professorman

Hey all,

I have a 93 Prelude Si. The brakes are not "sharp" as I would want them to be. They make the car feel heavy to brake and it would not "stop on a dime". The brakes feel as if they are glazed and doesnt stop sharp. I thought it might be the old brake fluid that looked dirty, so I blead all my brakes. It was very dirty and paticles came out of it when I bled it. I just test drive it, and it doesnt seem like it has changed much. The pedal doesnt go to the floor, but it does feel a bit spongy.

I drove my friend's 97 Prelude SH, and it has the best brakes I ever felt on a regular car. You can stop it on a dime if you want. He has cross drilled rotors and EBC green stuff brake pads though.
What can I do to improve the spongy brakes on my car?

Thanks

ECX

ummm...
rotors
pads
calipers
lines
brake fluid
?

professorman

I replaced the brake fluid with fresh brake fluid and made sure fresh clean fluid was flowing from each wheel.

ECX

alright
check pads, if they are in good shape it could be rotors. IDK man

typeS

you might want to invest about 100 dollars in some stainless steel lines, but i'm not sure how those are in Virginia where you are located. they might tend to rust with your road conditions there, but i'm not sure. yeah good pads and rotors too, especially pads, if you have some ghetto brand pads. also on a prelude that old you might want to replace the brake master cylinder if its never been done, around 65 dollars for the part.

esedulerp5tenin

bump, same problem. i'll prolly get some pads soon, hopefully that'll do the trick


are SS brake lines a no-no in northern climates that see pretty bad winters??

Speedra500

uh...call me crazy, but stainless steel rust?

typeS

hey, like i said not sure about it, but i have heard of it being a problem for friends in the VA area.

AnthonyG2003

ya might want to check your brake master cylinder...might be a problem to if the pedal isnt gripping very hard.

AnthonyG2003

Question for OP: Why do you have your best friends car listed in your signature? Thats kinda weird...

bad-monkey

Hmm, is pedal pressure spongy, but braking sucky? or is the pedal still firm, but braking sucky?

Gotta know if it's the pads or a hydraulic issue. If it's the first one, then you've either got air in the system (though prob not since it was there before your fluid flush), a faulty master cylinder, or some other sort of hydraulic problem. if it's the latter, then you need new pads.

Rotors won't really change much.

SS lines didn't make THAT much of a difference on my car, the stock rubber lines should still give you decent braking response. SS lines are also kind of a pain in the ***--i wouldn't worry about corrosion of the SS braids, but debris can work its way b/w the braid and the rubber line underneath and wear away at the rubber and can be dangerous. SS lines should be replaced every 2 or 3 years, unless they're coated.

professorman

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AnthonyG2003 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Question for OP: Why do you have your best friends car listed in your signature? Thats kinda weird... </TD></TR></TABLE>
Because my best friend is almost like a bro to me, and I take responsibility for repairing stuff on his car as well, and fix stuff on it like I do with my own car. It is included in my family of cars that I drive and take responsibility for.

professorman

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bad-monkey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hmm, is pedal pressure spongy, but braking sucky? or is the pedal still firm, but braking sucky?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think the brake is firm, but braking is sucky. I am not sure though. I am going to test it again today to make sure my diagnostic is correct of the pedal pressure not being spongy.

bad-monkey

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by profroopchan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think the brake is firm, but braking is sucky. I am not sure though. I am going to test it again today to make sure my diagnostic is correct of the pedal pressure not being spongy. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Hmm, w/o something to judge against, it's hard to tell, but with the car off pump the brakes and build up pressure in the system. After 5 or 6 good pumps it should be hard to depress, and should take a lot of leg muscle to put the brake pedal into the floorboard. With some air in the line it still might build enough pressure to be "firm", but it'll be less firm than a system w/ no air in it. If you've got another prelude, or even honda that you can try it on, it will help.

Jagan'92

with the car off, and when you pump the brakes,
if they firm up and then slowly lose pressure as you hold down the pedal, it is probably the master cyllinder.

professorman

I took it to my friend who is a mechanic and works on alot of import cars and he test drive it and says it feels fine. He says that it feels like regular prelude brakes.

My girl had a 95 Neon before, and its brakes were sharp, but my friend says the neon was really light, so that's why. She drives abrupt, fast and swift; thats why I think those brakes might not be up to her speed.
My friend suggested that I might want to try softer brake pads to get a 'sharper' feel if that is what I am looking for.

I do not know. I will take it to get a brake inspection at one of those brake shops, even though I know that they will tell me the infamous line 'you dont want your brakes failing on you, DO YOU?", and you quick and fix whatever they tell you.

bad-monkey

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by profroopchan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I took it to my friend who is a mechanic and works on alot of import cars and he test drive it and says it feels fine. He says that it feels like regular prelude brakes.

My girl had a 95 Neon before, and its brakes were sharp, but my friend says the neon was really light, so that's why. She drives abrupt, fast and swift; thats why I think those brakes might not be up to her speed.
My friend suggested that I might want to try softer brake pads to get a 'sharper' feel if that is what I am looking for.

I do not know. I will take it to get a brake inspection at one of those brake shops, even though I know that they will tell me the infamous line 'you dont want your brakes failing on you, DO YOU?", and you quick and fix whatever they tell you.</TD></TR></TABLE>

New pads might help. I'd look into something like the hawk HP+ or the carbotech bobcats. They'll have better initial bite over OEM pads, but they'll also dust more.

Get some new pads, turn the rotors, follow proper bedding procedure, and it'll probably help make your system a little crisper.

ECX

hawks or green stuffs

bad-monkey

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ECX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hawks or green stuffs
</TD></TR></TABLE>

you couldn't pay me to use EBC brakes on a car.

Motorcycle, yes. car, no way in hell.