( earlier in troubleshooting ).

Master cylinder need replacing? I am shooting in the dark here.

tmichael

It throws no codes and no check lights on

bbarbulo

yeah, there is nothing else to the system. non abs brakes have:

booster
master cyl
lines
prop valve
more lines
flex hoses
calipers/wheel cylinders
pads/shoes
rotors/drums

that it. so out of that list, it does sound like the master cylinder is the culprit if all the wheels are locking up. i'm not aware if the brake booster could do it if it failed in some strange way, but you could just check by capping off the vac line and drive around with no vacuum assist on the brakes (be careful, it WILL suck to have manual brakes) and see if the brakes still lock up. if they don't lock up, then the booster is to blame, but it would be a first that I've seen.