Well, brakes are all brand new stock HF. Disc front, drum rear. New master cylinder. Only things havent been replaced are the prop valva, hard lines, and booster. The problem I'm having is that they suck. I mean I have a real spongy pedal like theyre not bled properly, but ive had about 5 bottles through it, vaccum bleeders on both ends, etc, ive done everything i know how to try and fix this. I dont THINK its the booster, because the pedal is nice and light. I mean, I can push the pedal about 2 inches from the floor, and not lock them. Its very scary to drive, for a daily driver. Now, if I brake from about 6K rpm, or any high rpm with the throttle closed, they kinda work better, but not much. Im at my wits end with these brakes. I cant afford 4 wheel discs at this point, so dont tell me to do that, its in the future. any suggestions? Everythings installed right. I did it myself, adn had several pepole (including a mechanic for 30 years). I cant imagine HF brakes sucking this bad. Please help. Yes i know, paragraphs own me.

 

first thing...ditch the POS vac bleeder, do it with some one pumping the pedal, you WILL notice a difference

SS braided lines help with the spongy feel, and response, i only have them on the front of my hatch and it makes a noticable diff

brake pads are important also, i have EBC greens and they bite way harder than any stock pad could ever think about

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RACINTWEEK &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">do it with some one pumping the pedal, you WILL notice a difference

SS braided lines help with the spongy feel, and response, i only have them on the front of my hatch and it makes a noticable diff

brake pads are important also, i have EBC greens and they bite way harder than any stock pad could ever think about

</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

i have done it pumping the pedal, then did the vaccum bleeder. Also, I was thinking about doing pads and shoes. Waht would be a good match for the rs4 shoe? Hawk HP? EBC Green? And i was thinkin of doin stainless lines. But my brakes are so bad, I dont think theyll help a ton. The pads that are on it now are some ceramic pads. I ahd them on my old ls and they worked fine, until i lit them on fire, hehe. Thanks for the suggestions though, i appreciate it. anyone got anymore?

 

im running Hawk HP+ pads once they heat up a bit they bite really hard. I've read too much negative feedback about the EBC products... not to say its a bad product, but i thought the hawk pads would be better after searching about ebc. make your own discussion about that.

 

get decent pads, their probably glazed and they won't get better with time

 

I used to run Hawk HPS pads on my 4dr. They are a nice pad that lasts a good while but also has good bite too. Hawk

 

if feel improves with the motor at high rpm, then most likely it's the booster cuz high RPM throttle closing produces a vacuum spike I believe... and vacuum is used to power your booster. that's my simple-minded input.

your brakes should NOT feel spongy!! even if they do suck haha

 

HF brakes are horrible i have a hf as well. Do the swap in this link cheap and very effective. https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1171175

 

Check for leaks in the vacuum hoses going into the booster. A small leak can make the pedal feel like **** at low rpms.

 

Did you bleed your master cylinder at install? Don't want any air bubbles in there.
chris

 

your rear wheel cylinders (brake drums) probably need replacing. they go bad after a while and are a source of mushy pedal.

also, vacuum bleeding is the worst way ive ever tried to bleed. stick to the 2 man method.

and i also agree that the master cylinder needs to be bench bled properly before installing. you may never get the air out of it.

and quite frankly, HF brakes suck anyway. theyre really small.

 

I was also leaning towards it being the booster. What exactly makes it go bad like that? Ive checked the lines, seem good as far as i can see. Also, im going to have to put this off for a while, my trans went boom