Just did a brake job on my Accord. I am worried about the bolts for the calipers. I do not own a torque wrench so I just put them back on as tight as I could with a regurlar sized socket wrench, which I might add is what I used to get them off with and was very very difficult (had to use liquid wrech and alot of straining). Is this a problem? Are they tight enough or could they be to tight?? Also, one of the back brake lines had a washer on it and I don't know if it was between the line and caliper or between the bolt and the brake line. I put it back on between the bolt and brake line? Could that cause problems as well? As you can tell this is my first time doing this. I have not driven the car yet as I am worried about the safty of the brakes. Please, any help is muchly appreciated! I want to drive my car again..

 

I never torque that sort of thing, but tightening just as hard as you can is a pretty good way to break off bolts, strip them, or generally make things unpleasant if you have to remove them again. Using a torque wrench once or twice for different parts of your car is a good way to get a feel for how tight you need to have various bolts. I only torque sensitive stuff, where fasteners go into delicate aluminum, clutches, flywheels, and engine internals.

The washer - copper washer? Anyplace that needs to make a flat seal against brake fluid is going to need one - so it's probably the hollow bolt that fluid flows through. Make sure it has one on either side of the fitting it passes through.

Sounds like you've had the brake lines open, and probably have some air trapped in the lines. Don't forget to bleed the brakes before you test drive

Good luck, buddy, it just takes a little time + practice to get comfortable doing this stuff. Since most of the Honda service literature is floating around on the web somewhere, it might be a good idea if you downloaded the manual for your specific car and had it one hand. It would walk you through this procedure in a snap. Not that we aren't happy to help you here on HT, but...

 

Thanks J,
I used the Haynes manual for the brake job. The only reason I felt like I needed to tighten them so much is because they were so tight when I tried to get them off. Glad to know how they should be now! The copper washer was between the brake line and the caliper when I found it. I didn't remember seeing one on the other side so I thought maybe it feel off when I took the bolt out. Do you recommend me take it back off and putting it there (between line and caliper) instead the other side (between the bolt and brake line)? Going to bleed the lines with new fluid once I this part is strait. Thanks again for all the help!


Modified by ecugradx2 at 8:17 AM 9/27/2004

 

torq is define as F*D. Say u want to torque down a 25 ft lb bolt but don't have a torque wrench. First know how a 10 lbs push feels like by pushing on a bathroom scale until the needle points to 10 lbs. So 10*D=25 ft lb -> 25/10 = 2.5 feet.

So to get 25 ft lb, just push down 10lbs at 2.5 feet away from the head of the ratchet.

Its not accurate but still better than "tight as I could"

 

There is a washer on both sides of the line that the bolt passes thru... sometimes the washer gainst the bolt head gets stuck to the bolt... a little dirt/grime and you don't notice it is there.

Trust me, if you are missing a copper washer you'll just leak noticeable amountsd of fluid everywhere.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by huyvu90 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">torq is define as F*D. Say u want to torque down a 25 ft lb bolt but don't have a torque wrench. First know how a 10 lbs push feels like by pushing on a bathroom scale until the needle points to 10 lbs. So 10*D=25 ft lb -&gt; 25/10 = 2.5 feet.

So to get 25 ft lb, just push down 10lbs at 2.5 feet away from the head of the ratchet.

Its not accurate but still better than "tight as I could"</TD></TR></TABLE>

Haha, that is thinking about the problem right there.